El Capitan girls score game-winning goal in final minute to reach semifinals
Haley Espinoza fought off nerves to drill a perfect shot when her team needed it most.
The El Capitan High junior scored on a free kick from 20 yards out in the final minute, drilling the ball into the left corner of the net to give the No. 2 seeded Gauchos a dramatic 3-2 victory over No. 7 Kimball in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs on Friday afternoon at El Capitan High.
“I don’t even take shots,” Espinoza said. “Our center back Alondra (Higareda) had faith in me. She let me take the shot. I knew I really had to score. I was very nervous.”
Espinoza’s second goal of the game sends the Gauchos (16-5-2) to the semifinals for the first time in school history.
“This is really special,” said El Capitan coach Jazmin Duran. “It brings tears to my eyes. This is a good group of girls.”
It’s a group of girls that were tested against the Jaguars (14-9-2).
The Gauchos were forced to answer twice after Kimball broke through for goals.
The Jaguars opened the scoring in the 10th minute as Danya Gonzalez scored to give Kimball a 1-0 lead.
El Capitan answered as Anaya Shelton scored her 49th goal of the season, which is tied for No. 8 in the state according to MaxPreps. This one was probably Shelton’s easiest goal of the year after Kimball goalie Jordan Claire mishandled a free kick. Claire dropped the ball right in front of the goal and all Shelton had to do was tap it in the net to tie the game at 1-1 in the 16th minute.
Two minutes later, Espinoza scored off a corner kick to give the Gauchos a 2-1 lead.
“When we give up a goal we don’t shut down,” said Espinoza, who has now scored three goals in two playoff games. “We play even harder. We know we have to go score a goal.”
El Capitan goalie Regina Tapetillo did her best to fend off an offensive onslaught by Kimball in the second half. The first 30 minutes of the second half was played on El Capitan’s side of the field.
Tapetillo finished with eight saves.
However, the Jaguars scored the equalizer in the 69th minute when Elissa Giuliacci scored on a corner kick. Suddenly the game was tied 2-2.
“The girls are good at picking up the pace,” Duran said.. “All season we’ve played like that where they score and we score one right back. It’s probably not the best way to play, but that’s what we’ve done.”
The Gauchos turned up the pressure as Shelton and Espinoza just missed on some late shots. Finally, Espinoza drew a foul just outside the penalty box to draw a free kick.
Espinoza then drilled the shot into the back of the net and a minute later the Gauchos were celebrating another playoff win.
El Capitan will host a semifinal match on Tuesday at 3 p.m. against No. 3 Manteca.
“I’m so proud of my team,” Espinoza said. “Nobody thought we’d come this far. I knew we could because we have really good talent and we work hard every practice.”
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 6:23 PM.
