SACRAMENTO >> The Butte College men’s soccer team made history when it advanced to the California Community College Athletic Association Final Four for the first time with a win on Nov. 30, and the Roadrunners made history once again when they defeated Long Beach City College 1-0 Friday to advance to the program’s first-ever CCCAA state championship.

“Unbelievable,” Butte head coach Ross Sandberg said when asked about his first reaction to advancing to the state championship. “These guys showed their resilience. Long Beach City brought a lot of pressure. Their number 10 (Jose Mariscal) advertised, number 17 (Ulises Grado) was elite. My backline was top-notch as well. It was a fun game for the crowd to watch, hands down, and it was not fun for either one of us coaches to coach in. It was sheer excitement and tears, and these guys have been through so much. I’m still at a loss for words.”

Butte will face Cuyamaca (18-4-2), which defeated Cañada 2-1 in double overtime in the other CCAA semifinal. The Coyotes have won 14 straight, entering the CCCAA championship Sunday, while the Roadrunners have won seven straight and nine of their last 10.

As the Roadrunners prepared to depart for Sacramento for their Final Four matchup on Friday, Sandberg told his team he wanted to stay for the full weekend. This meant winning Friday and competing for the CCCAA championship on Sunday.

On paper, the Roadrunners (18-4-4) had their odds stacked against them, coming in as the No. 14 seed in the NorCal bracket and facing the No. 1 team in the SoCal bracket Long Beach (19-4-3). However, the Roadrunners played on the road for three of their four playoff matches entering Friday, all five, if you include their first-round match that was forced to be played at Harrison Stadium in Oroville due to field conditions. They also had injuries occur throughout the season, and are as healthy as they’ve been all season and playing their best. They’ve embraced a back-to-the-wall mentality all season, having the mental toughness to play from behind in key matches and come out on top.

“We had the option to wear our black uniforms or wear our white uniforms, and we chose to wear our whites,” Sandberg said. “We’ve been in the whites for six games in a row now and on the road still. This whole ride that we’ve been on for the last two and a half weeks is something we’ll all remember forever.”

Friday’s match was similar to one the Roadrunners have played all season. Long Beach controlled the ball for much of the first half and out-shot Butte 25-8 and 7-2 in shots on goal. Sandberg said the Roadrunners were outplayed for the first 20-30 minutes due to nerves, but settled down and sharpened up as the match went on. Sandberg said he was OK with the amount of shots taken, as a lot of them were from 20-25 yards away. The Roadrunners’ chances came off of counter-attacks but were limited. Butte goalkeeper and Chico High alumnus Manny Diaz made seven saves to keep the Vikings off the scoreboard.

“Manny had, I would say, his best game of the year,” Sandberg said of his goalkeeper. “He was clutch, he was comfortable, his ball distribution continues to get better, he made some great saves that kept us in the game, and he just continues to develop.”

With three minutes and 40 seconds left in regulation, Butte forward Matteo Di Gennaro capitalized on a turnover by the Vikings. The Roadrunners knew it was getting close to going to overtime and began to apply pressure. On a pass backward by the Long Beach defender intended for goalkeeper Abraham Ramirez, Di Gennaro beat Ramirez to the ball and flipped it over the goalkeeper’s head on his fourth shot and only shot on goal to give the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead.

Physicality and cards shown >> The match was as physical as expected, with four yellow cards being shown to the Roadrunners and two to the Vikings. Butte captain Elias Stingl received a red card 89 minutes and 55 seconds into the match, just three minutes after the match’s only goal. As a result of the red card, Stingl is suspended for one match, ending the sophomore’s junior college career. The foul was called on a slide tackle, but Sandberg could not get official clarification from the referee as the refs were busy calming the crowd down.

Sandberg said he and Butte College are in the appeal process as of Friday night and sending a video to the CCCAA, in hopes of getting Stingl eligible for Sunday’s match. Sandberg said the commissioner and president of the CA were on site and saw it happen, so “hopefully, they justly do it.”

“Hopefully, they make a decision quickly. You can’t do that to a sophomore with one minute left in a game in a state semifinal game,” Sandberg said. “Sophomore, defensive player of the year, probably All-American, second foul called on him all game and a straight red? Unjust. It was crap.”

As a result of the red card, the Roadrunners played a man down for the remainder of the match, which included three minutes of stoppage time, but will be able to play with a full team minus Stingl if the appeal is upheld by the CCCAA.

“We’ve had next man up all season,” Sandberg said. “We’ve had a ton of injuries and overcome a lot, and this is just another thing. My heart goes out, and I’m gut-wrenched for Elias Stingl as a person and as a player, for what he’s poured into this program, and this being his sophomore season and the captain of this team. Crappy way for this to end.”