Josie Collier
Staff Writer
A not so sunny game for Mira Costa boys soccer as they fell to Sunny Hills high school in penalty kicks in the quarterfinals of the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs.
Sunny Hills high school defeated the Mira Costa boys soccer team 4-2 in penalty kicks at Sunny Hills high school on Saturday, Feb. 24 ending Costa’s 2017-2018 season. Senior forward and captain Robert Cook had a stunning performance in his final match for the Mustangs scoring the game-tying goal.
“I think our offense and defense played strong today,” junior midfielder Josh Guadiano said. “We just had too many calls against us that caused us to go down a goal, we later were able to pick it back up with a goal to tie it.”
No goals were scored in the beginning of the match and the winner would move onto the semifinals against local rival South Torrance high school. An empty scoreboard left the Mustangs fighting hard for the first goal.
“We did a great job of keeping calm and sticking to playing the way we always do,” senior goalkeeper and captain Andrew Fasano said.
The Mustangs lost Fasano due to a dislocated shoulder in the tenth minute of the match and sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Rohm entered the game. A quick slip in the defense put Sunny Hills in the lead 1-0, but the Mustangs trailed close behind.
“We did not let their one goal lead get to us, we were able to stay composed and kept a great mentality thought the game,” Fasano said.
With just seconds left in regulation the Mustangs were able to pull off a miracle goal according to Fasano. Once again, Robert Cook with his determination to find the back of the net, received a ball on the end of his foot from senior midfielder Michael Antich. Cook finished and sent the Mustangs into overtime.
“We found the back of the net to tie the game with just seconds left in regulation,” Fasano said. “We created many opportunities to score but unfortunately we were unable to come out on top”
Both teams were unable to score the golden goal in overtime leading both teams into penalty kicks. The final score of penalty kicks was 4-2 Sunny Hills ending the Mustangs’ season.
“We were nervous going into penalty kicks because it is just not how you want your season to end,” Fasano said.
The loss ended the Mustangs’ season and run in the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs. Costa’s overall record was 17-5-2 and 8-2 in Bay League.
“My favorite thing about the program has been being close with all of my teammates,” Fasano said. “Playing with them three hours made us closer and allowed us to have more success throughout the season.”
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