It was a rough day for three Twin Harbors boys prep soccer teams as we review Tuesday’s district-tournament games.

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BOYS PREP SOCCER

Seton Catholic 1, Raymond-South Bend 0

(Seton Catholic wins 5-4 on penalty kicks)

Raymond-South Bend did just about everything right in its 1A District 4 semifinal matchup against Seton Catholic on Tuesday, except score.

That would prove costly as the Ravens fell to the Cougars 1-0 – 5-4 in a penalty-kick shootout – at South Bend High School.

Aside from the first few minutes of the game, RSB (15-1 overall) dominated the game.

The Ravens had the majority of prime scoring chances, earned more corner kicks and played in the Seton Catholic defensive third for large swaths of the game.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Raymond-South Bend’s Edgar Ramirez (11) sprints away from Seton Catholic’s Angelo Bortolazzo (17) and Brady Angelo during a 1A District 4 semifinal game on Tuesday at South Bend High School.

But an inablity of finish combined with some key calls that did not go their way contributed to the loss.

Arguably the most impactful call of the game came in the 14th minute, when charging Ravens forward Jose Ramirez got to a loose ball in front of the Cougars goal keeper. Ramirez got a foot on the ball to punch it past the keeper and into the net, but the referee ruled it a no-goal and called a foul on Ramirez as it was deemed the Seton Catholic keeper had one hand on the ball at the time.

“I asked the referee and he said, “He had one hand on the ball,’” RSB head coach Joe Keegan said. “I said, ‘You have to have two hands on the ball to have control.’ If you put one hand on the ball, you can’t control it. But he said, ‘Well, that’s my angle.’”

The Ravens continued to apply offensive pressure led by the passing ability of senior midfielder Evan Cone on the back end and the ball-control skills of midfielders Alex Posada and Adam Mora and Edgar Ramirez and Jose Ramirez at the forward positions.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Raymond-South Bend’s Adam Mora (10) heads the ball against Seton Catholic’s Easton Ross during a 1A District 4 semifinal game on Tuesday at South Bend High School.

RSB penetrated inside the Cougars 18-yard box midway through the first half, with Jose Ramirez dribbling his way through several Cougars defenders before going down in the box, but no penalty was awarded on the controversial play, which helped to keep the game scoreless at the half.

Ten minutes into the second half, Jose Ramirez went down again after driving inside the penalty area, but again, no penalty kick was awarded as play carried on.

Later in the half a hard shot by Posada from just outside the corner of the 18 was headed toward the top corner of the far post, but a leaping save by Seton Catholic keeper Dylan Hamilton kept RSB off the scoreboard.

In the final 10 minutes of regulation, a long ball was played forward to Jose Ramirez, who slipped past the defense for a quick 1-on-1 with Hamilton. Ramirez’s shot was blocked by a sliding Hamilton as the Cougars keeper thwarted another Ravens scoring chance.

The same goes for the two overtime periods, as RSB had the more frequent quality scoring chances – including another long ball forward to Ramirez past the defense that was flicked just wide of the net – but couldn’t find the back of the net, forcing a penalty-kick shootout.

In the shootout, the two teams were tied at 4-4 with RSB’s Alex Bucio, Cone, Jose Ramirez and Edgar Ramirez converting their penalty kicks.

But a Hamilton save followed by a Seton Catholic shot off the bar and an RSB attempt over the crossbar gave the Cougars a chance to win.

Seton Catholic senior defender Zach Nieda slotted a shot past diving Ravens keeper Miguel Perez to end the shootout 5-4, spoiling RSB’s undefeated record and dashing the Ravens’ hopes of a district title.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Raymond-South Bend’s Alex Posada (5) is defended by Seton Catholic’s Tynan Young-Byle during a 1A District 4 semifinal game on Tuesday at South Bend High School.

Keegan said Seton Catholic head coach Antonio Buckley gave the Ravens high praise after the game.

“He said the best team lost,” Keegan said. “In a penalty shootout, it’s one of those 50/50 things. There are no guarantees when you are taking penalties. … Obviously, our players are devastated, but I told them, ‘Once you go to penalties, you cannot guarantee anything. … All in all, we’re proud of the boys.’”

The Ravens will take on Rochester, a team they beat twice this season, in a district-elimination game on Thursday (time, location to be determined).

“That’s a big game for us,” Keegan said. “We won’t be in the championship game, but we want to get in to state.”

Seton Catholic 0 0 0 0 1 – 1

RSB 0 0 0 0 0 – 0

Scoring

First half – none.

Seocnd half – none.

First overtime – none.

Second overtime – none.

Penalty kicks – 5, Seton Catholic (Ross, Young-Byle, Kwong, Petracca, Nieda). 4, RSB (Bucio, Cone, J. Ramirez, E. Ramirez).

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Ridgefield 4, Aberdeen 3

(Ridgefield wins 4-2 on penalty kicks)

For Aberdeen and its fans, this one stung and is going to sting for quite some time.

Aberdeen held a three-goal lead with less than 10 minutes to play before seeing Ridgefield pull off an improbable comeback to beat the Bobcats 4-2 in a penalty-kick shootout in a district-elimination game on Tuesday at Stewart Field.

Aberdeen (11-5) got on the board with four minutes left in the first half when Gibran Garcia scored on a breakaway off a feed from senior midfielder Leo Garcia for a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.

The Bobcats extended the lead when Garcia sent a pass to Tyson Dunlap, who hammered a 25-yard shot over the Spudders keeper for a 2-0 lead in the 65th minute.

Aberdeen earned the coveted three-goal lead when defender Ricky Granados’ corner kick was headed into the net by Edgar Ceja with 10 minutes left in the game.

But what appeared to be a comfortable lead turned out to be anything but as mental mistakes would lead to three Ridgefield goals.

The Spudders scored on a 25-yard chip over the keeper followed by a penalty-kick off a handball with just six minutes left in the game.

Ridgefield would tie the game at 3-3 after Aberdeen was called for another penalty kick one what head coach Larry Fleming said was “a very questionable penalty” on an attempted slide tackle that was “unnecessary while clearly getting the ball.”

The Spudders converted the penalty kick in stoppage time to send the game to overtime.

After neither team scored in the two overtime periods, the game went to penalty kicks where Aberdeen’s Marc Avila and Cris Lopez converted their attempts and keeper Grady Osina made a save, but it wasn’t enough as the Spudders won the shootout 4-2, ending Aberdeen’s season.

“We made some mistakes that really cost us late, which was unfortunate that it happened in such a crucial loser-out match,” Fleming said. “I want to say that I appreciate the effort by our boys all season and very proud of our finish in league and how hard everyone worked to get us to this point.”

Fleming also thanked his seniors as well as Aberdeen assistant coach Luis Soto, who coached his last game at Aberdeen as he will be resigning to pursue other ventures.

Ridgefield 0 3 0 0 1 – 4

Aberdeen 1 2 0 0 0 – 3

Scoring

First half – 1, Aberdeen, G. Garcia (L. Garcia), 36th minute.

Second half – 2, Aberdeen, Dunlap (L. Garcia), 65th minute. 3, Aberdeen, E. Ceja (Granados), 70th minute. 4, Ridgefield. 5, Ridgefield, 74th minute. 6, Ridgefield, 80th minute.

First overtime – none.

Second overtime – none.

Penalty kicks – 4, Ridgefield. 2, Aberdeen (M. Avila, C. Lopez).

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Other games

1A District 4 elimination game

La Center 4, Montesano 3

(Montesano eliminated)