Petaluma soccer team makes history

The Petaluma High School boys soccer team wrote a new chapter in the storied history of Trojan athletics Saturday night, winning the first North Coast Section boys soccer championship for the school.

Making history wasn’t easy.

It took a last-minute goal by Kevin Rojas in the second overtime to give Petaluma a 3-2 win over persistent Fortuna in the finals of the Division I playoffs.

Rojas left-footed in a cross from teammate Alex Sosa from about 20 yards out to finally end a nerve-fraying battle that ping-ponged back and forth throughout a chilly fall evening at Elsie Allen High School, host for three NCS championship matchups on a super soccer Saturday.

In the other games, Sonoma Academy defeated St. Vincent, 2-1, to win the girls Division III championship and Maria Carrillo’s girls downed Montgomery, 2-0, to claim the Division I girls pennant.

“I wasn’t even expecting it,” Rojas said of his history-making goal. “Alex crossed it to me and I just kicked it in.

“This feels great. To win the NCS championship is great, especially in my senior year.”

Even before reaching the finals, the NCS road was rocky for the Trojans, who earned the No. 1 seed and a fist-round bye after winning their second straight Sonoma County League championship.

Petaluma had to survive a shootout after opening the playoffs with a 0-0 tie against Fortuna before penalty kicks by Tyler Guptill, Rojas, Luis Rodriguez-Flores, Ethan Watter and Dino Santia gave the Trojans the 5-3 victory.

Petaluma then reached the finals with a 2-0 win over SCL rival Healdsburg.

Although Petaluma coach Greg Lumansky had anticipated Fortuna being one of the top teams in the playoffs, the 18-3-4 Huskies were seeded just No. 10 going in. That didn’t stop them from battling into the finals with a 5-4 win over Gateway, a 3-2 victory over Kelseyville and a 1-0 shutout of Lick-Wilmerding.

Nor did it stop the Huskies from giving the Trojans all they could handle in the championship game.

Petaluma pretty much had the upper hand in the first half, but it wasn’t until the period was almost half over that the Trojans were able to put the ball into the back of the net.

Marco Silveira, a game-long standout in the Trojan attack, slammed a shot that looked like a certain goal, but the Fortuna keeper deflected his effort. Fortunately for the Trojans, Sosa was there to clean up with a shot into the almost empty net for a 1-0 Trojan lead.

It was a different match in the second half, with Fortuna taking the momentum into Trojan territory.

“In the first half we controlled things pretty well,” said Lumansky, “but we couldn’t match their energy in the second half.”

Fortuna’s forays into the Petaluma end of the field were finally rewarded when Julian Urbina managed to get a ball past Petaluma goalie Javier Borras, who made several difficult saves.

It looked as though Petaluma might have put the game away when Waters lofted in a free kick from about 20 yards away for a 2-1 Petaluma lead.

With Petaluma digging in behind a strong defense in front of Borras and the ball-handling of all-field standout Guptill, it looked as though the lead might stand.

But, with time blinking away, Martin Calderon bounced a goal just out of reach of a diving Borras to tie the game and extend the tension.

Through two 10-minute extra periods, the teams punched and counter-punched, with neither delivering a knockout goal until Rojas made the most of his opportunity with the clock stuck on the final minute.

Lumansky noted that Petaluma made adjustments on the fly all season.

“All you can do is keep playing,” he said. “We are used to moving things around. This team just never gave up.”

Petaluma finished the season with a 17-3-2 record.