‘They’re my favorite’: Layla Tucakovic leads Mitty into NorCal Division II semis with sterling performance in PKs
SAN JOSE — Penalty kicks make most people nervous.
“They’re my favorite,” Archbishop Mitty‘s goalkeeper said.
Tucakovic certainly embraces the challenge. She’s chatty, confident and convicted as she picks a side and pursues the ball.
And when Mitty’s game with Amador Valley on Tuesday ended 0-0 after extra time, she was ready. Tucakovic saved two penalty kicks and watched another hit the post as the Monarchs won PKs 3-2 and advanced to the CIF NorCal semifinals on Thursday.
“I just love the pressure,” Tucakovic said. “I’m pretty good under pressure, and I’m also good at reading the players. And it’s fun always celebrating with your teammates after you win.”
She’s also a mind-game savant. She hops around irregularly, claps her hands and engages the opposing shooter however possible.
And it works.
“That’s my cup of tea, right there,” she said. “I just like going in their heads, clapping at their faces. Can’t really talk to them, but I tried.”
Mitty (16-4-1) had a few good chances early on, but the game mostly settled into a defensive stalemate from the end of the first half on.
Monarchs coach JT Hanley said he wasn’t playing for the shootout. But he felt pretty good about Mitty’s chances when the game arrived there.
“We would love to come out here and play champagne football every time,” Hanley said. “But at the end of the day, if we have to do this to advance to the next round, we’ll happily do that every time we have a match. Everybody had to pay to get in here today, so I guess they got their money’s worth.”
He felt even better about the player between the pipes.
“Layla’s a phenomenal goalkeeper,” Hanley said. “She was named goalkeeper of the year for the league today, and you could see why by a couple of the saves that she made in open play. But in penalty kicks, I’ve been here long enough that I’ve done this more than a couple times, and she’s as good as any keeper that we’ve had here. And we’ve had some really good ones in PKs. In my time here, we’ve only lost one shootout.”
It was a tough way to lose for Amador Valley (8-4-3), which had an excellent season highlighted by making the East Bay Athletic League tournament and the North Coast Section Open Division semifinals.
But the Dons couldn’t solve Tucakovic, and that was it.
“This is my third year there, and we continue to just set the bar to continue to get better every year,” Amador coach Grant Matsumoto said. “We’ve made it to the NCS semifinals now three years in a row. We got to the final last year. And the Open Division this year was tough, but I thought we had a great run at it. But again, it’s just raising the standard to where we want to go. Ultimately, our goal is an NCS championship and continue to get better.
“And state’s always the cherry on top for us, if we’re able to do that too.”
Zada Pasic and Julia Wanis converted for Amador Valley in PKs. Makenna Tanaka, Mattea Petroff and Sofia Mello came through for Mitty, with Mello’s shot being the winner in the fourth round.
Tucakovic denied Amador in the top of the fifth to seal the win.
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