SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION II BOYS’ SOCCER PLAYOFFS : Santa Ana Valley Advances, 3-2

The title game is a week away, but the Division II boys’ soccer championship might have been decided Thursday night at Capistrano Valley.

Top-seeded Santa Ana Valley slipped past Capistrano Valley with a 3-2 overtime victory in an exciting Southern Section playoff quarterfinal.

Capistrano Valley often dominated the hard-hitting, up-and-down play. But Santa Ana Valley got two goals from Francisco Islas, including one in overtime, and then withstood a flurry of shots from the Cougars in the final minute to advance to the semifinals for the first time.

Santa Ana Valley (23-3-1) will face La Canada St. Francis on Tuesday in the semifinal round.

“This is the best ever. I’ve lost my voice,” Santa Ana Valley Coach Adnan Bayati said. “They dominated us but we stayed with it. We knew this was our block right here. They are the best team we faced.”

Capistrano Valley Coach Ron Willms said he thinks the two teams are the best in the division.

“People should have paid for this,” Willms said. “This game should have been the championship game. You won’t see as good a game in the championship.”

Santa Ana Valley opened the scoring 14 minutes into the game when Luis Cejuda threaded a pass to Islas, who bounced the ball over Capistrano Valley goalkeeper Brian Beach.

The Cougars answered in the final minute of the first half. John Brull faked two defenders before beating goalkeeper Luis Ruiz.

Islas helped put Santa Ana Valley back on top at the 23-minute mark of the second half when he scored off an assist that was headed in by Rafael Cabrera. But one minute later, Capistrano Valley tied the game on a goal by Gary Berry.

The Falcons got what proved to be the game-winner with one minute left in the first half of overtime on a shot by Islas. The game, though, was far from over.

Capistrano Valley put on heavy pressure in the closing minutes of the second half of overtime, including a shot with 30 seconds left by Kyle Berger that bounced off the goal post.

“We couldn’t get any closer,” Willms said. “It’s so disappointing because this team could have gone all the way. We’ll never know.”

“Yes, it feels great,” Islas said through an interpreter. “I knew we were going to beat them. We are in better shape.”

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In another Division II quarterfinal:

Esperanza 1, El Modena 0--Mike Morales scored for Esperanza (17-2-5). Goalkeeper George Allison had six saves for the Aztecs. El Modena finishes the season 9-7-2.