Notre Dame Gets Foothold; Seizes Chance for Victory

The deciding goal came when two defenders in position to stop the play fell almost simultaneously. The winning coach said his team was outplayed.

Neither fact was a consolation for the St. Francis High boys’ soccer team Tuesday after Notre Dame’s 2-1 overtime victory in a Southern Section Division IV second-round playoff game.

“That’s what happens when you don’t finish your chances,” St. Francis Coach Glen Appels said. “After 15 minutes we’d had three good chances and scored on one of them. If we score on two we win.”

Notre Dame (12-7-3) advances to face the winner of today’s second-round game between Santa Paula and San Luis Obispo in a quarterfinal tentatively scheduled for Thursday.

In spite of day-long efforts Tuesday to drain the rain-soaked field, the surface remained slick in some spots and muddy in many others.

The footing factored into the winning play, which began 19 minutes into overtime when Kevin Murray raced down the right side of the St. Francis penalty area after taking a pass from Renzo Della Ripa.

Murray slipped as he crossed the ball, sending it skidding along the end line and into the goal mouth.

St. Francis goalkeeper Drew Sams and a teammate also fell as they pursued the ball and it rolled to the far post, where Andrew Langer knocked it in a minute before a 20-minute sudden-death overtime period would have begun.

“I was going to the back post in case they crossed it, but I expected it to be in the air,” Langer said. “I was in the right place at the right time.”

St. Francis (13-11-1) took a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute when Tim Schmidt scored from close range after passes by Claudio Basaez and Mike Brewer.

Notre Dame tied the game 11 minutes before halftime when Niko Gutrugianios chipped a high shot over a charging Sams from 10 yards.

The second half, although scoreless, was virtually all St. Francis. Play was more equal in overtime, but the Golden Knights retained their edge in territorial control.

“I thought they were the better team today,” Notre Dame Coach Colm McFeely said. “They were sharper mentally and physically and they went to the ball a lot quicker than we did.

“But I was happy with some of the resilience shown and they’ve gone as far [in the playoffs] as any Notre Dame team has, so they can be proud of that.”