Penalty Kicks Fail Amundsen in State Regional Playoff

Coach Alex Perez called it one of the craziest games he’s ever coached. The Amundsen Viking soccer team was playing for the state regionals Saturday against Prosser and had the lead with minutes left—twice. 

But Prosser tied the score both times to send the game into overtime then penalty kicks. There, the Vikings missed two PKs to lose 3-2. The loss ended the season for Amundsen. 

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“For the most part I’m satisfied,” Perez said. “I didn’t know what kind of season it would be, we lost a lot of key players last year, but it would have been nice to win a regional trophy again.” 

Sami Ghezali scored the first Amundsen goal and Prosser didn’t answer back until four minutes left, starting a 20-minute overtime.

The Vikings rallied and scored in the first four minutes of overtime but again, Prosser tied it up in the last minute.

It was the penalty kicks that hurt Amundsen, as the Vikings missed the first attempt and Prosser goalkeeper Ivan Diaz stopped another.

Daniel Ayala was in goal for the Vikings.

“He guessed them right, but (Prosser) kept shooting in the perfect locations,” Perez said. “We missed the first one, and that’s always the crucial one.”

The team will lose more than 10 seniors to graduation this year, but Perez is already thinking about next season.

“The seniors knew this was it, that their season was done, but the juniors and sophomores are ready for next year,” he said.