BOYS’ SOCCER PLAYOFFS : Orange Beats San Marcos in Overtime to Advance

Orange Coach Eddie Carrillo anticipated a shootout, fortunately Lalo Rodriguez anticipated the ball.

So when it came his way with 30 seconds remaining in sudden death, Rodriguez was ready. He took it at midfield, dribbled some 20 yards, then left-footed it past Santa Barbara San Marcos keeper Eric Foote for a 2-1 victory.

The victory, which came after nearly 100 minutes of play, sends the unseeded Panthers (14-7-5) into the Southern Section Division II quarterfinals for the first time in five years. Thursday, they will face South Torrance (21-7-2).

“I faked like I was going to pass (to Victor Diaz), then I just kicked it with my left,” said Rodriguez, the Century League player of the year who scored his 14th goal. “I didn’t even look at the keeper. I just shot it.”

Said Carrillo: “The whole game they’ve been keying on Victor (Diaz). When Victor made the run to the outside, that opened it up for Lalo. He can beat anybody one on one.”

Just in case Rodriguez missed, Carrillo had his backup keeper Neil Van Zuiden ready for penalty kicks.

“We’ve been practicing the penalty kicks every day in practice for the last two weeks because I’m sick of losing games on penalty kicks,” he said. “And our keeper is great on penalty kicks.”

San Marcos (19-9) scored five minutes into the game and Orange scored seven minutes into the second half on a Diaz goal assisted by Jerry Arguello.