Wildcats boys soccer team wins in OT on Gonzalez goal

Members of the Paloma Valley High School boys soccer team celebrate a first-round playoff win Thursday night.

Daniel Gonzalez scored off a corner kick with one minute left in overtime Thursday to give the Paloma Valley High School boys soccer team a 3-2 victory over Jurupa Hills in a CIF Division 5 playoff opener.

Gonzalez ran a back-door play to get open in front of the net and receive the kick from Alex Cisneros, set it and blast the ball past the goalkeeper. Had the overtime period ended without a goal, the game would've gone to a shootout. Instead, the victory improved the Wildcats' overall record to 11-6-4 heading into the second round Saturday.

"It was an amazing goal, and everyone went wild," said Wildcats coach Ramon Benz. "Everybody came out of the stands.

"All year you hear me saying, 'Danny, back door, back door!'" Benz said about the winning play. "He was there, the ball was there ... it was beautiful."

Cisneros, a left-footed kicker, curved the inbounds kick into a spot where the defenders weren't expecting it.

"It's a set piece," Benz said. "We load up guys in the box near the goal and we have kind of like a misdirection play, like you see in basketball. We have someone kicking from the corner, crossing it in, and we have guys maneuvering, trying to get in position.

"Everybody expects the ball. We try to suck them [defenders] in to believe we're going to a certain area and we go to a different area. It's all about timing and getting lucky sometimes."

Paloma Valley went up 2-0 early on goals by defender Devon Watson and a shot off a corner kick by Ricky Dominguez. Jurupa Hills (12-8-4) fought back, however.

"Sometimes when you're up 2-0, you're really happy and you get a little lax," Benz said. "We let them get back in the game. Their energy picked up. I wouldn't say we panicked, but you start to play a little too cautious. After they tied it, we tightened up."

Benz praised the play of goalkeeper Zachary Gonzalez as well.

"He  really stepped up," Benz said. "To get scored on twice and to keep your composure in a game like that, it's huge."

Saturday's second-round game will be at Hesperia, which has a 21-2-3 record.