After beating Redondo Union 19-18 in penalty kicks on Tuesday night to advance to the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinals, the Great Oak girls soccer team thought that there couldn’t possibly be another game quite as long. Then came the Thursday, Feb. 21, game, this fast-paced, high-energy game led to what seemed like the longest stoppage time in the Great Oak girls soccer team’s lives.

Great Oak, with a record of 18-2-3, battled to keep their lead against Chino Hills to advance to the semifinals. The Wolfpack fought hard and came out on top with a 3-2 win and played Long Beach Wilson on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at home.

"They deserve this," Great Oak coach Alicia Brennan explained. "It came down to the wire but that’s just the name of the game. We play until the last minute and thankfully we were able to hold them off."

The game began with a goal for Great Oak in the seventh minute, as Mikayla Brillon threw it in and Chloe Amaradio headed it right past Chino Hills’ goalie.

"She threw in a great ball," Amaradio said. "I got my head on it and in it went."

The first half continued as Chino Hills, wanting to even the score, attacked. Sarah Victor, Great Oak’s goalie, made six saves alone in the first half and another 11 in the second. Seven minutes into the second half, Stephanie Malherbe made a beautiful play and assisted Miranda Shulz in Great Oak’s second goal bringing the score to 2-1.

"Steph [Malherbe] passed it right to me and it went straight into the right corner," Shulz exclaimed.

Chino Hills continued to fight and with 16 minutes left, Great Oak’s goalie finally let one past, as Maylisa Rangel headed it into the left corner. The game continued, Chino Hills struggling to keep possession, when Shulz finally had her foot on the ball and from 35 yards out, curved the ball right past goalie Merrick Ives’ outstretched hands for a 3-1 lead.

Next came the unbearably long stoppage as Chino Hills continued their relentless fight for a win. Four minutes into stoppage, Amanda Ball finally broke through Great Oak’s defense, crossing it to Maylisa Rangel, who managed to get the ball past the goalie and cut the lead to 3-2.

As the clock continued to wind down, Rangel sprinted into the net to retrieve the ball and brought it back to the center as quickly as she could, eager to try for another goal.

"It was the longest game of my life," Amaradio said.

As the crowd screamed for the final whistle, Chino Hills continued to push Great Oak’s defense as they tried their best to hold the goal-hungry team off. Finally, the referee called the game, after eight and a half minutes of stoppage time, leaving Great Oak to celebrate their victory.

Update: In the CIF-SS Division 2 Semifinal, #3-seed Wilson overcame two 2-goal deficits to tie the game at 3-3, forced a scoreless overtime and scored on all their penalty kicks to eliminate Great Oak and prevent them from meeting Sunny Hills in the finals. Sunny Hills eliminated the Wolfpack in semis last year.