No. 17 Santa Ana Men’s Soccer Falls to No. 16 Cypress in Penalty Kicks to End Season

No. 17 Santa Ana Men’s Soccer Falls to No. 16 Cypress in Penalty Kicks to End Season

CYPRESS, Calif. - The No. 17 seeded Santa Ana Men's Soccer team had its season come to an end after being outshot 4-2 in penalty kicks against No. 16 Cypress (8-6-8, 5-3-6) in round one of the 3C2A Southern California Regional Playoffs on Wednesday afternoon. 

Santa Ana (10-6-5, 8-3-3) possessed the ball for the majority of the match, posting 21 shots compared to just seven by Cypress, but couldn't finish when needed. 

In the first half, the Dons went up early on a cross from Miguel Gonzalez to Paul Carillo in the 12th minute. But the Chargers responded quickly with break away counters, scoring in the 13th and 24th minute. 

The Dons continued to battle and tied things up when Bryant Pineda took a free kick and bent it into the bottom right corner of the Charger goal in the 61st minute. 

SAC got off a healthy amount of shots in the final 60 minutes of play but Cypress goalkeeper Jose Macias kept them silent with eight saves on the day, leading to penalty kicks. 

Unfortunately, Santa Ana missed two shots to drop the playoff game, ending their season.