GV advances in playoffs

Cody Golbad couldn't hide the scowl of frustration on his face.

Golden Valley's leading scorer had yet to make an impact 50 minutes into Tuesday night's Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 first-round playoff game.

It wasn't for a lack of effort, but the ball just didn't seem to bounce Golbad's way.

His touch would be too heavy or a pass would be just slightly out of reach. All that added to the personal battle going on inside his head after sending a penalty kick just wide in the 6th minute.

His fortunes changed in the 59th minute, however, when the senior headed home Richard Valencia's cross. Golbad added a second goal less than a minute later and the Cougars advanced to the second round with a 3-1 victory over McNair at Veterans Stadium.

GV will play at Downey on Thursday. The time is tentatively set for 3 p.m.

"I was a little disappointed with missing the PK," Golbad said. "I don't know why, but it just wasn't my first half.

"I knew there was a lot of time left, though, and so I just had to keep going.

"Richard sent me a perfect cross, making the first one easy. And then I had a little space at the top of the box for the second one."

Golbad's turnaround coincided with a much better second-half effort from Golden Valley.

Despite Golbad's penalty miss, the Cougars (17-4-6) still took the early lead in the 7th minute when Damian Jimenez sent a long ball forward.

Striker Adan Becera was the first to react, sprinting in and flicking a ball past the McNair keeper.

Despite the early lead, GV got away from its bread-and-butter passing game and allowed the Eagles to fight their way back into the match.

Martin Barriga made the Cougars pay with an excellent strike in the last minute of the half to pull things even at intermission.

It was the only ball to beat goal keeper Francisco Nava, who finished with seven saves.

"I thought we had a few scrambles that they had to clear off the line in the first half, but we just couldn't finish them," GV head coach Lee Shaw said. "Daniel Byrne had his breakaway saved and then they score a minute later, so that's just the way it is sometimes.

"We changed up our formation in the second half and took control of the game."

Byrne led the way.

The senior midfielder had been prodded by Shaw to step up his game, and he did. Byrne made numerous probing runs, constantly attacking the Eagle defense off the dribble.

He worked a give-and-go with Golbad to set up his second goal, finding him just outside the 18. Golbad floated it perfectly for the far post, putting the game away.

"There was a lot of space out there tonight, and when there's a lot of space you want to dribble at them," Byrne said. "We knew it wasn't a great first half, but there was a lot of time left and we just had to get going.

"We took control in the second half and are moving on."

Atwater 4, Tokay 1 (OT)

LODI — The Falcons erupted for three goals in overtime to defeat the Tigers in their first-round matchup.

Juan Madrigal tied the game 8 minutes into the second half with the first of his two goals. Jonathan Trillo then scored just 3 minutes into overtime to give Atwater (14-6-6) its first lead of the game.

"After that goal the body language on their players just changed," Falcons coach Jimmy Brewer said. "They just knew it was over. They committed more players to the attack and that opened it up for us. We just got chance after chance after chance."

Madrigal and Trillo each tacked on another goal as Atwater struck three times in 20 minutes.

The Falcons will face Chavez at Stagg High on Thursday at 7 p.m.