Coming off a thrilling first round victory where penalty kicks were the decisive factor against Carlsbad High School, the SDA Mustang soccer team traveled to Torrey Pines to take on the Falcons in the semifinals of the CIF Open Division for the right to play for the championship on Tuesday. The Mustangs came in as an underdog being the number four seed while the Falcons held the number one seed in the competitive Open Division. Although the Mustangs had previously lost to the Falcons three times earlier in the season, they entered with a confidence as they had played with the Falcons all three times losing by one goal.

The game started out fast as both teams created chances early on. SDA had a large home crowd behind them supporting and screaming each time a chance to take the lead appeared. Early on, SDA had many small opportunities that never came through as the Falcon’s defense held strong.

It seemed as if the Mustangs would break through with 16 minutes left in the first half after a Falcon player was called for a foul in range for the Mustangs to play a ball into the box. The Mustang crowd sensed this as the entire student section including a student dressed up as a Mustang with an SDA jersey rose to their feet to prepare for a potential goal and early lead.

As the ball was played in the air the crowd went silent as it seemed to lob in forever. Then SDA senior Nathaniel Bloom rose high into the air to meet the ball and got a hold of the ball with his head. Bloom smashed the ball with his head into the top crossbar as only it could have stopped the Mustangs from gaining the lead. As the crowd was in shock that the ball did not go in, the ball came to senior Bryce Ayers who finally put the ball in. However, the referees called  Ayers offside, angering the Mustang crowd who were denied the first lead of the game.

Furthermore, throughout the rest of the first half, Mustang fans and parents were constantly yelling from the stands at the refs that  Falcon players were “flopping” whenever they were touched and were being awarded free kicks.

Nonetheless, the crowd erupted into cheers as the half neared when SDA Sophomore Jonathan Sabouri received a pass and dribbled past his opponent, making him fall. Although there were many chances for the rest of the first half for the Mustangs, they were unable to convert.

The next best chance for the Mustangs came when a foul was called against the Falcons and SDA senior Robert Miller lined up for a free kick within striking range. However, he was unable to put the Mustangs in the lead as his shot was deflected. Miller was coming off of last game when he hit an insane free kick that tied up the game against Carlsbad which the Mustangs then eventually won.

The deadlock was broken with four minutes remaining in the first half as a Falcons player headed home the first goal of the game off of a corner kick to give the Falcons the one goal lead at half. This awakened the relatively quiet Torrey Pine’s crowd.

As the second half began, the Falcons began to settle in and had many good chances including a long range shot that missed just over the top of the crossbar. The Mustangs fired back with energy with nearly 30 minutes remaining as Miller had a great opportunity on goal that was missed just wide much to the crowd’s dismay; however, the Mustang crowd got back into it constantly chanting “SDA, SDA.”

The Mustang were quieted a bit as the Falcons fans went crazy when a Falcons player took one touch and blasted in a long range goal with 21 minutes left in the game to extend the lead to 2-0.

After that, the game slowed down as SDA attempted to push forward but did not have many chances until with 14 minutes left, SDA senior Owen Ereso seemingly scored a goal; however, it was again determined by the refs that Ereso was offside and another goal was disallowed. At this point, the Mustang crowd was infuriated questioning the ref’s controversial goals as it appeared there was no infraction made. This was highlighted when one fan shouted, “This is a ploy.”

At this point the Mustangs had not given up as they pushed numbers forward trying to get back in the game but were never able to close the gap. However, late in extra time, the Falcons scored another goal on the break which highlighted a disappointing finish to the Mustangs season, but they had nothing to be ashamed of after having a great season and making it to the semifinals in the top division of CIF. Although they lost in CIF, it is still possible that the Mustangs soccer team could advance to the state tournament which would give them another chance to prove themselves.