Danny Jarrett pocketed the game-tying goal with 1:49 remaining
in overtime off an assist from Josh Schafer, while Schafer scored
the go-ahead point some 40 seconds later, as the seemingly quiet
Haybalers exploded for three goals in the final two minutes en
route to a surprising 11-9 OT victory over Stevenson on Saturday,
and sewed up third place in the TCAL as a result.
MONTEREY
On the surface, the deficit appeared minor enough.
The San Benito Haybalers trailed Stevenson 9-8 in overtime Saturday with two minutes remaining, and needed to find the equalizer in the waning moments of the Tri-County Athletic League’s third- and fourth-place consolation match.
But considering the Balers hadn’t deposited a score in nearly eight minutes, well, it was a taller task than at first glance.
“We kept digging,” San Benito head coach Tom Agan said.
“We had a strong first quarter, but our energy just kind of dropped off. Then we just went back to what we were doing late in the game.
“We kept driving,” he added.
The turnaround was sudden and all at once.
Danny Jarrett pocketed the game-tying goal with 1:49 remaining in overtime off an assist from Josh Schafer, while Schafer scored the go-ahead point some 40 seconds later, as the seemingly quiet Haybalers exploded for three goals in the final two minutes en route to a surprising 11-9 OT victory over Stevenson on Saturday, and sewed up third place in the TCAL as a result.
The overtime drought by San Benito lasted for seven minutes and 38 seconds, while Jarrett’s equalizer during a man-up opportunity sparked a three-goal effort by the team in the final 109 seconds.
“I’m so excited,” said Schafer, who had three goals, four assists and three steals in the win. “It’s been a while.”
The top-three standing qualified San Benito to this week’s Central Coast Section Division I Championships, where the No. 12 Balers (13-11) will square off against No. 5 Monta Vista (16-8) during Tuesday’s opening round.
“We didn’t do well against Salinas. We fell apart,” Schafer said of the Balers’ previous match, a 21-8 defeat against Salinas during the TCAL semifinals. “But we changed our warm-up. Changed our attitude. We came out as a completely different team and they weren’t expecting that.”
It will mark the first time since 2007 San Benito has advanced to the postseason, although the Balers needed to pull out a victory over Stevenson simply in order to qualify to CCS.
And with two minutes remaining, trailing by one goal against the Pirates, it didn’t look as if the Balers would be able to extend their season another game.
“We have a play we’ve been running in practice and the game plan was to execute it the best we could. And we did about as perfect as we could have. It could not have gone better,” said Jarrett, whose only score in the game was the tying goal in overtime.
After Nick Angulo deposited a team-high six goals and two assists during regulation, Stevenson turned its defensive attention to the San Benito senior, preventing him from scoring again in the game.
“After a certain point in the game, there was always two people on me,” said Angulo, who scored three of his six goals in the fourth quarter, forcing the match into extra time. “But that just opened up a spot for someone else.”
On the game-tying play, the Baler coaching staff pulled Angulo away from the net, almost as a decoy, and placed Jarrett in at the shooter’s role.
“And it worked,” Agan said. “That was coach (Kristeena) Bakke’s idea.”
Just 44 seconds later, Jake Garcia made a cross-cage pass to Schafer, who deposited the go-ahead goal with 1:04 remaining.
“We were trying to move the ball across the cage, and we did a decent job with that,” said Agan, who noticed the straightaway shots on net weren’t fooling Stevenson keeper Beau Bayless, who made six saves in the loss.
It was Trevor Agan who made the block of the match, though. With San Benito clinging to its one-goal lead in the final minute Saturday, Agan deflected a laser toward the left side of the cage by Connor Stuewe, who led the Pirates with four goals in the game. The Baler keeper punched the ball upward with his left arm at the last possible moment, and it banged off the crossbar as a result.
“That was a little hairy,” said Agan, who finished the match with 16 saves. “I knew he was gonna shoot. He usually shoots just outside the 5.
“I knew it was coming. It was just a matter of when.”
And just how close was the ball from crossing the goal line, after Agan deflected it into the crossbar?
“It was close,” Agan said. “Another inch and it would have gone in.”
If Agan’s save was the clincher, Jaret Barios’ goal 20 seconds later was the final dagger, supplying San Benito with a two-goal win and the season series with Stevenson, which split with the Balers this year.
“Everybody digged pretty deep,” Tom Agan said.
Both Barios and Garcia chimed in with a pair of assists for San Benito, while Carlos Huerta added an assist.
San Benito and Monta Vista will now square off on Tuesday night. Match time is 7 p.m. at Monta Vista High in Cupertino.
“Bad news,” Agan said after Saturday’s win. “We have practice on Monday.”
