A year after losing on penalties to Everett Alvarez in the CCS playoffs, it was appropriate that a penalty in the dying minutes of extra time from winger Cyrus Shafie for Mountain View secured a CCS championship this year.
Tied 1-1 in the last minute of extra time Friday, a foul on Shafie in the box gave him the pressure moment he was ready for, a penalty kick he slotted home to secure the 2-1 CCS Division I playoff win for Mountain View (18-3-2) over the undefeated defending champions.
“Usually, I take penalties for a lot of teams I play for,” Shafie said. “I don’t usually feel nervous, but for that one, just a little bit, but I felt confident enough to take it.”
The resulting euphoria after the make saw the Mountain View team run to celebrate with a packed student section at Stevens Stadium on the Santa Clara University campus, with Shafie feeling vindicated for all the hard work put in during his high school career.
“Best feeling ever,” Shafie said. “But it’s amazing to see my friends, parents and everyone. It’s such a great group, we love each other so much that it feels amazing.”
Mountain View coach Jim McGuirk said that even in such a pressure situation, he trusted Shafie implicitly.
“I was starting to think the soccer gods had smiled on me,” McGuirk said.
The game got off to a fast start with Mountain View forward Nicholas Garzino scoring the game’s opening goal after firing a shot past the Everett Alvarez keeper from a rebounded corner after just six minutes in the first half. However, Everett Alvarez responded ruthlessly just a few minutes later with a goal from striker Fernando Matias off a cross from outside the box to make it 1-1. Everett Alvarez grew into the game and had several more shots in the first half, with Mountain View’s best chance coming when Shafie hit a shot off the post on an indirect free kick inside Everett Alvarez’s box after a backpass violation between a defender and the keeper.
“You could tell we were really nervous at the beginning, we were connecting on our passes – I thought the goal was great,” McGuirk said. “I think after they scored, I think we settled in.”
The Spartans and Eagles had several shots on goal in the second half but could not score, sending the game into extra time, where defender Abraham Orozco was sent off for a second yellow after a foul on Shafie. Despite being a man down, the Eagles nearly scored but were denied by an incredible reaction save from Spartan goalkeeper Aiden Tassa, who got a hand to a shot and pushed it over the bar on a full stretch. Everett Alvarez’s pace and technical ability on the ball helped generate numerous chances and dangerous attacking transition moments.
“We did not want them dribbling the ball,” McGuirk said. “That’s why you saw us back off a lot. We were trying to clog up the middle, we were trying to change our tactics a little bit, which is always hard to do. We trust our defense, and Aiden (Tassa) came up big at the end there. He’s had a great night, great run through the playoffs, our defense has been great. That’s what got us here.”
The CCS title is the first for the Spartans since 2023, with similar parallels to that year’s journey. Mountain View was the No. 7 seed in the top CCS playoff division that year, beating a West Catholic Athletic League Champion in the opening round both in St. Francis before taking down the No. 1 CCS seed in the final in Alisal. Mountain View beat St. Ignatius 2-1 in a close thriller in the quarterfinals this year, including a missed penalty in the final minutes from St. Ignatius, and beat Leigh 5-1 in the semifinals.
The Spartans now move on to the NorCal playoffs after a long CCS run, hoping to repeat the team’s success from last year. Mountain View won the NorCal Division II title last year over Cardinal Newman, its first regional title in boys soccer.
“We will go out and do the best we can, and hope we aren’t too worn out,” McGuirk said.
