Kofa boys soccer pulls off road upset in penalty kicks, advance in 5A state tournament

Two Diego Valadez penalty kicks save the King's season at Lake Havasu

YUMA, Ariz., (KYMA, KECY) - The road to the 5A state tournament turned out to be a wild ride for the Kofa boys soccer team. On Tuesday night, that ride added a little extra spice to it - ending in a playoff win.

At the end of regulation and an overtime period at Lake Havasu, the Kings found themselves headed to penalty kicks with their season on the line against the No. 5 seed. Now set up perfectly for a big first round upset.

The state's leading scorer, Tiernan Nicewander knocked in the first shot for the crimson and white, followed by a big time save by Diego Valadez. After Evan LaRue scored on the next Kofa attempt, Valadez instantly became the hero by saving yet another penalty kick from the Knights - putting the Kings in full control.

Fast forward to a good PK from Lucio Ramirez, the Kings just needed one more to seal it - and Nolan Garcia delivered. Garcia's PK goal put it out of reach and began the celebration.

The Kings now live another day and move on to the next round. The ironic part is how they got there to begin with.

Last Thursday, the Kings traveled to South Mountain for the 5A play-in round. In a 1-1 game late in the second half, a bad bounce seemed to have ended the Kings season after knocking a ball in on their own on accident to trail 2-1.

That's how the game would end, sending Kofa back home to Yuma with no title in sight.

One day later, the Kings administration was informed that South Mountain would be forced to forfeit the game for an unknown reason and hand Kofa the win.

This putting the Kings in the 5A state tournament.

So from the dead to being very much alive, the Kings now have a chance Saturday to go from no state tournament appearance to a potential semi-final run.

The Kings will play at 2 pm at Campo Verde on Saturday.