Boys Soccer: Padilla Boots Clayton Valley Into Second Round

No. 6 Clayton Valley 3, No. 11 Mt. Eden 2

Elisama Padilla scored a Clayton Valley High record 27 goals during the regular season. On Wednesday night, Padilla found the net again, but none of his previous goals were more important than his 28th.

In the waning moments of the Eagles North Coast Section first round match against visiting Mt. Eden, Padilla scored from the penalty spot to hand Clayton Valley a 3-2 victory. The win propels the Eagles to the second round, where it will host No. 14 Richmond, which upset Deer Valley Wednesday, at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

With the match looking destined to enter extra time, a Mt. Eden defender was caught holding in the penalty area.

Padilla capitalized on the infraction, pounding his penalty kick into the upper-right corner of the net, breaking the tie and continuing the Eagles' season.

"I felt a little nervous (before the penalty kick) because if I missed, who know what would have happened," Padilla said. "But it feels amazing now."

It marked the end of a roller coaster of a match, with both teams dominating play for long stretches.

In the first half, it was the Eagles. Clayton Valley (16-2-5) came out strong in front of its home supporters and took the lead in the 18th minute.

Padilla fired a shot from a tight angle which Mt. Eden keeper Jamie Guzman was able to deflect but not hold. The rebound trickled out to Adolfo Martinez, who one-timed his shot inside of the far post.

The Monarchs (15-5-4) didn't have many chances in the opening half, but scored on probably its best, with the speedy Rhomel Clarke getting behind the Clayton Valley defense and beating keeper Ryan Phillips to the ball before striking it into the goal.

It didn't remain tied for long. Two minutes later, Joshua Gomez struck a powerful, dipping shot from 20 yards out that snuck under the crossbar to put the Eagles back on top.

In the second half, Mt. Eden began to dictate the action, just missing on two scoring chances in first five minutes. In the 54th minute, the Monarchs were awarded a penalty kick and Elias Jose Lopez sent Phillips the wrong way, tying the match at two.

"We were a little scattered in the second half," Clayton Valley coach Rory Gentry said. "We started subbing people off and telling them what we wanted to do when they went back in. That helped, and I think we played as well in the last 15 minutes as we did in the first half."

Padilla's goal broke the tie which advanced the Eagles into the NCS second round for the second year in a row. Last year, Clayton Valley had its season end in a 4-2 loss to San Ramon Valley.

"Overall, I think we played really, really well," Gentry said.