Valdivia Keeps Kicking Until Northridge Wins : Men’s soccer: After blowing several chances in regulation, forward scores two goals to give Matadors 3-1 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The sixth time proved to be the charm for Armando Valdivia of the Cal State Northridge men’s soccer team in the Matadors’ opener against Cal State Dominguez Hills at North Campus Stadium on Saturday.

After failing to score on five superb opportunities in the second half, Valdivia tallied two goals in the first of two 15-minute overtime periods to power Northridge to a 3-1 nonconference victory before 535 spectators.

Valdivia broke a 1-1 deadlock two minutes into the first overtime when he scored on a penalty kick. The Matadors took a 3-1 lead eight minutes later when the 5-foot-8, 160-pound senior forward added a goal on an assist from Matt Davis.

On the penalty kick, Valdivia looked right before firing the ball into the left corner of the net. On his second goal, he beat defender Lyle Hayes to Davis’ lead pass, then tapped the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Erick Miseroy.

“It’s frustrating when you don’t score on good opportunities,” Valdivia said. “But I never got upset and I never gave up. I figured that sooner or later, we’d score some goals.”

Although Valdivia was dwarfed by the 6-2, 185-pound Hayes, he used his quickness to break free several times in the second half, only to misfire on scoring chances.

His closest miss came at the 60-minute mark when he took a pass from Sarkis Banyan directly in front of the goal, but drilled the ball off the top of the crossbar.

“My timing was a little off, that’s all,” Valdivia said. “I’ve been nursing some foot injuries and that has just thrown me off a little bit.”

Northridge, which improved to 13-3 in season openers at home, took a 1-0 lead 20 minutes into the first half when 6-3 defender Todd Biefeld rose above several defenders to head Banyan’s corner kick into the net.

Dominguez Hills tied the score 10 minutes into the second half when Donovan Francis shot the ball into the upper left corner of the net from 30 yards.

“We never should have let a team like that take us to overtime,” Valdivia said. “But we didn’t play that well tonight. I think we came out a little flat.”

Miseroy, a former standout at Granada Hills High, set a Cal State Dominguez Hills record for saves in a game with 11.