South Placer Boys' Soccer roundup: Golden Eagles advance to section semis after scoring three late goals

Soccer playoff action is heating up around the area and there are three teams that still remain in the hunt for a Sac-Joaquin Section title. Whitney is the number two seed in Division I while Granite Bay and Del Oro are the top two seeds, respectively, in Division II. Here is a look into how each team has been playing. Del Oro High The Golden Eagles were down 1-0 going into the final 15 minutes against Cordova on Tuesday, but scored three late goals to come away with a 3-2 win and make it to the section semifinals. "We struggled to go forward all season, but when it came down to it, they realized they had to go forward and when we did so, we were very successful," coach David Shiro said. "It's nice to see they have that kind of heart and there were a lot of things that were up and down at the very end of the game." Cordova sophomore Giovanni Reyes scored the first goal of the game with a left-footed strike into the top corner from 25 yards out. Del Oro senior Jake Goehring evened the score at 1-1 with a free kick in the top corner in the 68th minute and Keith Willey gave Del Oro the lead with a strike four minutes later. It appeared that the Golden Eagles had won but the Lancers were awarded with a free kick in added time and they scored from a header to even the score once again at 2-2. Del Oro had one more chance from the kickoff at midfield and after a few passes, Willey slotted it home for his second goal, giving the Golden Eagles the victory. "I saw the ball get crossed in behind me and I looked back at Max Oshetski head the ball to me and I was able to volley it in," Willey said. "Sophomore year, we got to section semifinals and lost, so I want to get back at it and make the finals." In their opening round game against Rodriguez on Feb. 10, Willey also scored two goals in the 5-0 win with the others coming from Jake Shiro, Jackson McBroom and Wyatt Keller. Granite Bay High The Grizzlies won their first two playoff games against Johnson 5-0 on Feb. 10 and then defeated Gregori 2-1 on Tuesday. Luke Garman and Thualfikar Alsakati both scored twice against Johnson while Talan Rochelle also added a goal. Granite Bay was down 1-0 at halftime against Gregori but came back and scored two goals in the second half from Rochelle and Salamah Salem to win. Whitney High The Wildcats, who are currently the 32nd-ranked team in the country, according to MaxPreps, dominated their first round matchup against Pleasant Grove on Feb. 10, winning 4-0. Brayden Goularte had two goals and an assist while Jackson Garza added two goals of his own. "We like to use our strong midfielders to connect with our wingers and I think having confidence and trusting each other on and off the field is the first thing to a team's success," Garza said. "We are working hard in practices and doing everything we can to be prepared for these upcoming games." Whitney had 10 shots on goal in the contest while limiting the Eagles to only two. The Wildcats faced Bella Vista in the second round on Tuesday and won 3-0 to progress to the semifinals. Drew Krawiec scored two goals while Goularte added a third. Robbie Mora-Arias finished with two assists. Woodcreek High The Timberwolves fought hard to send their first round game against Central Valley into a penalty shootout on Feb. 10. It was a 0-0 game before the Hawks bested Woodcreek 5-4 in the shootout. Central Valley had 29 total shots with four on goal while the Timberwolves had six shots on goal. The loss ends a season where Woodcreek went 7-7-4 finishing fourth in the Capital Valley Conference. Ethan Downie led in goals with three while junior goalkeeper Ethan Sullivan totaled 58 saves.