Santa Barbara Squeaks Past Capistrano Valley

Following each Santa Barbara goal with one of its own, Capistrano Valley finally ran out of answers when the Dons scored in the last minute to give them a 3-2 victory in a Division II boys’ soccer quarterfinal game Friday at Capistrano Valley.

Top-seeded Santa Barbara (26-2-1) advanced to the semifinals, where it will play host to defending Southern Section champion Esperanza on Tuesday.

The teams appeared to be heading for overtime, but Santa Barbara’s Hugo Alcaraz quieted the crowd of 300 when he kicked a pass out of midair and into the corner of the net shortly before the final whistle.

Capistrano Valley (15-6-5) had come back from one-goal deficits twice, the second coming with 15 minutes left to play when Chris Tullar lined a shot that kissed off the crossbar and into the net tying the score, 2-2.

It was a big boost for the Cougars, who had seen the Dons take a 2-1 lead earlier in the second half when a shot glanced off the head of Capistrano Valley fullback Gabe Payne into the Cougar net.

“I was going up for the header, but (goalkeeper Jason) Felix yelled ‘keeper.’ ” Payne said. “So I ducked, but the ball glanced off the top of my head.”

The prettiest goal of the game came late in the first half when Santa Barbara was awarded a free kick just outside the penalty box and five yards from the endline.

Sweeper Alfredo Moreno took a chance with the tough angle and hooked it past Felix and off the far post for a 1-0 lead.

“I’ve never seen anyone score from that much of an angle,” Felix said.

The Cougars tied the score with two minutes left in the half on a nice pass from Ryan Hawkins to Marc Springer, who chipped it in the net.

Santa Barbara, which played without leading scorer Carlos Trujillo, who had a concussion, lost Moreno for its next game when he received a red card for kicking a player just before the game ended.