#2 seeded Atlético East Bay beat #3 Vallejo Omega FC 8-7 in a penalty shootout after the match ended in a 4-4 draw. The match was played on Sunday afternoon in 97 degree heat at Mt. Diablo High School in Concord and featured hydration breaks in both halves.
The match remained scoreless for the first 25 minutes, until Vallejo’s Emmanuel Johnson found himself alone on a breakaway. Atlético goalkeeper Luis Felix came out to challenge, but Johnson dribbled around him and put the ball in the empty net. Atlético responded with three unanswered goals in 11 minutes. Cristian Garcia scored on a rebound in the 30th minute, Roberto Gonzalez scored again one minute later, and Adrian Guzman added another four minutes from halftime, on an assist by Esteban Garcia.
In the second half, Vallejo answered with three unanswered goals of their own. Shawn Keoni Aguigui halved the deficit in the 50th minute, on a pass from Alex Fluitt that found him unmarked, with only Felix between him and the goal. Fluitt was also involved in the goal that tied the match, sending a cross into the box that was deflected into the net by an Atlético defender for an own goal. Marco Reyes gave Vallejo the lead in the 76th minute, when Addison Escobar’s feed found him alone on a breakaway with Felix.
But Vallejo had its heart broken just seconds before the final whistle as Atlético earned a free kick near the touchline, just outside the penalty area, and Marco Carbahal emerged from the crowd in the penalty area to head home the short cross for the tying goal.
And so the match went immediately to a penalty shootout. It started out well for Vallejo, as goalkeeper Cesar Giron stopped Atlético’s first attempt. Felix stopped Vallejo’s first attempt, but the referee ordered the kick to be retaken because Felix left too early. But Felix stopped Vallejo’s second attempt (from Darian Minouei), and the clubs were level again.
Atlético proceeded to methodically convert the next seven penalty attempts. And when Felix stopped Vallejo’s seventh attempt, from Juan Perez, his Atlético teammates rushed onto the field to celebrate their apparent victory, but the referee ruled that the kick be retaken. In the eighth round, Felix stopped Jordan Vasquez twice, but the kick was retaken each time and Felix earned a yellow card for his protests. Finally, Atlético’s Kaya Yilmaz converted his kick in the ninth round and Adam Tejada’s attempt sailed over the crossbar as Felix’s teammates rushed out to celebrate (again).
In Sunday’s other NSL match, Top seeded San Pablo FC earned the right to host Atlético in the NSL Pacific final with a 3-0 win over crosstown rival Richmond SOL FC. After a scoreless first half, San Pablo exploded with three goals in under 20 minutes. In the 59th minute, San Pablo won a free kick from 30 yards out, near the right touchline. Juan Alejandre, Jr. timed his run perfectly to break free of his defender and head the ball home. Five minutes later, Pedro Hernandez added another, also on a free kick from distance, near the left touchline. Hernandez leaped to win the ball from a crowd of defenders in the box and headed it forcefully into the net. In the 78th minute, a San Pablo striker was taken down forcefully from behind in the box; Alejandre converted the penalty kick for the brace.