Zuniga’s Late Heroics Help Orange Win

Orange goalkeeper Aldo Zuniga thanked his teammates for getting him back into the game, then he personally repaid them by extending their season.

Zuniga stopped three of Santa Barbara’s five penalty kicks and scored one himself to give the Panthers a 3-2 edge in penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtimes. The Panthers’ victory put them into the Southern Section Division II boys’ soccer semifinals Tuesday against the winner of today’s game between Oxnard Rio Mesa and Ventura Buena.

When Zuniga blew an easy save with 10 minutes left in regulation, Santa Barbara looked as if it would be the team that would be playing Tuesday. But four minutes later, Orange (17-3-6) tied it when Victor Diaz hit a streaking Steven Gonzalez, who put a crossing shot past Santa Barbara goalkeeper Dante Mejia.

“My team got me back into it,” said Zuniga, who flopped on the ground and pounded the turf after fumbling away his save.

Gonzalez’s goal also got Orange Coach Sal Anaya back into it.

“I was dying after they scored,” Anaya said. “I was worried to death.”

But once Orange got to penalty kicks, Anaya started feeling comfortable again.

“We practiced penalty kicks a lot the past two weeks,” Anaya said. “After we’d played them this year and lost in penalty kicks, we knew what to expect. I’d be disappointed if he didn’t stop two. He knew where they were going.”

Although it was nearly dark and it was hard to see the ball, Zuniga knew Santa Barbara’s shooters were going right. And all but one did.

“They went right earlier in the season and I could see their eyes too,” Zuniga said. “Last year we lost [in the quarterfinals] on penalty kicks and I knew that I had made that mistake earlier.”

Said Gonzalez: “I don’t know how he did it. It was so dark.”

Zuniga said he couldn’t wait for the second overtime to end.

“That’s what keepers live for,” he said. “It’s a team thing mostly but when it goes to penalty kicks, it’s an individual thing.”

The ending wasn’t all happy for Orange. With three minutes left in sudden-death overtime, Diaz was whistled for his second yellow card of the game and must now sit out Orange’s next game.