It’s a shame the ride had to end, but the Jordan Panthers exited the playoffs in the same way they’d been burning their way through them—in extra minutes. After an OT defeat of JSerra in the first round, and a triple-OT win over Woodbridge in the second, the Panthers hosted St. Francis Friday afternoon, falling 3-2 in overtime, in a thrilling back-and-forth affair that kept the sizeable crowd rowdy and pumped up.
In the early-going, the Panthers and Golden Knights felt each other out, each getting decent opportunities—in the 16th minute, St. Francis clanked one off the post, and in the 20th, Jordan’s Gio Rodriguez headed a shot to the Knights keeper but had it swatted away. The teams had a somewhat similar style of play, both with aggressive, physical forwards who were very fit, and stingy, hassling defenses that displayed great footwork in poking away attacks. It was definitely looking like the only way a team would score was off a set piece.
In the 33rd minute, that’s exactly what happened, when a St. Francis defender got a little too physical just outside his own box. Jesse Castañeda took the free kick, and sent an absolutely perfect ball into the back of the net, just under the crossbar—an inch higher and it would have clanged, an inch lower, and the athletic St. Francis keeper would have batted it away. Instead, it was 1-0 Panthers—Jordan had two more quality chances, and George Gomez, a Panthers defender, saved a goal by blocking a clear shot with his body, but that was the way the first 40 ended.
Jordan staff watching from the sideline yelled “Zero-zero!” at the team as the second half started, trying to encourage the Panthers to not just lay back and play defense, but continue to be aggressive—they did, and continued to get decent looks, but it also opened them up to a very potent Golden Knight counter game. When St. Francis’ Eric Verso was wrestled down by Panther keeper Omar Castillo in the box, the Golden Knights were awarded a PK just ten minutes into the second half—Verso netted it, and it was 1-1.
17 minutes of midfield battle later, Jordan’s Edgar Palacios gave Jordan the advantage again, as he came clear about ten yards out of St. Francis’ box, turning and shooting a beautiful bender into the top left of the net—but St. Francis didn’t wait to counter this time, scoring the equalizer just a minute later, when G. P. Gonzalez broke through the Panther back line and tucked it by Castillo.
The last fifteen minutes of regulation were urgently contested, with neither team wanting to continue an already-long match (a delay before the game and at halftime meant that regulation wouldn’t end until nearly five o’clock, almost a half hour later than most 3pm games). St. Francis unleashed a barrage of set pieces (two free kicks and three corners in the last ten minutes) but the physical Jordan defense turned them away each time. Jordan ran the field well, taking more shots in the late-going, but allowing St. Francis a larger share of possession. In the 79th minute, defender Sergio Sanchez extended his team’s season by making a great play on the ball, poking it away from the free-running Knight, Amir Moore, who played a pressing, physical style on the front of the Knights attack. Two minutes later, the Panthers got the chance they’d been looking for, as sophomore Rafael Haros (a natural scorer moved up from JV for the playoffs, who notched the game-winner in each of the first two CIF matches) got a small window to kick into. He ripped it, but the Knights’ keeper closed out the left corner and deflected it. Seconds later, the whistle blew, and sent Jordan into their third consecutive CIF overtime game.
But the golden-goal period lasted just five minutes, as St. Francis’ Moore finally broke through, getting past a defender and then beating Castillo in a one-on-one situation, keeping the ball and his footing after Castillo dove with good position—he netted it, giving St. Francis the 3-2 overtime win.
The loss ends a historic run for the Panthers, who hosted two playoff games in North Long Beach for the first time ever, with a senior-laden squad that may be the best the school has ever produced. “I’m very proud of them,” said head coach Juan Rodriguez. “Most of these guys have been with me for four years—I was the JV coach when they were freshman, and they’ve been with me all three years I’ve been the head coach. They’re special…I think this experience should help to keep building the program. We hope it’s a building block.”
Rodriguez and assistants Chris Larios and Ryan Wielt, gathered the emotional Panthers at midfield after the game, and they huddled together for a “1! 2! 3! J-Town!” that echoed off the old stands, an echo and a memory of a historic season not likely to die for a long, long time.
The Panthers celebrate a goal
Gio gets tangled up
