Kennedy High Wins in Soccer in the 18th Overtime Period

If Greg Friedman thought he would get a break Tuesday for scoring the goal to end one of the longest games in high school City soccer history, his coach, Fred Singer, had some news for him.

“You’re not getting away,” Singer said as he steered Friedman away from reporters. The junior midfielder had to help his Kennedy High School teammates take down the goalposts and nets for the night.

About 15 minutes earlier, Friedman had ended Jefferson High’s season, scoring 3:44 into the 18th overtime to give the Golden Cougars a 1-0 victory in a semifinal playoff game that started Monday and ended Tuesday at Kennedy.

The teams played 130 minutes of scoreless soccer Monday--covering two 40-minute regulation halves, two five-minute overtime periods and eight five-minute, sudden-death overtimes.

Finally, referee Armando Tatis called the game because of darkness.

Neither team had many scoring chances in the first six overtimes Tuesday. Singer later said it appeared the game “would never end.”

In the game’s 17th overtime, Friedman missed a header into a wide-open net. The attempt sailed high over the crossbar and left Singer shaking his head.

“I really felt that was it,” Singer said. “In a situation like this, you only get so many opportunities. You can’t continue to get breaks.”

But the Cougars got another chance in the 18th overtime when Chris Olson sent a cross into the goal area.

Friedman took the pass about six feet to the right of the goal and fired, bringing the game to an end after 168 minutes and 44 seconds.

According to officials, the game was one of the longest in City history. In the opening round of this year’s playoffs, El Camino Real High defeated North Hollywood High in 12 overtimes.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” said Friedman, who was the placekicker on Kennedy’s football team last season. “We felt we were in better shape than they were. We pressured them a lot more.”

Jefferson controlled the action on Monday but could not generate any offense Tuesday. “That’s what happens,” Jefferson Coach William Hernandez said. “We just didn’t execute.”

Kennedy (14-1-4) plays Garfield High for the championship Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Polytechnic High in Sun Valley. Jefferson, which won the title last season, finished at 9-2-2 this season.