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Men's soccer: Busters hold on for shootout win in first round
Published 11/21/2008 in Sports : GCCC
By MICHAEL SAMTUR
Special to The Telegram
PHOENIX -- Garden City Community College goalkeeper Chris Raines stood alone in the goal as the final shoot-out whistle blew, knowing that one more miraculous save would propel the Broncbusters to the NJCAA National semifinals for the first time in the program's four-year history. Raines stepped forward, lunged to his right, and blocked Mike Mecerod's kick aside as Raines' teammates stormed the field as GCCC beat fifth-seeded Georgia Perimeter College in dramatic fashion, 0-0, (2-1 Penalty kicks) in a shootout on Thursday at Rose Mofford Sports Complex.
Raines was clearly the hero of the game, shutting out the Jaguars (16-4-1) for 110 minutes, including two remarkable saves in the final overtime. However, he showed his true worth in the shootout, stopping four of the five shots he faced, all of which were on net. The Bruncbusters' head coach, Stephen Gorton, only needed one word to describe Raines' performance.
"Superman," exclaimed a smiling Gorton. "That kid is saving the program left and right. Since postseason started, he is by far our MVP."
Raines was so surprised by his own performance that he could barely think of a single word to describe how he felt after making the final save.
"Speechless," he said. "I don't even understand how I saved four out of five."
But save them he did. After the first three rounds of the shootout, the Broncbusters led 1-0 on a goal by freshman Mariano Leo. The Jaguars tied the score on their fourth shot, but GCCC quickly took back the lead as Salina native Daniel Martinez netted the eventual game winner to set up Raines' heroics. It was the team's second shootout victory in its last three games, beating Barton County 1-1 (4-3) in the Region VI Championship game.
Had Raines not made that final save, Broncbusters' star forward Mario Ojeda waited in the wings for his chance to net the game-winner. However, just hours before the game, Ojeda's availability was in serious doubt.
As the team traveled from Garden City to Arizona on Wednesday, Ojeda felt violently ill. He was rushed to the emergency room in Albequrque, N.M. where doctors initially informed him that he would need surgery to remove his appendix. With the surgery, Ojeda would have missed Thursday's game, and possibly the entire tournament. Luckily for the Broncbusters, tests concluded the issue was not his appendix, and over 13 hours after checking into the hospital, Ojeda passed four kidney stones at 2 a.m. Thursday. He arrived just hours before the game and started the match on the bench. He subbed early in the first half, played the entire 45-minute second half and both 10-minute overtimes.
"I was very dehydrated. . .and weak and wasn't ready to go in," Ojeda said. "The team chose me as the captain, so it was hard not being there at the start."
Gorton had high praise for his team leader.
"It shows how big his heart is," Gorton said. "He kept texting me, 'don't count me out yet.' He's my number one guy, he's the captain, and he's ready for everything.
The Broncbusters got off to a quick start in the game, applying pressure to the Jaguars early and narrowly missing on numerous first half chances. D.J. Zuniga had the best chance to score by either side as he headed a ball into the net in the 34th minute, but the goal was waved off due to an offside.
Freshman mid-fielder Alexis Dominguez dazzled the crowed with fancy footwork throughout the first half, earning three corner kicks on his own in that first frame. The Broncbusters took the first 10 corners of the game and didn't allow one by the Jaguars until the 71st minute.
After defeating 2006 national champion Jefferson (Mo.) College in the Great Plains District Championship, and beating last year's national runner-up in the Jaguars, Garden City must now face the defending national champions and top-ranked Yavapai College (Ariz.) for a chance to play in Sunday's title match. Yavapai knocked off No. 8 seed Schoolcraft (Mich.) 3-1.
"I'm so excited and happy for these kids," Gorton said. "Our goal all year was to be where we are at right now. To have the chance to play the best team in the country is an awesome opportunity."
The Broncbusters (19-1-1) will battle the No. 1 seed at 7:30 p.m. (CST). A victory sends them into the national championship game Sunday at 2:30 p.m. A loss would put them into the third place Sunday at noon.
In the two other first round games, No. 2 seed San Jacinto knocked off No. 7 Suburban 3-1, and No. 3 Mercer beat No. 6 CCBC-Essex 4-1.
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GCCC 1, Georgia Perimeter 0 (Shootout)
GCCC 0 0 0 0 -- 1
G. Perimeter 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Game statistics
Shots on Goal -- GCCC 4, Perimeter 5. Saves -- GCCC 5, Perimeter 4.
Found 1 comment(s)!
Incredible
I was in the game in Phoenix as a parent of one of the players from Miami.What the goalkeeper did by stopping four penalty kicks is simply impressive, incredible. I've never seen that in any game. And the broncbusters had a great performance and put high the name of Garden City in Arizona.
Posted by: FRANCISCO J. HERNANDEZ, Miami, FL. on 11/28/2008
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