Boys soccer: Redwood rallies for late tie against Archie Williams

Cole Guerrero has only been a varsity player on the Redwood High boys soccer team for about a week but has already made a huge impact as the Giants push for another appearance in the MCAL championship game.

Guerrero came up with an equalizer in stoppage time after goalie Nick Vicente made multiple big saves as the Giants battled back for a 1-1 tie against Archie Williams at Red Hill Park on Wednesday.

“I don’t know. I was expecting to, right as I got called up, step up my game to start working,” said Guerrero, who has scored in all three of his varsity appearances over the past week. “First the Branson game, I got called in and of course that’s when the nerves hit but then I know that I have to stay composed, I have to play the ball, I have to use my teammates. I think from there on through practices I was able to contribute and do my job.”

Guerrero’s late goal earned Redwood (4-3-4, 2-1-1 MCAL) a point and prevented Archie Williams (7-3-3, 2-0-2) – the team the Giants defeated for the past two MCAL postseason titles – from going four points in front of them in the standings at the halfway point of the league season.

“It was super important,” Vicente said of the comeback result. “Us, Tam, Archie, (San Rafael) –  that’s probably the big dogs in MCAL and it’s a big game every time any one of us plays against each other.”

Guerrero’s goal resembled the game winner he scored in a 3-1 comeback victory against Branson last week in that it also came following a long throw-in into the box taken by Desmond Cain.

“Desi gets the throw-in, it gets off a couple of heads and then Cole Graves – the other Cole on the team – he takes a good touch and plays it over a defender,” Guerrero said. “I remember I got that first initial touch and I shot it. It went off the keeper then I was able to follow up. I hit the ball off the post and in.”

Guerrero’s goal came late enough that it felt like it could have been the final kick of the game – but it wasn’t. The Peregrine Falcons created one last golden opportunity to retake the lead after the ensuing kickoff.

Archie Williams got the ball to Henry Miller, positioned centrally inside the 18-yard box, but his shot was saved by Vicente.

“(Miller) took a great touch right to the penalty spot,” Vicente said. “I got myself set, saw the ball really well. I bobbled it a little bit but recovered it and made the save.”

Just like that, the Peregrine Falcons, who had led for about 78 of the 80 minutes after Leo Grandmaison scored inside the first 2 minutes, were held to a second consecutive draw.

“This is the kind of game that weathers you,” Archie Williams coach Rene Ayala said. “If we take advantage of the opportunities to learn, I think this will bode well for us. But we have to find ways to finish games, the whole 80 [minutes]. That’s the next step. That’s the only thing that’s keeping us from being in that position to dream – just finishing games off, managing situations, managing leads.”

Grandmaison got Archie Williams off to a dream start after Devin Singh played a cross in from the left side of the field. Grandmaison ran on to the ball and blasted it into the net for a 1-0 lead.

The Peregrine Falcons controlled much of the first half and had a few chances to double their lead – most notably when Miller hit a long-distance shot that forced a big save from Vicente in the 34th minute.

“We couldn’t have done it without (Vicente) today,” Redwood co-coach Adam Ure said. “This was a really big game for him. He’s a senior. It’s his last regular-season game against Archie and he really turned up today. He kept us in it.”

That was especially true in the final 10 minutes of the game. An Archie Williams cross found River Elliott on the back post in the 75th minute but Vicente got a piece of the shot and parried it off the post. The ball bounced back out to Elliott for a second opportunity but Vicente got back up to his feet for the double save, knocking the ball out wide for a corner kick.

“I just saw the ball come to their free man on the back post and tried to get myself big, make that save and then get that rebound and make the other save and get a corner for my boys,” Vincente said.

Archie Williams again came close to taking a 2-0 lead when Miller pinged a shot from outside the 18-yard box past Vicente but off the far post.

“I thought that was going in and that was the game right there,” Vicente said.

About a minute later, Guerrero scored the equalizer and the Giants picked up their fourth point from a losing position in their past two MCAL games to put themselves right back into the title hunt.

“We’re just a team that doesn’t give up,” Vicente said. “I think that’s the No. 1 thing about us. We can go three down, two down, one down and we’re not going to give up. We’re gonna put all the sweat, tears into getting that goal.”

Around the county

• Goalie Jesse Rodriguez posted his second shutout in eight days as Terra Linda held down the fort for a 0-0 tie against San Rafael on Wednesday. Rodriguez made a slew of saves to help TL (5-3-3, 2-0-2) keep the Bulldogs (7-2-6, 2-0-1) off the scoresheet much like he did against Tam last week.
• Marco Caruso was involved in every goal as Tam (8-3-3, 2-0-1) secured a 4-0 road win against Marin Catholic (4-5-2, 0-3-1) on Wednesday night. Caruso scored three times and assisted on a goal scored by Buba Mane. Tam also got assists from Kieran Conrady, David Keane, and Luke Nurney.
• The game between San Marin (0-7-5, 0-1-2) and Novato (0-4-1, 0-2-0) got posted due to a power outage at San Marin. The game has been rescheduled for Feb. 5.