Hilmar boys repeat as section champs with thrilling overtime win over Linden

Marc Matos could only envision the ball going into the net. The Hilmar High senior was doing his best to not let any negative thoughts enter his head as he readied himself to take a penalty kick in overtime.

Matos stepped up and drilled the biggest goal of his life, as his overtime goal proved to be the game-winner for the Yellowjackets in a 5-4 victory over No. 1 seed Linden in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship game at Liberty Ranch High School on Saturday night in Galt.

“I was thinking I need to put the ball in a spot,” Matos said. “There was no thoughts in my mind of me missing the shot. I knew I’d make it.”

It was a wild final that saw Hilmar take leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 only to see the Lions (16-2-1) fight back to draw even three times, including a dramatic goal from Giovanni Solis in the final minute to tie the game at 4-4 to send the match to overtime.

To make it even more difficult for Hilmar, the Yellowjackets had to play a man down after leading scorer Jose Guerrero was tagged with a red card late in regulation.

“It was a very exciting game, (Linden) is definitely a good team,” said Hilmar coach Louie Bettencourt, whose team improved to 18-6. “We had to do what we had to do. We had to push ourselves. I feel we’re deserving of it.”

The game was filled with some great performances.

There was Guerrero scoring three first-half goals to give the No. 2 Yellowjackets a 3-2 lead at the half.

Emmanuel Hernandez and Solis both scored two goals for Linden.

Then there was Matos scoring the final two goals for Hilmar.

After leading almost the entire game, Hilmar had to find a way to rebound after surrendering a goal in the final minute to force overtime.

“I told them it was just like last year, except last year we were the team that tied it at 4-4,” Bettencourt said. “I wanted them to be patient. The worst thing I wanted out of the situation was to go to penalty kicks because we were a man down.”

Three minutes into the first 10-minute overtime period, a Linden player was called for a handball inside the box which resulted in a penalty kick.

“Down a man, we knew we were just looking to defense,” Matos said. “We were looking to capitalize on one of their mistakes. Luckily they got called for a handball in the box. I knew I was probably going to be the one to take it.”

Matos delivered and the Yellowjackets were able to fight off the Lions the rest of the way to preserve the win.

“It was a very good game to watch, but frustrating to watch from the sideline,” Bettencourt said. “This wasn’t given to us. We had to work for everything, but there’s an old saying, ‘The ball never lies.’”

This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 8:41 PM.