No. 2 South Pasadena boys’ soccer upset by Tahquitz

SOUTH PASADENA — It what could simply be defined as a major upset, the South Pasadena High boys’ soccer team was defeated in its playoff opener Friday night.

The Titans went into the CIF Southern Section Division V tournament as the No. 2 seed after sharing the Rio Hondo League title with La Cañada — the program’s first since 1997.

South Pasadena, ranked 59th in the state and 137 nationally by Maxpreps, had not lost a match since its lone loss of the regular season back on Dec. 17.

The unbeaten streak was unexpectedly snapped when the visiting Titans scored the first-round playoff game’s only goal in the second 10-minute sudden-death session — moments before penalty kicks would have determined a winner — for a 1-0 win at South Pasadena High.

“I didn’t want to go to penalty kicks,” said Tigers Coach Juan Zurita after Tahquitz’ Mitchell Mendez connected on the game-winning goal off a corner. “The way we played, we deserved to win. I’m sure they felt the same way.”

Mendez’ goal left the South Pasadena side of the field devastated, but silence quickly turned into the Tigers’ fans congratulating them on a great season with a standing ovation.

Coach Zurita was also able to put the season in context.

“I cannot be more proud,” he said of the team’s 14-2-3 overall record, including an undefeated 7-0-3 league campaign. “We worked so hard all year. I’m happy with the whole performance all season.”

The Tigers had good looks at the goal themselves, particularly in the two extra halves.

Tahquitz goalkeeper Bruce Sanchez had a stellar game, however, and kept the five shots on goal in the extra frames outside the net.

“I told the team our keeper had saves for a reason and that reason came in the end,” said Tahquitz Coach Hugo Gorosave, whose squad is 11-8-5.

“This is a huge upset,” he added. “Soccer — you have to love it and you have to hate it.”

South Pasadena, a team consisting of only three seniors, concludes its season earlier than expected, but is sure to be a favorite in the Rio Hondo League next year.

“This isn’t the game I want to lose, but it did happen,” Zurita said. “I would count 15 to 20 shots we had good looks at, but their keeper just made the saves.”