SAN JOSE >> Soquel High junior defender Haily Betterman found out she’d see her first game action of the season at goalie after the No. 5 seed Knights girls soccer team battled No. 2 Christopher of Gilroy over 80 physically grueling minutes of scoreless regulation, and two scoreless 10-minute overtimes.

It was a decision veteran coach Jose Sierra considered a week ago in practice, after Betterman jumped in goal for penalty kick drills. Her athleticism was undeniable. Thing it, she had no idea it was an audition.

So, after starting sophomore goalie Bethany Mansfield helped Soquel post its eighth clean sheet of the season, and the Knights were assembling their lineup for the penalty-kick shootout to decide the Central Coast Section Division IV championship, Sierra also announced that Betterman was taking over between the pipes.

The move paid massive dividends.

“It was a tough decision, but it worked out,” Sierra said.

Betterman not only stopped two PKs, she also converted a PK, as did senior midfielders Trinity Wilson and Arden Salles, and the Knights stunned the Cougars 3-2 to claim the program’s first section title in school history.

“It’s insane,” Betterman said.

Betterman asked the referee if there was anything special she needed to know before the PK started.

“When we were in that group huddle, he just told me, ‘We’re making a keeper change, and you’re going in,’ ” Betterman said. “And I was just standing there; it was terrifying. … But, honestly, I was more confident than nervous, because I believe in my instincts. But, I had to ask, honestly, the ref, ‘What am I supposed to do in PKs?’ And he’s telling me all the rules.”

She didn’t have to move an inch to stop the Cougars’ first kick. After she made the block, she took off her gloves and the pinny she wore over her white “Soquel” sweater, and calmly converted Soquel’s first kick.

Juniors Hannah Sandoval and Adalyn Mosher converted for the Cougars, and Wilson and Salles converted for the Knights, but both teams’ fourth kickers sent their kicks wide.

With Soquel kicking second and holding a 3-2 advantage, Betterman needed to stop Brooklyn Rosa’s kick to seal the Knights’ historic win. Rosa sent the ball to the left side, and Betterman pounced on it like a cat on a ball of yarn.

The Knights cheered but waited for the referee to blow his whistle three times, signaling the end of the match. The second he did, the Knights streamed to Betterman to celebrate. Several dejected Cougars were left in tears and remained at midfield to console each other.

Soquel (13-4-4 overall), the runner-up behind Aptos in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, isn’t done. They advance to the CIF NorCal Regional playoffs. They received the No. 2 seed in D-IV on Sunday and will host No. 7 San Rafael (15-9-0) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

While it was the Knights’ first section title, it was Sierra’s fourth. He coached Santa Cruz’s girls teams to crowns in 2000, ’02 and ’03.

The Knights, who feature 10 seniors on their roster, may not have seen this unprecedented success coming, but Sierra knew his team was capable of something special.

“Once you enter CCS, it’s anyone’s game,” Sierra said. “Anyone can win. Look how many number one seeds lost. This game was hard. I thought we were going to be able to get through, but they played good defense; both teams. It was kinda tight game. It was in the middle a lot and we weren’t connecting like we were in the last game. But the end result is pretty amazing.”

Soquel was dealt a huge blow in the quarterfinals last week, when the Knights saw leading scorer Isis Tumanson felled by a season ending knee injury late in a 3-1 win over No. 4 Willow Glen. The Knights banded together and played their best game of the season Wednesday, when turned in a dominant, 3-1 win over No. 1 Fremont in the semifinals.

“When we made CCS, I just had this really good feeling,” Wilson said. “Like the entire way through. I just knew. It was just a really good feeling the whole time.”

Wilson said losing Tumanson to injury further motivated the Knights.

The Knights didn’t enjoy the same number of scoring chances that they had in the semifinals, but they had chances to win it. They also had chances to lose it. But Mansfield made some key stops on Cougars’ free kicks, and the Knights’ defense, which includes senior Chloe McGilray, was quick to clear most of the major threats.

“It was stressful,” said Rylie Costa, a freshman midfielder for the Cougars (14-5-3), the runner-up in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Santa Teresa Division. “We fought hard, so it was good. … PKs, they’re tough, but we all had opportunities.”

In the first overtime, a Christopher defender accidentally headed the ball backwards, toward her own goal, and sophomore forward Lynaea Vallett was quick to pressure. In the second overtime, Vallett missed connecting with a cross from the right side and the ball was cleared.