Estancia boys score a wild CIF victory

Eagles score in the 78th minute after missing two penalty kicks to capture wild-card win and move on to Friday’s first round.LA HABRA -- If you would have told Estancia High boys’ soccer coach Gannon Burks that his team would miss two penalty kicks and sophomore forward Eric Duarte would finish the game as the team’s goalkeeper, he wouldn’t have liked his chances of winning Wednesday’s CIF Southern Section Division III wild-card game against host La Habra.

But that’s exactly what happened, and the Eagles still managed to pull out a 1-0 victory over the Highlanders to advance to the first round of the playoffs against No. 3 seed California High on Friday at California High in Whittier.

With two missed penalty kicks behind them, the Eagles finally found the back of the net in the 78th minute. Christian Celis passed the ball to Hector Diaz, who deflected it with his chest to Duarte down the right side. Duarte came in on La Habra goalkeeper Jose Hernandez and put the ball in the upper right corner of the net from 15 yards out to give Estancia a 1-0 lead.

“My brother saved us both after we missed those penalty kicks,” senior Pedro Duarte said. Eric Duarte’s goal came at the tail end of a second half the Eagles dominated after a shaky first half.

After Eric Duarte was knocked down in La Habra’s 18-yard box early in the first half, Burks let the first-year starter take the ensuing penalty kick. But Eric Duarte, the MVP on last year’s Estancia junior varsity team, went low right with his shot and Hernandez made a feet-first sliding save.

The Eagles dodged a couple of bullets in the next 20 minutes, letting Highlander players free in their box on too many occasions.

La Habra’s Greg Francis found the ball at his feet after a deflection near midfield as he came in on Estancia goalkeeper Marco Burciaga. But Burciaga charged Francis and smothered the ball before he got a shot off to foil the scoring opportunity.

The Eagles, with the wind to their backs, put constant pressure on the Highlander defense in the second half.

For the second time in the game, Eric Duarte was tripped in the penalty box with about 10 minutes left and the Eagles had another chance to take the lead courtesy of a penalty kick.

It was decision time for Burks. Would he let Eric Duarte, who drew the foul, take the kick, or would he go with Eric’s older brother, Pedro Duarte, who leads the team in goals with 10?

“The second time, I picked Pedro because he’s our captain and he’s our best player,” Burks said. “If we win, we want to win it with our captain. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best kick.”

Pedro Duarte went low-left, but Hernandez was there again to make the diving save.

Missing two penalty kicks in one game might have been a recipe for disaster, but the Eagles (12-10-1) kept the offensive pressure on La Habra and broke through less than 10 minutes later.

In injury time, Burciaga was kicked by La Habra’s Robert Vilchez as they both went for a loose ball near the Estancia net. Burciaga got to the ball first, but rolled around in apparent pain after the play.

La Habra’s trainer ran onto the field. Burciaga insisted he was OK, but had to leave the field for a substitute. So Eric Duarte -- the closest thing Estancia has to a backup goalie -- had to put on a goalkeeper’s shirt over his regular jersey and finish the game in goal. He didn’t have to face any shots.

Had Burks known what would transpire in the game, would he have anticipated a victory for the Eagles?

“I’ll be candid -- no,” Burks said. “When we missed the first one, I thought we could recover. When we missed the second one, I was a little worried.”

Eric Duarte said he was relieved to have a second chance after missing his penalty kick.

“I had to do it for the seniors,” he said.

La Habra, which finished the regular season in third place in the Freeway League, ends with a 13-7-4 record.

CIF Southern Section Division III

Wild-card round

Estancia 1, La Habra 0

Score by Halves