The Millikan Rams’ two Moore League counterparts’ games were, or could have been, decided by penalty kicks, as the Wilson Bruins fell to Servite in PKs after two overtimes, and Jordan beat Woodbridge in a third overtime after the coaches decided to forgo PKs.  Millikan bested the host Bosco Braves on a penalty kick—but they eliminated the suspense by doing it in regulation, netting the goal and the win, 1-0, to move on to the quarterfinal round as one of two league representatives.

Bosco stayed defensive, trying to keep the dynamic Rams from getting on the board early and often (as they did in a first-round 5-0 win over Fountain Valley), and the strategy worked for the most part—the Rams got off just four shots.  Unfortunately for the Braves, that didn’t leave them much in the way of countering, as according to Rams coach Rod Petkovic, Bosco never got off an on-target shot.  “It was a gritty game, with not much flow,” he said afterward.  “More of a rugby match than a game, maybe.”

The deciding score came in the 67^th minute, when Jose “Chicken” Torres was moving with the ball in the Braves’ box—he got tangled up with a Bosco defender, and the ref whistled a penalty kick, which was taken by captain Jonathan Garcia.  Garcia is the same player who scored the first goal of Millikan’s win over Wilson in the first round of league play, off a penalty kick he took while injured.  The result on Wednesday was the same as it was then: a score for Millikan, which gave them the deciding 1-0 score.

The Rams now move on to face West Torrance in the quarterfinals on Friday, at 3pm—a coin flip this morning will decide the site, and we’ll keep you updated as we find out where the game will be.  The win was also Millikan’s 18th shutout of the season, which now breaks the previous school record by two.