By:  J. Daniel Pearson

Innovation’s Julian Hernandez scored a breakaway goal at the 59:30 mark of the second half and his defense made it hold up as the Bulls (11-5-4) upset top-seeded Gateway (16-2-0) in the championship game of the Class 5A, District 7 Tournament on Tuesday night.

The game winner came when Hernandez took a long pass down the right flank beating the Gateway defense back.  With Panthers goalie Mateo Chavez coming slightly off his line, Hernandez found the right corner of the net for his team-leading14th goal of the season.

After grabbing the lead, Innovation put numbers back defensively – but the Panthers still had several opportunities for an equalizer. 

With 10 minutes remaining, Gateway was fouled just outside the box, but the Panthers had no angle to put the free kick on net and goalie Ibrahim Makki-Ramirez made an easy stop. Two minutes later, Luis Moreno found the ball at his foot for an open shot that sailed just wide of the goal.  With three minutes remaining, the Panthers were fouled just outside the box again, but Moreno’s free kick bounced off the left post for a goal kick.

Earlier in the second half, Gateway had an excellent offensive flurry, blasting three shots in a row from point blank range.  But Innovation defenders blocked two of those shots out front and Makki-Ramirez came up with a fabulous save to keep the Panthers scoreless.

The Innovation victory avenged a 3-1 loss to Gateway in the regular season.  It was also the first time the Panthers have been shutout this season.

“After a slow start, I thought we played a pretty good game both offensively and defensively.  We definitely had our scoring chances and unfortunately could not find the back of the net,” Gateway coach Sagar Patel said.  “They certainly did not do anything that surprised us.  They like to play long balls into the front third and for the most part we defensed it well.  One time we got caught out of position and they took advantage of it.”

Innovation controlled the first 20 minutes of play and had two serious scoring opportunities in the first 10 minutes with point blank shots inside the box that Chavez stopped.  Gateway would dominate play in the final 20 minutes of the half, getting a couple of hard shots off from distance that Makki-Ramirez smothered.

For the game, Gateway led with shots on goal, 8-6.  Innovation committed 12 fouls to Gateway’s eight and each team took three corners.

The loss should not end Gateway’s season.  The Panthers entered the game as second ranked team in Region 2 and most likely will earn an at-large bid to next week’s Regional play.  Depending on the outcome of the other districts and final rankings, there is still an outside chance the Panthers could host a first round game.  

Still, it is more likely Gateway will find itself on the road next week.  “That’s probably the most disappointing part, we were in position to get a couple of home playoff games and now we will probably be on the road,” Patel said.  “But I fully expect this team to rebound.  We have played with a chip on our shoulder all year long.”