For the first time in Esparto High School history, the boy soccer team will compete in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI final, thanks to a 6-5 penalty shootout win over Summerville.

The No. 2 seeded Spartans came into the D6 semifinals following a 3-1 win over Gustine in the opening round of the playoffs. On Thursday night, they’d end regulation tied up at 1-1 against Summerville before coming out on top during a penalty shootout, sending them to the final on Saturday, where they will face No. 1 seed Denair.

According to assistant coach Brad Brinegar, the match was going to be a dogfight against Summerville and was for most of the night.

“We needed to impose our will to win with heavy legs after playing in overtime two days prior against Gustine,” stated head coach Juan Juarez. “Summerville was a very tough opponent, and they brought it to us in the second half. We lost our composure when we lost Emiliano Ponce, a key player on the back line, after he took a shot to the face breaking his glasses. Luckily, David Fuentes, David Rodriguez, Roman Melendrez, brother Rodrigo Melendrez and Diego Perez had big games on the back line to keep us in the game at 1-1 through regulation and overtime.”

Before the penalty shootout, Juarez mentioned needing to change the goalkeeper from Jose Gomez to Joshua Godinez. Godinez looked sharp in penalties earlier in the week but was battling ankle and knee pain.

“You never know when you’ll have to be ready for a shootout, but we made sure to get some reps during the week,” Juarez said. “It’s one of those moves you make knowing that it will either work or it will bite you in the rear, and you have to live with knowing you did it with good intentions.”

Godinez stepped up and blocked three kicks to set up Guillermo Avina, converting the last kick to send the Spartans to the championship on Saturday at noon against Denair at Cosumnes River College.

“Our fans came in huge, cheering loudly for our boys to grind it out,” Juarez said. “We couldn’t have done it without the support of our community. Our boys proudly represent and carry the Spartan crest on their chest.”