Few sports can test physical endurance and mental toughness than the game of soccer.
Just ask the Clovis Cougars and Clovis East Timberwolves boys soccer teams.
With goals by both teams in the final five minutes of the second overtime period, the schools deadlocked at one in a defensive battle at Lamonica Stadium Tuesday night.
The Cougars and Timberwolves struggled to maintain substantial, lasting possession of the ball for large durations of the first half, resulting in plenty of shots, but few quality scoring opportunities.
The first real good chance came late first half in the 35th minute when Cougars goalkeeper Vinny Sabatini was forced to make a diving save on a shot from point-blank range, which he did with relative ease.
All told, the game remained scoreless at halftime.
However, once the second half began, the Cougars appeared with a renewed sense of purpose and energy, allowing them to gain a strong foothold of possession and play in the attacking third for large spells of action, and it resulted in increased scoring opportunities.
In the 48th minute, the Cougars looked as if they might get that go-ahead goal it had been frantically searching for.
As Clovis played the ball down the right sideline, senior Andrew Williamson, who would eventually leave his mark on the contest, fired in a ferocious ball that appeared as if it was aimed at a teammate on the far post, but Timberwolves keeper Carlos Luna was not troubled and easily swooped in to catch the ball before trouble mounted.
And with the attacking pressure mounting, Cougars senior Nolan Sumter knocked in a lovely cross to Grant Lake, which he headed just over the crossbar.
Few more quality chances developed the rest of regulation, and the game headed to overtime scoreless.
After a scoreless first overtime period, the game flipped directly onto its ear in the last five minutes.
Andrew Huerta, who had been on a goal-scoring tear, again appeared to put his team ahead with a goal on a broken, messy sequence inside the penalty area.
Indeed, it looked as if the Timberwolves would steal one with the go-ahead score.
However, it didn’t get the Cougars down, as evidenced by the ensuing couple minutes.
Sumter put together an answer almost immediately with a shot into the upper corner of the Timberwolves net, sending the team and home crowd into a frenzy.
Cougars head coach Danny Amparano was proud of his team’s mental fortitude and refusal to give in after the Timberwolves goal.
“It showed resiliency that we didn’t want to lose… I think we woke up tonight,” he said.
On the other side of the coin, East coach Erik Farfan, visibly disappointed, was left thinking what could have been.
“In those moments when you score goals in the last few minutes, you have to see games out,” Farfan said. “It’s not necessarily about the beautiful game at that point, it’s about being safe and we failed to do that and they capitalized.”
With the draw, the Timberwolves and Cougars remain in third and fourth place respectively with one match remaining in the regular season schedule.
Both teams take the pitch again Feb. 6 when the Timberwolves take on Central High at home and the Cougars do battle with last-place Clovis West. Both teams look up at the TRAC leading Clovis North Broncos.