DIVISION III BOYS’ SOCCER ROUNDUP : Brea-Olinda Advances by Beating Pomona Garey in Overtime

Fourth-seeded Brea-Olinda controlled the ball against Pomona Garey in the Southern Section Division III boys’ soccer quarterfinals, but had to go to overtime to win, 3-2, Thursday at Brea-Olinda High.

Brea-Olinda will meet Burbank Burroughs in the semifinals Tuesday.

The Wildcats (19-4-2), who shut out their first two playoff opponents, outshot the Vikings, 10-2, in the first half, but trailed, 1-0, at halftime on a goal by Alberto Contreras 23 minutes into the game. Contreras came up with a loose ball after a throw-in and from five yards, kicked it just beyond the reach of goalkeeper Justin Breazeale.

During the first half, first-year Coach Matt Swindle told his team he wanted stronger shots at the goal.

“(Garey’s) defense is suspect, put the pressure on,” Swindle said.

One minute into the second half, Ozzy Sanchez got a header to bounce off a defenseman and into the Vikings’ goal to tie the score, 1-1.

The game got physical after that. Garey (17-5-4) had two players ejected on red cards and three others received yellow-card warnings. Brea-Olinda was cited with one red card and three yellows.

“This was a very physical game,” Swindle said. “We just wanted to get in and out with the win.”

The Wildcats had three opportunities to put the game away with less than five minutes remaining, but the shots went wide left, wide right and over the top. Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie.

Fifteen minutes into overtime, Brea-Olinda’s offense finally got some breaks when Brian Yezarsky recovered a throw-in from the corner and drilled the ball into the right corner out of the reach of Osvaldo Guzman. The Wildcats led, 3-1, one minute later when Andy Wirz passed to Todd Deck, who squeezed it past a diving Guzman.

The Vikings made it interesting in the final two minutes, when a shot by Francisco Perez from 40 yards sailed over Breazeale.