HILLSBORO – The situation seemed beyond bleak for Jesuit's boys soccer team in the second half of the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 6A final Saturday night at Hillsboro Stadium.
Not only did the Crusaders trail McMinnville by two goals, but due to a red card in the 49th minute, they were playing one man down.
If that wasn't enough, they were shivering from a bone-chilling, steady downpour and cramping from exertion.
Through it all, Jesuit somehow emerged with a dramatic 3-2 win, outscoring the Grizzlies 4-2 in a penalty-kick shootout in a comeback for the ages. The Crusaders' 17th state title – a state record – will go down as one of their most memorable.
“It's something that will only happen in the state final,” said Jesuit sophomore midfielder Vala Saghafi, whose goal in the final minute of regulation forced overtime. “And I'm glad that I'm a part of it.”
One year after falling to Lakeridge in overtime in the state final, third-seeded Jesuit (16-2-1) refused to be denied against No. 4 McMinnville (15-3-1), which was going for its first title since beating the Crusaders on penalty kicks in 2006.
“It was a challenge, but nothing could stop us,” Jesuit senior forward Diego Nieves said. “It was all about trust. Trust one another, trust every player, we can do it.”
Surviving the conditions was a battle in itself. They were so severe that one player from each team – Jesuit senior midfielder Grant Sasaki and McMinnville sophomore midfielder Edwin Cuevas-George – was taken to the hospital for treatment after the game.
“I've been shivering all game,” Saghafi said. “It's been really hard. I've never played where I've been shivering in the game.”
Sasaki – who in the second half dealt with extreme cramps, a potential sign of hypothermia – gave his team a lift with an emotional halftime speech. Down 2-0, it turned out to be exactly what the Crusaders needed to hear.
“He talked about how he didn't want to go out like this, that we've still got it in us, ” Jesuit coach Geoff Skipper said. “It was an incredible speech. It fired up the team. I wish he was here right now to celebrate with us.”
Said Saghafi: “Hearing that from him – a captain who has been there for us, he's our anchor – it really motivated us to have that drive to go forward. That is the reason we could get those two goals.”
Sophomore Dominic Bolouri scored off an assist from junior Cooper Cardwell in the 69th minute to pull Jesuit within 2-1. Suddenly, it seemed that a McMinnville victory wasn't so inevitable, after all.
The Grizzlies continued to keep Jesuit in check, right up until the final minute. That's when Saghafi got a chance to size up a free kick from about 25 yards out.
“When I saw that free kick, I knew exactly where I was going to put it,” Saghafi said. “Hours of practice that I put into that shot, I knew it was going in. I was so confident in myself. I just needed that touch to finish it.”
Saghafi struck the ball and it sizzled into the left upper corner of the goal, knotting the score 2-2 with 58 seconds showing on the clock. It was the team-leading 30th goal of the season for Saghafi, a transfer from 5A La Salle Prep.
“I'm just glad I could do it for my school,” Saghafi said.
The goal sent a shockwave through the stadium.
“He's an incredible player,” Skipper said. “He does incredible things all the time, so to be honest with you, that he scored on a goal like that does not shock me. He's hard to keep out of the net. Even with two minutes left, I know he's got one in him.”
The Crusaders, exhausted from playing a man down, were energized.
“That was crazy. That was wild,” Nieves said of the goal. “That was the game-changer. That's what started everybody.”
Saghafi said he was struggling for much of the game.
“I was doing my thing, but it was just hard because I feel like I was triple-teamed every time,” Saghafi said. “But I got one moment, I put it away, and I can celebrate with my team. After that, it was just courage.”
Jesuit battled through two scoreless overtime periods to reach the shootout, where the Crusaders got successful penalty kicks from Nieves, Saghafi, Bolouri and junior Luca Schmidt.
Edwin Cuevas-George and junior Abraham Cuevas-George converted for McMinnville, but junior Antonio Virrueta shot high in the second round and senior Ronaldo Grimaldo's shot was deflected off the post by junior goalkeeper Fox Mason in the fourth round, the latter sealing the outcome.
For the Crusaders, it was a much different feeling than last year's final, when Lakeridge pulled even with a goal in the 72nd minute and won in overtime. That match was at Sherwood High School, but Saturday was at Hillsboro Stadium, the site of Jesuit's last title win in 2022.
“This was our stadium my sophomore year. This is where we won state,” Nieves said. “Going back here, it just felt like we were going to win state again.”
McMinnville, which hadn't won a playoff match since finishing as runner-up in 2016, came out strong and overwhelmed the Crusaders. Abraham Cuevas-George buried a free kick from about 30 yards out in the fourth minute. Junior Sebastian Lopez drove home a shot from 15 yards away in the 39th minute, off an assist from Edwin Cuevas-George, to make it 2-0.
“Their attack is unbelievable,” Skipper said. “They've got some kids on that team that are phenomenal players. They were pressing all over the field. I was super impressed with them. They came out and took it to us in the first half. They almost made us look silly.”
But it wasn't to be for McMinnville.
“We came out and were aggressive from the get-go,” Grizzlies coach Adam Howard said. “I was proud of the effort we put forward. I give Jesuit a lot of credit for battling and fighting, playing down a player.
“I'm just so happy for our guys to get to this point. It's obviously not the way we want to end our season, but the effort and the fight, and the togetherness that our group showed all season, was so good.”
