MILFORD — Watson Dorsinvil faced 10 penalty shots.
Some went in, some went over the net and some went wide.
But the two most important ones were the two final shots and they went into Dorsinvil’s hands.
Dorsinvil made two key stops as fourth-seeded Sussex Central High edged fifth seed Caesar Rodney High in a penalty shootout after their DIAA boys’ soccer state quarterfinal ended in a 1-1 draw on Saturday night at Milford High.
CR’s Thomas McPoyle tries to head the ball in for a goal in the first half. (Special to the Delaware State News/Gary Emeigh)
“It’s unbelievable,” said Dorsinvil, the Golden Knights’ sophomore goalie. “You just have to pick a side and hope you guess right (on penalty kicks). This means a lot to us because we’ve been fighting to win a game like this for a long time.”
Sussex Central advanced to the semifinals to play top seed Salesianum on Wednesday. A time and place for the contest has not been announced yet.
CR’s Jalen Victory (left) boots the ball past Jordan Morales-Perez of Sussex Central.
The shootout had to go to extra rounds after the two sides were tied 2-2 through five shooters.
Dorsinvil dove to his right to make his first save when it was tied 4-4. That allowed freshman Juan Perez-Perez to step up to the spot and slide his effort home for a 5-4 Golden Knight lead in the shoutout.
Dorsinvil’s next save was even better. He leapt in the air while twisting his body to palm the ball into the air and wide of the goal.
Next up was Maycol Escalante-Roblero for Sussex Central who also found the back of the net to set off a wild celebration as the Golden Knights charged toward Dorsinvil.
“As a coach I would rather this game be won on the field,” said Sussex Central coach Kevin Cash. “I hate that it comes down to that. But our kids did what they had to do. They relaxed, started placing their shots better like we teach them in practice and Watson came up big for us with the two saves.”
Caesar Rodney nearly won the game in the second period of sudden-death overtime but the Riders found the crossbar and Dorsinvil was able to pounce on it. The Riders also found the back of the net on a long throw in by Tommy Pomatto but no one touched the ball before it crossed the line, causing the referees to rule out the goal.
CR took the lead in the first half when a cross by Pomatto was deflected into the net for an own goal by the Golden Knights. Sussex Central equalized with 13 minutes remaining on a goal by Christian Castillo.