In his final team talk after Saturday's penalty shootout loss to Archbishop Mitty in the state playoff final, St. Francis boys soccer head coach Rusty Millard was hit with the reality of the loss and the end of the season.
After going undefeated in the regular season and being crowned WCAL league champions, the fifth-seeded Lancers (22-2-2) advanced to the NorCal Division I finals, but suffered a heartbreaking loss to second-seeded Mitty with their WCAL rivals tied. . Millard said it was 2-2 with about 90 seconds left in the second half, sending it to a shootout.
“You could see what it meant to them,” Millard said of the team's emotions. “I saw what that meant to the coaching staff, and I think I was shocked at that point to know that we had built something very special. To end like that. It was really heartbreaking to see that.”
Coach Millard said the visiting Lancers made some tactical adjustments before the game in preparation for their fourth matchup with the Monarchs of the season, and that St. Francis got off to a strong start and finished up late in the first half. He pointed out that they scored a second-half goal and took the lead going into halftime.
“I thought we started the game with really good energy,” Millard said. “We came out flying. The adjustment went well.”
However, St. Francis conceded a point about five minutes into the second half when a floating ball that floated into the box bounced inside the area and was scored by a Mitty player. St. Francis responded with a goal with about 15 minutes left. Isaac Perez and David Hernandez-Escobar scored the goals of the game for St. Francis. Mithi kept the pressure on and scored the equalizer in the second half to send the game into overtime, but neither team was able to break the stalemate and the match went to penalties, with Mithi winning 4-2.
Despite the disappointing end to the season, Coach Millard, in his first year coaching the team, worked hard in training sessions and was undefeated in 20 games with an 18-0-2 record ahead of the season opener. He praised the team for adapting to the new culture, including becoming league champions. Runner-up Mitty. However, the Monarchs got their revenge with a 2-0 win on Feb. 24 in the CCS Division I final against the Lancers, which they won on Saturday. St. Francis defeated Berkeley in a penalty shootout on Feb. 27 and defeated Monte Vista 3-2 in the semifinals on Thursday to advance to the state final.
“It's a group that was dedicated to not only each other but everything we threw at them, and it was a team that relentlessly put in the energy and desire level that it takes to be successful, and the results came up a little bit short. But overall, it was the best season in my 23 years of coaching,” Millard said.