BOYS’ SOCCER ROUNDUP : Mater Dei Takes Marina Title in Overtime

With less than one minute remaining in overtime, Mater Dei freshman Greg Bechtold took a pass from Kris Hulgreen in front of the net and slammed the ball past the Clovis goalkeeper, Aaron Bryan, earning the Monarchs a 2-1 victory Thursday and a championship in the Marina boys’ soccer tournament.

Mater Dei (8-2-1), last season’s Southern Section champion, pressured Bryan throughout the overtime period, with junior Ara Akoubian narrowly missing the goal wide left earlier in the period, before Bechtold broke free and scored the winning goal.

Both teams moved the ball well and had ample opportunities to score during the game, but Mater Dei broke through the Clovis defense first. Freshman Giancarlo Barzotti sailed a shot past Bryan with 11 minutes left in regulation, giving the Monarchs a 1-0 lead.

The Mater Dei defense and senior goalkeeper Paul Gerdis, who gave up only two goals in the tournament, held off the Cougars (10-2-1) for most of the game, but with less than four minutes remaining in regulation Curt Posey passed the ball into Marty Zubiri, who put a header into the right corner of the goal beyond Gerdis’ reach.