SUNSET REGION: Bojado, Legacy top Centennial

Eric Bojado had been waiting for a chance to score, and the senior midfielder found the perfect time to accomplish his goal.

Bojado scored on a header with 10 minutes to play to break a 2-2 tie, and Legacy tacked on two goals for a 5-2 win Saturday over Centennial for the Sunset Region title at Faith Lutheran.

Bojado’s goal came off a corner kick. Antonio Velasquez took the corner, and the ball went to Julio Uribe in the penalty box. Uribe got the ball to Bojado, who headed it past Centennial goalkeeper Aidan Parker for the lead.

“I’d been asking for it since the beginning of the game,” Bojado said. “I wanted it. Me and Julio, we connect a lot together. They crossed it. He saw that look and gave it right back to me, and I stepped in: goal. It’s amazing. Such a good feeling.”

It marked Legacy’s second consecutive Sunset title. The defending state champions earned a berth in next week’s Class 4A state tournament in Reno.

Centennial’s Chance Rosa got a red card shortly after Bojado’s goal, and the Longhorns (17-1-2) quickly took advantage.

Velasquez ripped a left footer inside the left post from 25 yards out in the 75th minute for a 4-2 lead.

Four minutes later, Saul Aguirre scored his third goal of the game, taking a pass from Jorge Gonzalez and slipping the ball inside the left post.

“After Eric scored, we knew that we had to control the game because it was ours,” Aguirre said. “And we just kept pushing and pushing, and that’s when those goals came in.”

Legacy looked like it had control early when Aguirre scored a pair of goals in the game’s first 15 minutes. Aguirre ran onto a long pass from Velasquez inside the box and knocked it past Parker for a 1-0 lead in the game’s fourth minute.

Sergio Alvarez then tapped a pass through the back line of Centennial’s defense, and Aguirre blasted a shot inside the right post from near the top of the penalty box for a 2-0 lead.

Two penalty kicks got Centennial (17-4) back in the game. Rosa scored on a penalty kick in the 20th minute to cut the lead to 2-1, and the Bulldogs tied the game when A.J. Riga made a penalty kick in the 62nd minute.

That put the pressure on, and Bojado responded.

“At any moment, it could have easily gone 3-2 either direction,” Legacy coach Jose Gomez said. “With that set piece right there, I thought something hopefully happens, and as a senior, Eric finished it off.”