Tigers chasing down history

The Imperial boys soccer team looks to capture first CIF Division title in program history

IMPERIAL, Calif. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - The Imperial Tigers strong season continues on Thursday night at Rancho Bernardo High School for the CIF Division V Championship against Mount Miguel.

"I think the pressure is going to be there regardless," Tiger head coach Marco Aguilera said. "It's a championship game. They are going to have the pressure of, we have to win this championship. They are not just thinking about themselves, they're thinking about their family, friends, school, they're thinking about us as coaches. The time everyone puts into the season."

Imperial enters the contest as the Imperial Valley League champions in which they finished undefeated at 8-0. Imperial has won 10 games in a row including a thrilling 5-4 penalty kick upset of top seed Calvin Christian in the wind and rain on Tuesday night.

"Being from the valley, we don't see a lot of rain," Aguilera said. "It's either hot or it's cold but you don't see a lot of rain. For them in San Diego it's normal. I thought it would be difficult for us to catch up."

Calvin Christian scored first in the 23rd minute of the first half, despite several close calls on their goal by the Imperial forwards.  Imperial scored the tying goal with three minutes left in the first half, goal scored by Demian Espinoza off an assist from Sebastian Gutierrez.

The second half remained scoreless after several close shots by both teams.  The game moved onto overtime, playing one 15 minute half.  The game remained scoreless through overtime sending the game to penalties.  

In penalties, game remained tied after the first round and each team had a missed penalty.  In sudden death penalty kicks, Calvin Christian missed their shot while Demian Espinoza’s shot finished on the back of the net giving Imperial their pass to the CIF Division 5 Championship game.  

Daniel Ortega, Leonardo Lopez, Saul Gonzalez and Sebastian Gutierrez scored in the first round of penalties. Imperial’s goalkeeper Lenny Garcia played an outstanding game and blocked several shots through the game despite the inclement weather.  

"The school has never won CIF in this sport," Aguilera said. "It'd be a first time for them and it's going to be in the record books and stay there forever."

To make history, the Tigers will face the Matadors of Mount Miguel High School. Imperial lost to Mount Miguel 1-0 in the preseason. Imperial is the #4 seed and Mount Miguel is #6. Both entered by way of winning on penalty kicks. Just because Imperial is the higher seed, doesn't mean the matchup is in their favor.

"Both teams are different now," Aguilera said. "I don't know if they have different players, hurt players. I know we're healthy and at 100 percent. There's no words to describe how they {Imperial players} feel right now, they deserve it."