Carlmont senior midfielder Josh Barde said he had scored a late equalizer during a preseason game in December.
“It was not as exciting as this one,” Barde said.
Bard’s goal in the second minute of stoppage time forged a 2-2 with visiting Aragon in the regular-season finale for both squads Friday in Belmont.
It was a special game for Carlmont (3-4-3 PAL Bay, 12 points, 5-4-4 overall). Not only was it Senior Day for the Scots’ 13 seniors, the tie gave them one more point toward their goal of making the Central Coast Section playoffs.
“I think we’re going to CCS,” Barde said. “I hope this isn’t a goodbye.”
Big picture, however, Carlmont’s draw had bigger implications: it denied the Dons an outright Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title. Aragon (6-1-3, 21 points, 10-4-5) came into the match with a 2-point lead over Burlingame, which had dropped its first game of the season Wednesday, which enabled the Dons to leapfrog the Panthers in the standings.
Aragon’s tie gave the Dons another point, but Burlingame’s 2-0 win over San Mateo gave them three points and meant the Dons and Panthers (6-1-3, 21 points) share the Bay Division crown.
Never has a tie felt so much like a loss, as far as Aragon was concerned. Twice the Dons went up by a goal and each time, Carlmont answered.
“Yeah, we tied (for the division championship), but it doesn’t feel like it,” said an emotional Joe Rousseau, Aragon’s head coach.
As the Dons were trying to burn off the final minutes of stoppage time, Carlmont’s prayers were answered. Earning a throw-in deep in Aragon territory, Carlmont’s Hayes Gaboury launched a long throw into the middle of the Aragon penalty box. Bard managed to get his head to the ball first, looping it over Aragon defender Alex Lopez and into the net to set off a celebration.
“We lost to them earlier in the season. We were still bitter about that,” Barde said. “The boys really showed some heart.”
Barde’s equalizer capped a game that saw both teams give as good as they got. Carlmont managed to blunt Aragon’s attack for most of the game, one that is dependent on speed and skill. Get the Dons’ forwards into space—watch out. But the Scots defense did a good job of limiting the Dons’ through passes.
After the teams battled to a stalemate for much of the first half, both teams saw golden opportunities go by the board in the final minutes. First, it appeared Aragon’s Alexis Villanueva was in on goal, only for the play to be called back for offside in the 40th minute.
A minute later, a Carlmont shot from 25 yards forced Aragon goalkeeper Taj Gadiraju to make a dive to his right to push the ball wide to preserve the scoreless tie at halftime.
In the second half, the offenses started to heat up and it started with a brilliant goal from Aragon’s Villanueva, who proved the Dons’ midfielder/striker needs but a sliver of space to make things happen.
A long pass over the top of the Carlmont defense became a race between Villanueva and Carlmont’s Ivan Krassiev. Villanueva got to the ball first and cut back inside of Krassiev, putting him on his shoulder as he broke in on goal.
Carlmont goalkeeper Hudson Fox charged off his line to cut down the angle, but Villanueva used the outside of his left foot to chip the ball over Fox and watched as it bounced into the empty net for a 1-0 lead in the 44th minute, setting off a wild celebration on the sideline with Villanueva and the Dons’ bench.
Less than a minute later, the game was tied. Shortly after the restart, David Valadez scored for Carlmont to knot the game at a goal apiece.
Villanueva nearly connected on an identical play as his first goal in the 52nd minute, but this time, Carlmont’s Fox managed to get a hand on it, just enough to see the ball bounce wide and was cleared away by the Scots defense.
In the 64th minute, Villanueva became the set-up man. Receiving the ball at midfield, he deftly flicked a ball into space, enabling Kevin Marroquin-Mayen to break in on goal. Like his running mate Villanueva, Marroquin-Mayen chipped a shot over the Carlmont keeper to put the Dons up 2-1 and they were 16 minutes from the Bay Division title.
“[Villanueva and Marroquin-Mayen] are very special. They’re like family to me,” said Rousseau of the two four-year varsity starters.
“I wanted this (Bay championship) for those guys. All the seniors.”
A one-time laser off the foot of Carlmont’s Kotaro Kikuchi was denied in the 69th minute and in the 75th minute, Ryan Yang curled a shot just wide of the goal.
But the Scots kept pushing and the hard work paid off.
“We played a great game,” Barde said.
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