Palo Alto’s boys soccer team had every right to celebrate its 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Menlo-Atherton in the second round of the Central Coast Section Division I tournament Saturday morning.
Instead their feelings were muted. A couple of players couldn’t get it together to leave the bench and join their teammates in their post-game ritual.
Such is the impact of senior goalkeeper Kiran Misner, who was sent to a local hospital after a horrific-looking collision with a M-A player in the final minute of play. Misner was struck in the face and was out for about four minutes.
“It’s hard to think about anything else,” said Palo Alto’s Paul Thie, who scored twice late to help the Vikings snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. “He’s a leader. He’s the heart of the defense, of the whole team. It hurts a lot.”
Paly coach Don Briggs said the side of Misner’s face was swollen and his eye was shut. He was coherent as he was taken off the field on a stretcher.
“It was pretty scary,” Briggs said. “You just never know about things like the neck and head.”
In the end, the fourth-seeded Vikings (14-4-3) were able to rally after falling behind 3-1 and will meet No. 9 Bellarmine (12-6-4) in Tuesday’s semifinal at Fremont High at 4:30 p.m.
“I felt we started bad and then caught on and showed we were a better team,” M-A coach Leo Krupnik said. “After we went up 3-1, our energy completely died. You have to give them some respect for coming back.”
Isaiah Schoenberger put Palo Alto ahead, 1-0, directly following the opening kick. He raced down the sideline and punched it into the net.
“They got the goal and that opened things up,” Krupnik said. “We were able to come back due to great individual effort.”
Junior midfielder Axel Valle scored the tying goal and later made it 2-1 before halftime.
Alexis Arreola gave the Bears (10-8-4) its 3-1 lead and were holding onto it until Leyton Ho broke through to make it 3-2.
That’s when Thie went to work. He scored with about nine minutes to play after a corner kick. Matt Knowles headed the ball that was stopped but not controlled.
“I saw an easy deflection,” Thie said. “That was great ball movement and I just tapped it in.”
A little more than five minutes later, Thie scored the go-ahead goal. He took a nice crossing pass from Ama Marcus and nailed it past M-A goalie Charlie McKay, who deserved better. The sophomore came up big several times.
“I thought we kept possession really well,” Thie said. “I looked up and saw the back post open.”
Drucker Jackson, who played in the first half, will take over goalkeeping duties in the next round. For now, Paly players are planning to visit with Misner as soon as it’s possible.
In Division II, Menlo made a run to the quarterfinals before losing, 1-0, to host Soledad on Saturday.
The Knights finished the season with a 12-5-3 overall mark, 8-2-2 in the West Bay Athletic League.
No. 12 seed Menlo created a few good chances in the first half including a fierce strike by Billy Hamilton that nearly dented the crossbar right before halftime.
Wind picked up in the second half and No. 4 Soledad went ahead midway through the half after a long ball got behind the Knights and the Warriors slipped through on goal.
The Knights fought to the end.
“I am extremely proud of this team for all they accomplished,” Menlo coach Marc Kerrest said. “Today’s result was disappointing as the boys felt they should have gone through, but soccer can be tough like that some days. Credit to Soledad, they took their chance when it came and will move on.
“I’m really proud of the seniors for the dedication and hard work they committed to the program over four years.”
Soledad won its 14th straight.
In the girls Open Division, Palo Alto advanced into the semifinals with a 2-0 victory over host Pioneer on Saturday.
Frida Rivera and Ally Scheve scored for the Vikings (13-4-2), who meet Mitty at Fremont High at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Monarchs beat Paly, 1-0, earlier in the season.
Rivera headed the ball over the outstretched hands of Pioneer’s goalie to give Paly an early lead.
Scheve pounded home a goal with an assist from Emily Tomz and that was all goalie Clara Luehrs would need.
Elsewhere, top-seeded Mitty beat No. 8 Menlo-Atherton 2-1. The Monarchs (18-1-2) have ended M-A’s season in each of the past two years.
Macy McHale and Emma Vane each scored a goal for Mitty.
Yara Gomez-Zavala scored an unassisted goal for the Bears (12-4-5).
The impact of both the kids sounded like two football helmets hitting but with out the protection and gear. We all hope kiran will be back to himself soon.