The third-place Napa High boys soccer team snapped an 11-game Big Game losing streak by battling second-place Vintage to a 0-0 tie in a Vine Valley Athletic League thriller Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.
It’s the first tie between the crosstown rivals since they deadlocked 1-1 on Sept. 15, 2014 — a good omen for Vintage, since that was the season the Crushers capped with their most recent section title.
But the last scoreless tie in Big Game boys soccer was 10 seasons ago, way back on Sept. 22, 2010.
With many of the best high school players in the valley on one field, one team usually catches the other sleeping near the end of the first half or the game. But the teams’ talented defenses held this year, with Napa High junior goalkeeper Gabriel “Titi” Orozco stealing the show with spectacular saves.
“Our defense came together with our great goalie,” Napa High head coach Rafa Ayala said. “I’m just in awe of how great Titi is and how he takes command of the field. He’s just our general.
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“I’m proud of all my kids. At the beginning we were a team without an identity, but we traveled far (for road games) — to Valley Christian, St. Ignatius, the De La Salle Showcase — so we’re seasoned. There’s been a lot of ups and a lot of downs, but I’m super proud of my boys. They have class and they respect everybody in the league. I’m so happy for them.”
Vintage co-coach Javier Covarrubias seemed as surprised as anybody in the stadium that Vintage didn’t score. He said Sergio Hernandez, Rommel Gomez, Gustavo Avina, Jared Barbosa, Anthony Stainer and Jose Rosales all gave strong efforts.
“We threw pretty much every attacking player we have at them to kind of change things up to see if we could finally break through, just trying to get that last touch,” he explained. “We got there. We created opportunities. It was so close. We just needed that one last little touch to put it in the net. Tweety, their goalkeeper, made a lot of good saves, and credit to Napa High. Defensively they did a good job.
“Both teams always play hard. Both teams want to come out with a victory. Today both teams played to a tie, but it was a good, exciting game. It was fun. These games as the ones you want to coach in. It’s a good atmosphere with a good crowd and you know both teams are going to battle and compete hard. These are the ones we always look forward to.”
Vintage (12-3-4, 7-1-1 VVAL) is now only one point, 23-22, behind first-place Casa Grande (7-0-2 VVAL) in the standings while Napa (6-6-5 , 4-2-2 VVAL) has 14 points.
“It’s a game of chances and tonight we just couldn’t put ours away,” Vintage co-coach Alex Feliciano said. “Credit to their goalkeeper and their defence. They did what they had to do to keep us out. It was a great game, a well-fought battle by both teams. When you play in a Big Game like you expect to play with heart and leave it all on the field and that’s exactly what they did.
“A draw is fair result for both teams. They both battled, they both played hard. It was a great atmosphere, just what you want from a Big Game. Both sides were loud and raucous and brought energy and the players really feed off that. That’s what these experiences are all about for a high school kid. They’re going to remember this for a long, long time. And the atmosphere is about playing in Memorial Stadium, a beautiful venue, and having your peers supporting you and rooting you on, so it’s fun. It’s always fun.”
Vintage has another big game at noon Saturday, when it visits Casa Grande for a chance to take over first place.
Napa plays next at 9 am Saturday at fifth-place Justin-Siena (4-8-1, 2-5-1 VVAL), hoping to bring the same Big Game energy to an early game.
“Both Vintage and Napa played awesome, and they’re all great kids. My hat’s off to both programs. They both did a great job,” Ayala said. “A win would have been nice, but 0-0 is great. Awesome, awesome game on both sides.”
Dean Ruggiero contributed to this story.
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