Soccer: Santana Boys, Girls Both Eliminate Ramona

A pair of magical flicks of the boot allowed both Santana High soccer teams to post opening-round victories in the CIF Division III soccer championships. And thanks to the pairings devised by the San Diego Section offices, both genders eliminated Ramona High to advance to the quarterfinals.

On the girls side, Sierra Siebern cut a deep angle shot into the goal to unlock a tied ballgame, giving Santana a 2-1 verdict over the Lady Dawgs in Wednesday's contest at Santee Community Stadium.

Just 24 hours earlier, T.J. Perez headed a ball to himself for a full volley blast in overtime, leading the boys squad to a 1-0 road victory at Ramona.

Girls: A lackluster first-half performance by Santana allowed the Ramona combination of Briana Gansch and Silvia Corona to convert for a 1-0 lead.

With both players filling lanes along the left wing, the give-and-go saw Gansch first pass to Corona, themnust hustle deep to the corner to accept the return pass. While the Santana defense waited for the centering pass, Gansch instead elevated the ball over the goalie and found the side netting on a perfect placement.

In the second half, Santana turned on the pressure to turn the game around, gaining the equalizer when a seemingly safe back pass slid past the Ramona goalie for an own goal just four minutes after the intermission. So the Sultans kept pressing, forcing numerous turnovers in the attack zone.

"We knew we could score. We came so close several times in the first half," noted Siebern. "So when Shelby (Higgins) got the ball at the 15, she was able to find me."

Higgins held the ball for just a moment longer than usual while waiting for support, then dished to the right wing. Siebern collected the ball only five yards from the sideline, yet was able to lift the ball in a mirror effort of Gansch's earlier shot, finding the left-side netting in the 49th minute.

Ramona stormed back with three quality chances over the final 10 minutes. Santana freshman goalie Hailey Gerry recorded a pair of nice stops to protect the lead, but on a try at goal by the Dawgs' Samantha Schmidt, the keeper needed some extra help.

Sultans defender Paisley Rice held her position behind her goalie, who came out to cut down the angle. But when the ball skipped past Gerry, Rice was able to clear it off of the goal line in the 72nd minute to prevent overtime.

"Hailey had to come out, so I just stayed back to cover for her," said Rice, the center fullback. "I try to envision plays like that, so I knew exactly what to do and clear the ball."

Gerry finished with six saves (five in the second half) for Santana (15-9-1), which advances to Saturday's round of eight to meet second-seeded La Jolla (11-4-3). Ramona's season ends with the Bulldogs posting a 7-15-0 record.

  Boys: Santana goalie Stephen Gotses registered a remarkable 24 saves–the highest total by a Sultans backstop in at least a decade–for his shutout victory after Perez tallied an equally remarkable goal in overtime to shock the favored Bulldogs.

For Gotses, it was the most saves by a Sultans goalie since the start of the millenium. Staffers believe it might also be a school record for most saves in a shutout.

The game's lone goal came on the counter-attack, as freshman Gary Keiser found a breaking Perez for a three-on-one break. Perez then headed the ball ahead while racing forward, and with Ramona's fullbacks in the process of turning, Perez was able to beat the defense and smack a full volley into the net.

"It was a great play and a great shot," noted Gotses. "Not only did P.J. make a great play to get the shot, the shot hit the bottom of the crossbar into the goal–no goalie can stop that kind of shot."

Santana (10-12-2), the No. 9 seed, advances to meet top-rated St. Augustine (12-3-4) in Friday's quarterfinals at 5 p.m. Ramona's campaign ends at 10-13-3.