It happened so quickly in a matter of second. The Porterville High boys soccer players were celebrating while technically not a Golden Goal, certainly in reality at Golden Goal that would send them to their second straight Central Section Division III title.
Camilio Pulido was at the edge of the goal when he took the ball that was deflected by a defender after a scramble in the goal box and sent it into the upper corner of the net with a little more than a minute left in the second 10-minute overtime to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead and PHS went onto the 2-1 win over Fresno on Tuesday at Rankin Stadium.
PHS again advanced to the State Regional Playoffs with the seedings to be announced on Sunday. The playoffs will begin with the quarterfinals in games scheduled for 5 p.m. this Tuesday. The Panthers finished as State Runners-up last year.
After Pulido scored his goal all of the Panthers players on the field and on the bench ran toward Pulido to give him an absolute pounding.
The moment happened so fast even Pulido had a hard time describing what happened. “I don't know I just kicked it,” he said. “Happily it went in.”
But Pulido actually fulfilled the faith PHS coach Eddie Gutierrez had in him after Gutierrez put Pulido into the game in the second half to give the Panthers fresh legs. Pulido said Gutierrez knew he would be “coming with 110 percent.” And about the goal, Pulido added “I knew I had it in me.”
Gutierrez wasn't so sure as with about three minutes left in the second overtime he began considering who he wanted to use in the penalty kicks that would have been needed to determine the outcome if not for Pulido's goal. “To be honest with you I was working on my list for penalty kicks,” Gutierrez said.
But thanks to Pulido's goal the Panthers won their second straight title under Gutierrez as a coach. Gutierrez also won a Valley title under legendary coach Fran Nuno at PHS as a player. So no wonder after the game Gutierrez said, “Panther pride is second to none.”
About Pulido's goal Gutierrez said “it went right into the corner. Happy for that kid, too. He's a good kid.”
And even though Gutierrez was preparing for the penalty kicks he did say he knew “we we're getting there. We were getting close,” about possibly scoring a game-winning goal.
Pulido's heroics wouldn't have been possible if not for the heroics of goalie Antonio Baez, who made several stops on breakaways against a Fresno team that showed how dangerous it could be on the long ball with its speed.
“That kid is something special,” Gutierrez said. “He's a leader. He brings the guys along. He's something else.”
And after winning the section title last year, Gutierrez said Baez told him, “We're going to come back and get another one.”
A key moment in the game came late in the first half after Fresno had scored on a breakaway to take a 1-0 lead. Just moments later Fresno appeared to be on its way to scoring on another breakaway to take a 2-0 lead but Baez came out to stop the threat.
Then just moments later Edwin Nava sent a perfectly placed crossing pass to Efren Herrera in front of the goal and Herrera scored on a header to tie the score 1-1 for PHS with a little more than 1 minute left in the first half.
“”Oh my goodness Edwin got a ball and just placed it right in line with Efrain's head,” Gutierrez said. “And Efrain finished with the header.”
Porterville dominated the first 20 minutes of the game with numerous excellent chances but couldn't break through. Early in the game the Fresno goalie made a diving stop on a shot by Reynaldo Vargas.
Later Alejandro Baez sent a corner kick in which Rafael Gonzalez sent toward the goal with a header but a Fresno defender cleared the ball.
Herrera later had a shot bounce of the top post. Alejandro Baez then had a shot that appeared to be heading into the goal but again a Fresno defender was able to clear it.
Another key moment came in the second half when Baez was able to come out on a breakaway and make a leaping catch of the ball that would have gone into the net if it made it over his head.
PHS almost won it in regulation with about 1 minute left when Nava's shot bounced off the side post. Before Pulido's game-winner just moments earlier PHS almost took the lead when Herrera's shot was deflected by the Fresno goalie off the top post.
Before each season Gutierrez says it could be his last as a coach but he said on Tuesday he expects to coach for at least a couple more years although he did admit “it would be nice to ride off into the sunset” after winning back-to-back titles.
As far as the state playoffs, Gutierrez said, “I don't know what to expect. It would be nice to have a home game.” Last year PHS had to play all three of its state playoff games on the road.
“With this group, I'll be honest with you, anything's possible,” Gutierrez said. “We are going to give it everything we've got. When we're on, I think we're tough to beat.”