“It’s always tough to lose the final game of the year,” said coach Paul Furey. “My heart goes out to our seniors. They displayed a lot of character this afternoon and can be proud of their career.”
Southern Poly jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Emeka Maduka. “We failed to clear the ball out of the box after a corner kick,” noted Furey.
As they have in past games, the Flames came fighting back and tied the contest at 1-1 on a goal by freshman Noel Pimentel.
“We did well and came battling back to score the equalizer,” noted Furey. “I thought the momentum would give us a chance to win in regulation. We just could not put it away.”
In the overtime, the Hornets’ Diego Nicholson picked up a loose ball in the box and knocked it home for the game-winner.
The Lee coach praised the effort of freshman goalkeeper Joey Hinshaw. “He played well above all our expectations. Noel also stepped up and scored a big goal once again.”
The Flames, playing against a rugged conference and non-conference schedule finished the 2011 season at 11-8. Southern Poly advances to play in the SSAC semi-finals next weekend.
