Someone gave El Alam an idea to insert one of the injured keepers who didn’t compete during the 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.
“One kid said to me it might be a good idea to see if we can put in Jake [Blitzer],” said El Alam, adding Blitzer’s last start at keeper was two weeks ago in the regular-season finale. “I didn’t even think about it.”
El Alam asked one of the officials if the move was legal. It was. With an injured hand, Blitzer entered and the senior made an immediate impact. He stopped the first shot and Sage Hill went ahead, 3-1, on the penalties.
Everything appeared promising, until the Lightning missed their next two kicks. The Saints converted three in a row to win, 4-3. They rushed toward Marc Neuman after he sealed it with a successful shot to the left of the keeper.
Sage Hill’s players collapsed at the end.
“We were unlucky,” El Alam said.
The Lightning (10-11-1) made an impressive run to the quarterfinals for the second straight season under El Alam. Initially, he believed this was going to be a trying season having lost a lot talent to graduation.
Things began rough as the Lighting went 1-7 during a robust nonleague schedule. Sage Hill’s resolve turned the season around on Jan. 5.
Heading into Thursday, the Lightning were 9-3-1 in their last 13 games. They were oh so close to winning their fifth straight match.
Midfielder Ben Capaldi was the player who helped the Lightning tie Santa Clara in the 48th minute after converting a penalty kick. The Saints (15-6-1) knocked around the senior quite a bit. He rose back to his feet every time.
Capaldi and the rest of his teammates had no reason to stay down for long. Capaldi and Taylor Ross, who injured his thigh in a collision with Santa Clara goalkeeper Eric Nuñez five minutes into the match, fought to keep Sage Hill competitive.
