Coming into Thursday’s playoff opener, it had been eight years since the Lodi High boys soccer team won a playoff game.
But the fifth-seeded Flames made it happen during a frenetic 3-2 victory over No. 12 Golden Valley at Don Rostomily Field in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs.
“I’m just glad to be here, to be living in this time that Lodi is back in the playoffs,” said Raphael “Rapha” Maldonado, who scored twice on Thursday. “And we’re not going to stop.”
The Flames led 2-1 at halftime, courtesy of a Maldonado goal and one from Caleb Silva. Then, with about 16 minutes remaining, Golden Valley evened the score when Carlos Miranda slotted one through on a breakaway.
That’s when the electricity in the atmosphere ramped up, with the final quarter hour a crazed back-and-forth game.
“Oh my god. We have no choice, no options. You win or you’re out, so you’ve got to put every effort, everything on the field,” said Lodi coach Pedro Duran. “And everybody on the bench has the same attitude, positive energy, all the time in order to make it happen.”
Lodi’s break came with about 3:30 remaining when Zach Davalle lined up for a free kick. Davalle floated the ball in, and Maldonado got his head on it.
“I was starting from the top of the box, and I was going to run in to get the defender, so they weren’t expecting me,” Maldonado said. “I just tipped it with my head and it went over the keeper.”
Maldonado’s teammates swarmed him, then went to work on defense. Golden Valley wasn’t able to mount a serious threat against Lodi goalkeeper Adam Phillips over the final several minutes.
Maldonado said he wasn’t worried when Golden Valley (8-6-3) tied the match.
“I was disappointed, but I knew we had it in the bag,” the junior midfielder said. “We were dominant the whole game, so I knew we had it.”
on Tuesday, Lodi (11-5-3) will travel to Ceres face No. 4 Central Valley, which defeated and No. 13 Woodcreek 0-0 (5-4) in penalty kicks on Thursday.
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