56°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

SUNRISE BOYS SOCCER: Josh Cloyd’s golden goal powers Valley past Foothill

Josh Cloyd couldn’t contain himself. He ripped his Valley jersey off and became the center of the mob that engulfed him outside the Foothill goal.

He had every reason to celebrate Tuesday night at Bettye Wilson Park. He had, after all, just scored the golden goal in double overtime to send the Vikings past the Falcons 3-2 and into the Sunrise Region semifinals.

“It was intense,” Cloyd said. “We came out and said we had a goal to do and we made it happen. We played our heart out. It was a team effort.”

Valley (5-8-4) came in as the underdog after finishing third 3-4-1 for third place in the Northeast League. Contrast that with the Falcons (10-6-2), who went 8-2 in league play on the way to the No. 2 seed in the Southeast and were ranked No. 10 in the last coaches poll.

Cloyd’s goal came after a Foothill penalty kick clanged off the crossbar and Valley took it the other way. Jose Valles’ shot was saved by Foothill goalkeeper Logan Lake, and the ensuing scuffle saw the ball get to Cloyd’s foot and into the net.

The game was only in double overtime because of a goal by Valles in the 78th minute. When Valles collected a blocked header off a corner kick, he trickled it by Lake to send the game into extra time. The pandemonium on the Valley bench was merely a precursor of what was to come.

“I couldn’t even breathe. I was screaming so hard I couldn’t breathe,” Cloyd said of the game-tying goal. “It’s really happening.”

Foothill scored in the sixth minute to take the early lead when Becca Nyonyintono threaded the ball through Valley’s defense and dished to Reagan Mugume, who netted his team-high 15th goal of the season.

Valley tied it on a goal by Steve Favela five minutes later and the squads went into the break tied at 1.

Foothill’s Trent Milne broke the tie on a header in the 67th minute, but all it did was set up the dramatic tying goal.

“That was amazing,” Valley coach Angel Panteleon said. “Just as good as the finish.”

Valley advances to face Las Vegas (11-3-5)in the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

“We knew coming into this it was going to be a scrappy game and it’s just unfortunate,” Foothill coach Andrew Risheg said. “They capitalized on their opportunity and we didn’t. That’s what it all came down to.”

Coronado 5, Canyon Springs 0 – John Lynam had two goals and an assist as the Cougars rolled past the Pioneers in the Sunrise quarterfinals.

“It’s always a good start, right?” Coronado coach Dustin Barton said.

The Cougars (14-3-1) took a 3-0 lead into halftime and didn’t look back. Barton said he was pleased with the team’s effort after what he called a slow start.

“We were a little anxious at first; we dove in a little too much at the beginning,” Barton said. “High school kids are high school kids. They come out here and they’re little nervous. I was a little worried with us diving in, but we settled in.”

Preston Judd, Monty Maldonado and Lincoln Aquino had the other Coronado goals. Harrison Skinner had three saves to get the shutout.

The Cougars will play Rancho (6-2-3) at 6 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals.

The Pioneers finished 7-5-3.

Las Vegas 3, Liberty 0 – Mario Diaz scored twice for the Wildcats as they shut out the Patriots in the Sunrise quarterfinals.

Agustin Hernandez had a goal and an assist for Las Vegas, which scored all of its goals in the second half.

Fernando Gomez and Alejandro Graciano each had an assist for the Wildcats, and Chris Sosa made one save in the shutout.

Liberty fell to 4-11-2.

Rancho 6, Green Valley 1 – The Rams scored five times in the second half to cruise past the Gators in the Sunrise quarterfinals.

Ricardo Galvan scored twice for the Rams, who led 1-0 at halftime.

Jaime Carbajal, Arturo Revelas, Jose Campos and Jesse Ayala each added a goal for Rancho.

Pablo Pena scored for the Gators (9-10-6).

Contact Justin Emerson at jemerson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2944. Follow @J15Emerson on Twitter.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST