OC keeps its CCCAA playoff hopes alive, beating Los Angeles Harbor after a last second penalty kick from Jesus Landeros while extra time wound down in double-overtime.
Milan Atlagic drove into the penalty box, head down realizing he was going to draw the crucial foul in the last seconds of extra time to set up the game winning penalty kick.
“Straight away when [Landeros] put that ball in front of me I just put my head down and ran for it,” said Atlagic. “As soon as I looked up I saw the keeper in front of me and figured I might as well get it, he hooked my leg and we got lucky with that one.”
This “luck” set up the penalty kick for Landeros. As intensity built and the crowd shouted obscenities, Landeros shot the ball right past Los Angeles’s keeper and OC began to celebrate.
Los Angeles Harbor had other plans, as they took the ball to midfield to get play started again, OC celebrating as if the game had ended was off-guard.
But Richie Vargas keeping alert to the play was able to foil Los Angeles’s attempt at a game-tying goal clearing the ball across the field.
The Celebration was allowed to finally begin but the road to getting there was a long one as OC held a 2-0 lead through the first half. They blew this lead midway through the second half after Erick Nieto scored back-to-back goals at the 17-minute and 34-minute mark.
OC’s first half was absolutely dominating play keeping good strides midfield and playing keep-away with Los Angeles Harbor.
Sigifredo Torres started up OC’s offense with a free kick coming from beyond the penalty box at the 16-minute mark.
The second goal came from a corner kick between Landeros to Salvador Mendoza who headed the goal past the Los Angeles Harbor keeper, to put OC up 2-0.
Landeros was the hero of the game. Not only having this assist but also capping off the game with his spot on penalty kick after the game Landeros was overcome with joy from his heroics.
“The game winner was the best feeling I’ve had,” said Landeros. “Next week we have Mt. SAC and they’re a great team, we have some things to work out, and we’ll be ready.”
Head coach Ross Greaney, now in his fifth year as Oxnard’s Men’s soccer coach, was ecstatic in his team’s play after the game saying there play was dedicated but as always there are things to work on.
“If we play with as much heart, passion and energy as we did today were gonna give anybody a really tough game,” said Greaney. ” We got caught up on trying to hold the lead and stopped playing there for a few minutes, but we didn’t deflate and we could have and we could of given up a third and a fourth goal but we didn’t and we kept trying and followed through.”
OC goes to Mt. SAC, the number one ranked team in the state, in the second round of CCCAA playoffs Tuesday at 4 p.m.
