St. Francis Survives Rumble in the Rain

Eric Verso scored two goals, including a game-winner in stoppage time to give the St. Francis boys' soccer team a 2-1 victory over Thousand Oaks in the opening round of the CIF Division I playoffs on Friday. The game went down to the wire, with Thousand Oaks tying the game in the 76th minute amidst a sudden rainstorm.

“When they tied the game up I thought 'This can’t be happening,’” Verso said. “But we kept our focus and went and got another goal.”

Scoring opportunities came few and far between in the first half as adverse weather conditions affected the ball control and shooting accuracy of both squads. St. Francis’ forward tandem of Verso and his brother Mark managed just two shots on goal in the first half despite controlling the time of possession.

“We usually like to spread the field and keep the ball on the ground,” said St. Francis coach Glen Appels. “But with the ball skipping every which way, we just tried to get the ball up to Eric and Mark to see what they could do.”

Just before halftime, St. Francis was awarded a free kick near the sideline taken by
Tim Nguyen. Nguyen’s cross went to Eric Verso, who headed the ball inches wide of the goal post.

The Lancers got their first legitimate scoring opportunity in the opening minutes of the second half. A forward went on a sideline run and beat a defender to get a one- on-one breakaway, but Jake LaPorte hustled back on defense from midfield to block the ball just before it was shot.

In the 58th minute, a St. Francis breakaway was cleared away by the Lancer
goalkeeper, but Eric Bocanegra kicked the ball back up in front of Thousand Oaks’
goal. Eric Verso barely stayed onsides despite the rapid ball movement and with just two touches controlled the ball and fired a shot that deflected off a defender into the goal for a 1-0 lead.

“I like to sit at their defensive line and just wait for a through-ball,” said Eric Verso.

With both teams struggling with shooting accuracy, it seemed the Golden Knights had the game in hand. But with just four minutes remaining, the Lancers went on a sudden counterattack and Thousand Oaks’ Luke Hoffman received the ball 30 yards out from St. Francis’ goal. Hoffman cracked a low shot into the corner of the net past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Hector Carranza to tie the game at one.

“Obviously a one-goal lead is never safe and with this weather even less so,” said Appels.

With the game suddenly on the line, both teams stepped up their intensity leading to a few impossible shots and mindless fouls. As the game entered stoppage time, St. Francis was awarded a free kick taken by Mark Verso. He crossed the ball to Bocanegra who slipped a pass through three Lancer defenders to Eric Verso, who fired a shot on his first touch into the back of the net for a goal.

“It was a great ball by Bocanegra,” said Eric Verso. “He drew the defenders towards him and then gave it up. I didn’t have time to line up my shot so I just tried to get a foot on it and it got past the keeper.”

St. Francis will face the winner of Ventura’s matchup with Fountain Valley in the second of the playoffs. The Golden Knights would face Fountain Valley at home while the location of a matchup with Ventura would be determined by a coin flip.