Shamrocks see streak snapped in semifinal
Yuma Catholic falls to Northwest Christian in overtime after squandering late lead
The fifth time wouldn’t be the charm for the Yuma Catholic boys soccer team.
For the first time since 2014, the Shamrocks won’t hoist a state champion trophy at the end of the season after falling on Tuesday night in the 3A State semifinals to Northwest Christian (14-1) at Williams Field High School, 2-1 in overtime.
YC (13-1 AIA) led into the final minutes of regulation, but the wheels came off for the team to snap a 40-game winning streak in AIA competition. The Shamrocks last loss in AIA play was Dec. 16, 2016, against Lake Havasu and the last postseason loss was Feb. 11, 2014, against Coronado.
“You can make a lot of excuses, but that’s all that they are at the end of the day,” YC coach Ralph Evans said. “We had a job to do and we just didn’t get it done tonight. It was their night.”
Jonah Franco put the Shamrocks up 1-0 18 minutes into the second half off of a cross by Eleuterio Gutierrez.
The team was within a few minutes of yet another state championship, but the Crusaders tied the game with about 2 and a half minutes left. A second goal came for Northwest Christian in overtime to seal up the upset.
“They were really fast tonight,” Evans said.
“They were very physical. If you look back and it’s if, if, if. My boys played a really good game. We talked about it, and I don’t know what we would have done differently. It just wasn’t our night.”