Down by one after a half Wednesday afternoon, the San Bernardino Valley College men's soccer team spent the second half pushing and probing the Moorpark College defense looking for an equalizer.
Minutes ticked away. Daylight was slowly disappearing. And the Wolverines got more and more desperate.
Then the original 90 minutes had ticked off the clock, and the game of the referee's wrist for stoppage time – and the Wolverines kept pushing. Until they found their equalizer with mere seconds before the referee's final whistle would sound.
Abram Arujo poked the ball through the crowd in the middle of a crowded penalty area, where Adrian Casillas deflected the ball past Moorpark goalkeeper Pavel Fabian to set off a wild celebration to tie the game.
But there was still work to do. Another 30 minutes of extra time was going to be needed. And, again, with the clock nearly expired, the Wolverines found the back of the net to pull off an improbable come-from-behind victory in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association Men's Soccer playoffs.
In the 117th minute, the Wolverines moved quickly into the Moorpark end, and Jayro Dominguez grabbed the ball on the left-wing side, with original starting goalkeeper Artun Vance forced to retreat back into his area. Dominguez beat a pair of defenders into the penalty area and drew Vance to him, and he fed a pass to the middle of the field, where all Emmanuel Guzman had to do was to direct the ball into the half-empty net to give SBVC the 2-1win.
The Wolverines controlled much of the action in the first half, but the shots remained relatively even – until the 45th minute. Alex Bosanac got the ball for the Raiders and slid it to Troy Mishkanian, who beat SBVC goalkeeper Henzel Solares to give Moorpark the 1-0 lead after the first half.
Vance made seven saves for the Raiders before he left the game banged up in stoppage time of regulation – before returning with about four minutes remaining in extra time in preparation for penalties. Solares made four saves for the Wolverines.
SBVC advances to a second-round game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.