Crescenta Valley Victorious in Overtime

Mother Nature was certainly present when Crescenta Valley High hosted Diamond Bar in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division IV boys’ soccer playoffs.

The constant rain took both teams out of their respective styles of play and the match turned into a tug-of-war that the Falcons won 3-2 in sudden-death overtime on a goal by junior midfielder Alex Berger.

“I think the weather that affected us is what affected them as well,” CV coach Kiel
McClung said. Berger scored the winning goal in the 85th minute, directly from a corner kick.

“He pretty much curved it in from the corner. We had a corner kick and we hoped to score and at that point I don’t care who scored,” McClung said. “But the fact that Alex was able to bend it in from the corner -- it was a phenomenal goal. It was a bit of luck that the ball was not cleared. At the same time there is a bit of luck needed to win a championship.”

Diamond Bar coach Kemp Wells was disappointed at how the game ended because he believed the Falcons didn't earn the corner kick.

“It is kind of indicative of how things have gone for us all year. [The referee] calls a corner on absolute nonsense,” Wells said. “I don’t see how our guy touched it. It came off the backside of the play and it came off their guy and they claimed it came off our stopper. There is no way it came off him, the ball was already behind him.”

Diamond Bar (13-8-3) got on the board in the 26th minute when rain got to CV goalie Nick Ruiz. Ruiz appeared to have saved a free kick by Brahmas’ forward Neil
Ignacio. But the ball slipped off his wet goalie gloves and into the net.

CV (14-2-5) tied things in the 37th minute when Michael Shahnazarians’ low free kick was able to get past the Diamond Bar wall and into the left corner of the goal.

After CV star Pavle Atanackovic was relatively quiet in the first half, he began to get
more involved in the Falcon attack in the second half. He finally found the back of the net in the 58th minute as he fired a rocket off a low free kick cross from Berger. It was his 32nd goal of the year.

Just when the Falcons looked like they would hold on in regular time, the Brahmas
showed they still weren’t finished. Ignacio, who has committed to UC Riverside, was able gain control of a long free kick cross from Alex Perez. Ignacio snuck in past the Falcon defense and was able to take a shot that Ruiz blocked. Ignacio followed up on the rebound and scored the game-tying goal.

“We play our guts out every game,” Wells said of his team. “Weather conditions hurt our touches, which are usually better. You couldn’t see how our boys move the ball around. I’m real proud of how they fought all year long.”