Spencer boys fall to Sonoraville in 3A 2nd round

For a brief period to end the first half and begin the second on Tuedsay at Kinnett Stadium, it looked as if Spencer’s impressive late-season charge had a chance to continue.

Despite falling behind Sonoraville by two goals early in their second-round matchup, the Greenwave had begun to put together some offensive pressure and had scored in the waning seconds before halftime. After intermission, it was again Spencer that was the early aggressor.

And then Sonoraville tapped in a goal against an empty net after it had been vacated in pursuit of a save. It gave the visiting team a cushion, one it would never relinquish.

Spencer fell to Sonoraville 4-2, ending its season in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs. It was a disappointing end to a season that gave the Greenwave a Region 2-3A championship and their first playoff victory in program history.

“They did a remarkable job,” coach Marvin Broadwater said after the game. “I’m so proud of our guys for the simple fact that we’re so young. Last year, we were the third seed in the region. To come back, go undefeated in region play and make it here was remarkable.”

Spencer knew the kind of team it was up against on Tuesday. Broadwater said after the game that he wouldn’t be surprised to see Sonoraville make a run at a state championship, especially after beating defending champion West Hall in the first round before knocking his team off in the second.

Sonoraville began the game as the aggressor, getting shots on goal early and often. Spencer got out of a couple of jams, including one around the 13th minute that saw it escape an open-goal situation without any damage.

In the 17th minute, though, Sonoraville broke through. Kevin Villatoro got the first goal of the game, and then just minutes later, Alex Salgado made it 2-0 off of an assist from Alexander Soldevilla.

Late in the first half, though, Spencer began to mount a charge. Whereas most of the opening minutes were spent in its own territory, Spencer began to push things back the other way. The Greenwave had a couple shots saved and had another near-perfect feed to Malik Albritton that went just over his head on the left side of the net.

Finally Jalen Taylor put one in with seconds left before halftime, and the Greenwave trailed just 2-1. The Greenwave had the momentum again to open the second half, but a goal by Soldevilla into the empty net to go up 3-1.

“We got that goal, and it put us right back in the game,” Broadwater said. “The pressure was on them, but when they got that third goal it kind of took the wind out of our sails. It put us on our heels.”

Sonoraville added a fourth goal from Jonathan Soldevilla in the 70th minute and Spencer’s Taylor added another goal a few minutes later to complete the scoring.

“We came to Spencer not really knowing anything about them,” Sonoraville coach Hector Holguin said. “We have a lot of respect for them. They played a great game. It was 2-1 for awhile there, and was close until the end.”

The loss ended Spencer’s season, but Broadwater said the team has a lot to look forward to. It will return a large portion of its starters, and he encouraged all of them to be back ready to go at an earlier date next season.

“This is just a taste for us, guys,” he told his team. “Just a taste.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Spencer boys fall to Sonoraville in 3A 2nd round."