Final four today vs. SBCC

Final Four Bound

Welcome to the party, Hartnell College men's soccer team.
It's been nothing but big-game victories, Gatorade showers and celebrations for just about every fall sport at Hartnell College, and the good times continued Saturday when its men's soccer team qualified for the Final Four state tournament for only the second time in school history.
The Panthers' relatively easy 4-1 win Saturday over American River on the Hartnell field came just a week after a bowl victory by the school's football team and a conference crown won by the men's cross country squad.
"It's really exciting about taking this step," said Hartnell soccer coach Daniel Ortega, who was lifted off the ground and tossed in the air by laughing Panther soccer players after they paraded hand-in-hand to the opposite side of the field to thank their supporters. "It kind of validates our program a little bit more."
Hartnell's 18-2-3 soccer team has already been tabbed one of the two favorites to meet in the state championship game.
The Panthers were awarded the top seed in one semifinal while Mt. San Antonio College was seeded No. 1 in the other semifinal.
Both semifinals will be played Friday at 2 p.m. at Consumnes River College in Sacramento.
The single-elimination state tourney pits the top two teams from Northern California against the top two from Southern California.
Hartnell meets Santa Barbara City College (18-1-4) while at the same time Mt. San Antonio (20-0-3) challenges City College of San Francisco (19-4-1) in the other semifinal.
The winners clash Sunday at 2 p.m. in the championship match.
Earlier this year Hartnell beat Mt. San Antonio in a match that was decided by penalty kicks.
No overtime or penalty kicks were needed Saturday, where Hartnell played before another large home crowd.
Max Estrada and Ivan Campos, ranked 1-2 in the state in scoring, took charge early.
The Panthers led from start to finish after Estrada took a pass from Duarte Rodrigo and slammed home his state-leading 30th goal of the season at the 19-minute mark of the first half.
"Rodrigo put it down for me like always," said Estrada, one of nine former Alisal High players on the Hartnell squad. "All I had to do was put it in."
After American River trimmed a 3-0 halftime deficit with a goal early in the second half, Estrada delivered again to make it 4-1 with 25 minutes to play.
"That kind of took the air out of them," Ortega said. "They got that one goal early (in the second half), and you felt their energy go up. But they didn't get anything for a while, and Max got his."
Gilberto Ruiz scored on a penalty kick near the end of the first half for Hartnell's second goal.
After the 45-minute clock had stopped, play was allowed to continue in the first half and Campos took advantage of the extra allotted time by surprising the American River goalie with a quick left-footed goal.
It was Campos' 22nd of the season to give the Panthers a 3-0 halftime advantage.
The American River match was in stark contrast to Tuesday's regional semi-final 2-1 thriller over Fresno City College, where both goals came from defender John Ramirez.
"As a team everyone has to contribute," Campos said. "Offense, defense — if the forwards can't do it we have to get help from our defense."
They got plenty of defensive help against American River, a team Hartnell beat in early September by the same score as Saturday.
"We put pressure on the outside backs forcing them to send balls in long, and we were picking everything off," Ortega said.
Campos is the only Hartnell player to have any Final Four background. He went to the state tourney in 2005 when he attended Cabrillo College. The Seahawks were eliminated in the first round.
"I think we're going to take it this year," Campos said. "We have a solid team from the goal keeper to the forwards."

Hartnell to Host American River

# 1 Hartnell will host the Big 8 Conference representative American River Beavers of Sacramento Saturday, November 26, at 2pm. # 4 American River advanced to the third round by defeating #5 Modesto 2-0.

Date: Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Time: 2pm Location: Hartnell Soccer Field
Admission: $8.oo for general, $5.oo for students with ID, faculty, staff, senior citizens age 60 and over and children less than 12 years of age.

Hartnell on KSMSTV

Hartnell Advances to 3rd Round of Norcal Playoffs

Maybe there is something to be said about clichés.
The Hartnell College men's soccer team used the proverbial saying that the best offense is a good defense to beat Fresno City College 2-1 Tuesday in a second round Northern California Regional match on the Hartnell field.
The unlikely goal scorer for the Panthers was John Ramirez, a defender, who played for Hartnell in 2008 as a freshman before resuming his education this year.
Ramirez scored both goals — one on an indirect kick 25 minutes into the first half and the other about 10 minutes later.
Prior to Tuesday's match Ramirez had scored only one goal all year.
"I've protected two goals from our goal, but I've never scored two," Ramirez said. "We knew it was a tough opponent, so free kicks and corner kicks would be the key."
The No. 1 seed Panthers (17-2-3) will next face No. 4 American River (12-5-3) in the Regional finals Saturday at home at 2 p.m. against No. 4 American River (12-5-3).
The winner advances to the state Final Four tourney Dec. 2-4 at Consumes River College in Sacramento.
Hartnell has played American River once this season, and prevailed 4-1 in the championship game of its Labor Day weekend tournament.
Fresno City (10-6-6), which has reached the Final Four in each of the last two years, scored halfway through the second half and had a man advantage the rest of the way.
The Panthers were forced to go with just nine players following a red card at the 55-minute mark.
"We had to work a lot harder on defense, especially after they scored their first goal," Hartnell coach Daniel Ortega said. "We had to hang on for dear life."
A scenario of one player down and no goals by his top scoring threats was not exactly the game-plan Ortega had in mind.
"It was surprising in some ways," Ortega said. "We have guys who have scored 20-plus goals."
It was a physically demanding game from start to finish. Nine times play had to be momentarily stopped for an injured Panther and other times for banged up Rams.
During one sequence in the first half Ramirez and teammate Cris Barrera were both sent sprawling after colliding with each other while pursuing a ball near the Hartnell goal.
"That's playoff soccer," Ortega said. "The intensity ratchets up every round."
The intensity reached its peak when the match was allowed to continue after 90 minutes of regulation play.
Only the officials knew how much time had been tacked on to the clock, the result of delays caused by injuries or balls being kicked out off the playing field.
"I was going crazy," Ortega, who has coached the Panthers twice to the regional finals but never beyond, said. "Normally there is a rule that they have to tell us the allotted time. We were asking, 'How much time?' When he (the official) said six, we didn't know if it was six minutes from then or six minutes all together."
Hartnell went into a shutdown mode, relying on its trusted defense to close things out.
Fresno City had one serious attempt at the tying goal in the final minutes, but Hartnell goalie Domingo Uribe was up to the challenge.
Finally, the whistle blew and Hartnell players raced from the bench and leaped on their tired teammates in front of a large and cheering crowd that nearly stretched from one end of the field to the other.
"It was relief like you can't believe," Ortega said. "I've always felt the first (playoff) game is the hardest."
Hartnell, which reached the state tourney for the one and only time in 2006, has suffered two crushing defeats in the Regional finals under Ortega — once to Taft and the other to Cabrillo.
"We're hoping the third time is the charm," Ortega said.
If one cliché works, maybe so can another.
After all, it's do or die Saturday.

Hartnell to host Fresno City in 2nd Round of Nor Cal Playoffs

# 1 Hartnell will host the Central Valley Conference Champion Fresno City Rams Tuesday, November 22, at 2pm. # 9 Fresno advanced to the second round by defeating Coast Conference representative and # 8 West Valley on penalty kicks.

Date: Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Time: 2pm
Location: Hartnell Soccer Field
Admission: $8.oo for general, $5.oo for students with ID, faculty, staff, senior citizens age 60 and over and children less than 12 years of age.

Hartnell Soccer on KSMSTV Channel 67