Penalties doom San Luis soccer again
San Luis boys soccer season comes to end, losing to Washington on penalties.
SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The Washington Rams defeated the San Luis Sidewinders 4-3 on penalties in the AIA Open Division quarterfinals.
Washington advances to the state semifinals.
The match was tied 0-0 after both normal and extra time. Early in the second half, Washington's
Aaron Veranes was sent off for a second yellow card.
Despite the man advantage, San Luis could not find the back of the net and the match went to penalties. All three of the first penalty takers for each squad scored making the shootout tied at 3-3. Washington's Carlos Arizmendi saved the following two penalties from Rodrigo Ortega and Pablo Pulido to send his team to the semifinals.
This is the second straight year the Sidewinders have seen their season end in penalty kicks. Last season, San Luis fell to Perry in penalties in the state championship game.
"It's hard to explain it because we do practice [them]," San Luis head coach Jesus Rojas said. "At, the end of every practice, we took that time this season to go over a few penalty kicks. Maybe we over practiced. We have some great players and they're very talented. Just sometimes their goalkeeper is mentally ready."
San Luis is set to graduate 10 seniors from this year's team.
