Daniel Mycroft knocked away Quincy’s final penalty shot, then raced toward the stands while yelling and flexing for the Archbishop Murphy faithful.
For the second day in a row the freshman Murphy goalkeeper starred in a shootout as the Wildcats clinched their second straight Class 2A state title with a 2-1 victory (4-3 in penalty kicks) over the Quincy Jackrabbits Saturday at Sunset Chev Stadium.
“Same as last night — I had confidence,” said Mycroft, who saved two shots in Murphy’s 5-4 shootout victory over Sehome in Friday’s semifinals. “One or two big saves would do it, and I made the two big saves I had to, and I couldn’t let Parker go down like that.”
That would be senior Parker Buchanan, who had a chance to win it for the Wildcats with the previous shot. But Quincy goalie Johan Farias recorded his one save of the shootout on Buchanan’s attempt.
The Wildcats (21-1) wouldn’t even have been in position to win in the shootout had it not been for a well-directed Buchanan header that set up Murphy’s only goal of day.
Trailing 1-0 in 56th minute, Diego Rios took a free kick from the left side of the box. Farias was unable to corral the cross, and Buchanan headed it across the mouth of the goal to Williams, who headed it into the net to make it 1-1.
“That was all hard effort from everyone,” said Williams, who finished the season with 35 goals. “I was just there to clean it up with my head.”
Kevin Rios put the Jackrabbits on the board in the 51st minute. The junior dribbled in from the left side and his shot deflected into the net off a Murphy defender as Mycroft came out to challenge the shot. It was the first goal Murphy had allowed since a 3-1 win at King’s on April 26.
“We knew we were capable and they have the confidence to come back,” Murphy coach Mike Bartley said. “Plus we have some of the best goal-scorers I’ve seen around.”
The Wildcats didn’t panic and scored the equalizer five minutes later, perhaps drawing on the 1-0 deficit they faced against Shorecrest in last year’s semifinals.
“It was kind of that same situation,” Buchanan said. “We went down and knew we could come back. We just had to work hard and communicate. But as soon as we got that first goal we knew it was our game.”
Diego Rios, Williams, Jacob Snider and Jensen Crisler all scored in the shootout for Murphy.
Kevin Rios and Rafael Guzman converted Quincy’s first two kicks before Mycroft saved Jordi Coroneo’s shot. Juan Borja converted the Jackrabbit’s fourth kick before Mycroft saved Axel Medina’s attempt to clinch the state title.
“(Mycroft) is, in my heart, the MVP of the whole state,” Williams said. “I love that kid to death and he really epitomizes what a good Murphy boy is. He’s everything you want in a kid.”
It added up to the fourth state title in school history. The Wildcats also won state titles in 2015, 2004 and in 1994 as Holy Cross.
“We lost a couple seniors (from 2015) but we still had the core team and every guy came back and worked twice as hard,” Buchanan said. “We knew we had a target on our back coming into the season and every meeting was ‘State title.’ Now we got here and we knew we had what it took, and it’s what we did.”
At Sunset Chev Stadium
Goals—Kevin Rios (Q), Matt Williams (AM). Shootout goals: Archbishop Murphy—Diego Rios, Matt Williams, Jacob Snider, Jensen Crisler; Quincy—Kevin Rios, Rafael Guzman, Juan Borja. Records—Archbishop Murphy 21-1, Quincy 14-6-3.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
