As the rain poured down and the temperature continued to drop, Boys Varsity Soccer kept their minds focused on playing as a team for the first round of Central Coast Section (CCS) Playoffs.

Carlmont High School emerged victorious over San Benito High School in double-overtime Wednesday night, Feb. 26.

San Benito scored a goal 15 minutes into the game, and held on to the one point lead throughout the 40-minute half. Goalkeeper Jacob Segal tried grabbing the ball but it managed to slip past the goal line before he picked it up.

“Its difficult for the goalie to collect the ball and clear the ball in the defensive end in the rain. I’m surprised the rain didn’t affect the game more. I was expecting more scrappy play ending up in more scores,” said spectator Jim McDowell.

At the start of the second half, a San Benito player mistakenly kicked the ball away from his team’s goalkeeper, giving junior Mitchell Jang an open shot. Jang’s goal tied the game 1-1.

The Scots had a lot of injuries prior to the game. Regular starter Theo Fedronic had to sit out from the game due to a concussion.

“A few players were coming up sore as the game progressed. That had a domino effect through the lineup,” said head coach Jodi Beloff.

For the remainder of the game, both teams turned up the intensity as the rain soaked the field and the players. Neither team scored a goal to take the lead, so after 80 minutes of game time, the referees declared double-overtime.

“A lot of players put in a lot of good effort today. It was a total team effort,” said Beloff.

In the last two minutes of overtime, junior Nathan Rosenthal was able to dribble around San Benito’s goalkeeper and score the winning goal for Carlmont.

“That was pretty crazy. I don’t even know how to explain it,” said Rosenthal.

Carlmont will play quarterfinals this Saturday.

“Not many teams get the opportunity to go to CCS. When you get past the first round and you get into the quarterfinals, it’s beautiful,” said Beloff.