ESCONDIDO — Through 70 minutes of Tuesday’s CIF Southern California Regional boys soccer championships, second-seeded San Pasqual had a number of opportunities at home against No. 7 La Verne Bonita.
The Golden Eagles had led 8-1 in corner kicks and had many looks at the net.
Things changed in the 75th minute, when San Pasqual’s Dylan Bissember crossed it to Mario Enriquez, who headed it into the net to spark a 1-0 win. San Pasqual will host No. 3 Sultana on Thursday at 5 p.m.
“I noticed my other center midfielders, they were kind of back and I saw Dylan,” Enriquez said. “We play on the same club team. I knew he was going to find my head, so I just ran in, and it landed right on my head.
“Before every game, Dylan and I run that same type of cross and definitely in practice when we do small-sided games when we’re on the same team.”
San Pasqual coach John Burson told Bissember to trust his non-dominant leg.
“He’s a left-footed player,” Burson said, “(and) trusting his right to get onto the cross and it was perfectly waited.
“Mario’s an ultimate captain for us. He made the difference in that key moment, key goal. So, I’m really happy about that. That moment was fantastic.”
Burson knows his team did not play its best against the Bearcats (14-7), but will gladly take the victory.
“It wasn’t one of our better performances,” he said, “but finding a way to win in a state game is an accomplishment, so I’ll take that.”
The Golden Eagles (19-4-3), who lost in overtime to top-seeded Del Norte in the CIF-San Diego Section Open Division semifinals, had many chances as the game went along. They had five corner kicks in the first half compared with the Bearcats’ one.
“You felt like it was coming,” Burson said. “The fact that we’re putting ourselves in good spots, was at least like, ‘It’s imminent and it’s going to be there.’”
One of the biggest challenges taking on Bonita was the unfamiliarity and the fatigue of taking on a team outside San Diego.
“We’re not really familiar with the teams from the Southern Section,” Enriquez said. “It’s hard to get film on them. A lot of our San Diego teams haven’t played them, so that’s a little bit tougher to get insight.”
