Woodbridge Wins in Overtime
Woodbridge forwards Pieter Berger and Roy Chingarian missed their share of scoring opportunities during the first 80 minutes against Huntington Beach Wednesday.
They didn’t let another opportunity slip by in overtime, however. Berger headed in a corner kick by Chingarian in the last minute of overtime to give Woodbridge a 2-1 victory in the second round of the Southern Section Division II playoffs.
“It’s ironic how soccer works,” Woodbridge Coach Jon Szczuka said. “It was nice that they got a chance to redeem themselves. It’s a tribute to both of them that they never stopped working.”
Berger said he worked himself into position while Huntington Beach defenders waited for the whistle to blow.
“The ref was getting ready to blow it, but Roy got the ball in quickly and I think that was the difference,” Berger said. “I saw [the ball] coming and it was easy from there.”
But it wasn’t easy for Woodbridge (19-4-4) the previous 99 minutes. Although the Warriors dominated play most of the way and took 11 shots on goal during regulation, they didn’t have much to show for it. In fact, the only goal they scored came in the 14th minute on a goalie miscue that Woodbridge midfielder Nick Holt followed in.
Minutes after Holt’s goal, Branden Novoa chipped a ball off the post that rolled across the goal but was cleared away by a Huntington Beach defender. Berger had two excellent scoring chances in the first half. The first came on a one-on-one with a Huntington Beach defender deep in the penalty box. Berger waited too long to shoot and the ball was knocked away. His second chance was an open-net header that sailed well over the crossbar.
In the last 10 minutes of regulation, Chingarian missed a breakaway badly from 20 yards out and he left-footed a volley just wide from 10 yards away.
Woodbridge, which didn’t make it out of the first round last year, will meet Claremont in the quarterfinals on Friday.
In other Division II games:
El Dorado 3, San Bernardino San Gorgonio 1 (OT)--The top-seeded Golden Hawks (22-1-3) advanced to play Foothill after scoring twice in overtime. Ryan Reott scored the first overtime goal for El Dorado and Greg Reese had the other.
Juan Vincente gave San Gorgonio a 1-0 lead and Ryan Valdez later tied the score in the first half for El Dorado.
Foothill 2, La Verne Damien 0--Foothill scored twice in the last five minutes to advance. David McAuley beat three players and scored from the top of the box in the 75th minute and Rafael Elias scored on a breakaway five minutes later.
Mater Dei 4, Villa Park 0--Randy Poggio scored in the game’s first minute for Mater Dei (22-2-4) before Eric Rolwing put the Monarchs up, 2-0, three minutes into the second half. Juan Gutierrez and Carlos Zepeda also scored in the second half. The Monarchs play Quartz Hill Friday.
