‘It’s heartbreaking’: Mendota soccer loses on PKs in supersectional

Trailing by two in penalty kicks, senior Alex Mandujano stepped to the line trying to keep the Mendota boys soccer team’s season alive.

Mandujano kicked a hard shot toward the lower left side of the net.

Bloomington Central Catholic goalkeeper Auston Koch dove to his right, stretched out his arms and pushed the ball just outside the post.

Mandujano put his hands on his head.

His teammates at midfield bent over, and some fell to the ground.

Mendota’s perfect season ended with a 3-2 loss to Bloomington Central Catholic on penalty kicks in the Class 1A BCC Supersectional.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Mendota junior Johnathan Cortez said as he fought back tears. “We had a great season. We have to be proud of it. We thought we were going to go all the way. It’s just unlucky how things ended.”

The Trojans finish 23-1 with a resume full of accomplishments, including the program’s first sectional championship and school records for goals scored and shutouts in a season.

“It’s hard to go out this way on PKs, but we’re 23-1 with every record possible at MHS and our first ever sectional,” Mendota coach Nick Myers said. “It’s going to be tough for them on the way home, and they’ll be upset the rest of the week, but they’ll hold their heads high eventually. We had a heck of a season.”

The Saints controlled possession for most of the first 10 minutes, but the Trojans got on the scoreboard first.

In the 13 minutes, Cortez pushed the ball down the sideline before firing a cross to Ricky Orozco, who found the back of the net for a 1-0 MHS lead.

“We’ve worked on crossing the ball on the ground with pace in front of the 6-yard box,” Myers said. “That causes absolute havoc for defenses, and that’s how we scored the first goal.”

The Trojans made the lead hold up into the second half when Ben Torry kicked the ball high in the air toward the net.

Joe Carter leapt up and headed into the goal to even the score.

Cortez got the lead back for Mendota when he beat multiple defenders before booting the ball past Koch with 12:59 left.

“Yahir (Diaz) got it with space in the midfield and he sent it long to me,” Cortez said. The defender on my side hadn’t come back yet so I had space to think about what I was going to do when the ball was coming to me. I took a touch inside to beat the first defender. I took another touch to beat the second defender. I looked up and saw the goalie was already leaning one way, so I shot it the other. As soon as it was off my foot I knew it was going in.”

The Saints evened it up again when the ball slipped away from the MHS defense and Carter put it in with 7:24 left.

“We had ups and downs throughout the game,” Myers said. “It was great to get the 1-0 lead. That was a big confidence booster considering they were dominating possession of the ball before that. We made a couple mental errors in the back on the ball in the air and they were able to put it in. To go up 2-1 and it was 11 minutes away, it was kind of a backbreaker to have them put in one to tie the game. But kudos to our guys. Every time they tied it up we kept playing strong.

“It’s a bad way to go out on penalty kicks. I’d rather sit here and play overtimes all night until somebody can score a goal. But I couldn’t be more proud of the guys for the season they put together. We were inches away from going to state. It was a great season.”

The Trojans hope they can have another deep postseason run next fall with a strong group of players returning.

“I can’t say enough about the six seniors we’re losing,” Myers said about Diaz, Mandujano, Jose Ruiz, Manny Trejo, Luis Garcia and Josue Arteaga. “They’ve been six of the most dedicated athletes a coach could have. It’s going to be huge losing them. However, we do have a really solid core coming back. We have some leaders back in Rafa (Romero), David (Garcia) and Johnathan Cortez. Half of our starting lineup returns. We have some talented sophomores and freshmen who didn’t get in because of the depth we have. We hope we’re back in this game next year and can get a little redemption.”