Heritage wins in overtime, advances to soccer semifinals

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Heritage High School boys soccer team won its CIF-SS Division 7 quarterfinal matchup against Edgewood 2-1 in overtime Thursday night. The Patriots will play host to Covina Saturday at 5 p.m. in the semifinals.

The first half led to no goals from either side, including two notable saves from goalkeeper Oscar Cervantes right before the whistle was blown.

Heritage junior Isaac Guzman moved past two defenders just minutes into the second half and got past the Edgewood keeper, who was playing far out of his post, to get a ball to the back of the net and score the first goal of the game.

Guzman said the feelings he had in that moment were indescribable, but his teammate, senior Isaac Ahmed, said it was no surprise that Guzman put the goal in.

“We knew that if we could just slow the game down a little bit and get it to this guy [pointing to Guzman], he could just do his thing,” Ahmed said. “We had control of this game.”

Nearly the entirety of the second half was controlled by the Patriots’ possession until the referee called stoppage time to start.

It wasn’t until the third minute of added time that the Lions -- who moved their goalie all the way to the opposite side of the field -- found a way to convert a corner kick into a goal to tie the game.

The regulation and added time then ran out and the two teams started into overtime -- 10 minutes of play until the first team scores. The first five minutes of it went by without anything too notable other than a clear shot from Heritage just two minutes in that bounced off the sidebar of the goal.

Then just under the five-minute mark, Heritage had a throw-in from a few yards up from the corner and the Lions accidentally made an own goal to end the game and give the Patriots the victory.

This marks the first time in school history that the boys soccer team has advanced to the semifinals of the CIF-SS playoffs.

Ahmed said after four years of playing for his school, making it this far is surreal.

“After all those years making it to playoffs and then losing in the first round or wild card, it’s so hard to describe it,” he said. “It’s just amazing to be able to go this far.”

For head coach William Zuazo, who attended Heritage 10 years ago, this history-making team is extra special.

“The first year I was here on the JV team they made it to second round of playoffs, but after that it was rough,” he said, and adds that he has been involved in the program in all the years since, having younger siblings play and then beginning his career as a coach.

“When I got the opportunity to coach I had to take it because I always tell the boys to take the opportunities they are given. And these guys are amazing. It’s really something special.”

With a handful of seniors graduating this year, whatever happens next for the team will go down in history, but for now, Zuazo said he is leaving it in their hands.

“We work so hard and we have so many kids who do the work. It’s not just one guy doing all the things, it’s everybody together,” he said. “I leave it in their hands and they amaze me every time.”

Guzman said he is sure they will continue to make their coach proud to leave it in their hands because of who they are.

“We are just the team that we needed to make this happen,” he said. “And we are going to keep being the team to make it happen over and over.”