After playing to a draw against each of its last three opponents, West Valley men's soccer was back at home to continue Coast Conference play. This time, the Vikings flipped the script -- a thrilling, come-from-behind victory to end September on a high note.

The Vikings (2-1-4, 1-0-1 Coast-South) played host to a Cabrillo Seahawks (3-4-1, 1-1 Coast-North) team coming off two dominant wins. Cabrillo entered having scored eight goals in its last two games, but the Viking defense was staunch for the entire 97:30 off a well-fought match.

"I thought it was a really good game, very difficult," said West Valley head coach Gaspar Silviera. "[Cabrillo is] a very difficult opponent to play against. But I thought we did a good job of controlling the tempo of the game, in the first half especially. Thought in the second half, they kind of came into the game a little bit more themselves, made it a little bit harder for us."

In the first ten minutes, West Valley had three corner kicks. Two were played short while third-year sophomore Erick Villasenor popped the third too high over the netting as Cabrillo's keeper left his feet on an early attempt.

Villasenor had one of the most statistically dominant West Valley seasons of all time when he notched eight goals and ten assists in 2023. After spending 2024 redshirting at San Jose State, Villasenor returned to West Valley and is just now starting to turn the corner in what could be another tremendous season.

"He's probably still another 2-3 weeks away, another handful of games away," said Silviera. "I think he'll be one of the better players in the conference for sure. In the state, at our level. He's very, very good, but he needs games and he needs a lot of minutes on the field to get himself back to where he's been. I think every game he's played he's getting a little closer."

Good news for the Vikings on the Villasenor front: he continued to provide pressure in the attacking area, nearly finishing numerous shots including one that would have given the Vikings an early lead had it not trickled wide left of the posts.

Many of the boxes, however, could be checked. He was aggressive end-to-end on the pitch and the opportunities were plentiful, it was just the final touch that needed to be placed.

The Seahawks had an opportunity on a centered free kick, but their shot was just low enough for Viking keeper Anthony Gonzalez to punch it above the netting. West Valley elected to start Gonzalez over regular goalie Romello Fulcher.

"We had seen some video on Cabrillo, we knew their size was pretty good," said Silviera on the decision to start Gonzalez. "We knew that they sent a lot of guys up on set pieces, and so, we felt [Gonzalez] gave us that aerial ability a little better. We thought, 'hey, let's give him a look. Let's give him an opportunity,' and I think he responded really well."

With the Viking defense staunch as always through the first portion of the first half, Gonzalez didn't get many opportunities. But when his number was called, he sprung to action.

"It was a difficult ball," said Gonzalez. "It's coming in high for me on the first play of the game. Just played it safe, tipped it over the bar."

After the half, the pacing of the game started to switch. West Valley, which had been so focused on pressuring its opponent early on, slowed the pace of the match down, and Cabrillo responded the same.

In the 72^nd minute, the Seahawks drew a penalty outside of the box that led to a free kick. Though the Vikings played terrific defense on the first attempt, a clearance earned Cabrillo a corner. On the play, Seahawk forward Mathis Gautltier aimed for a herd of bodies near the front post but missed, and a wide-open Luca Venturoli punched it in from the other side to open the scoring.

The Vikings, however, were able to answer back on a set piece of their own. After midfielder Omar Rodriguez was fouled, he chipped one in from just in front of the center circle and as the ball pinballed around the danger zone, David Reyna found enough space to sneak it past the keeper on the right side.

But after playing to a draw in each of their last games, West Valley was hungry for more.

Late during the extra-time period, the Vikings trapped a ball in the center circle that was dimed to freshman Cameron Wildt on the wing. As he marched towards the endline, Wildt dropped a pass to a cutting Villasenor who put the nail in the coffin.

Most importantly, after almost 90 full minutes of trials and tribulations and struggling to finish after fantastic footwork around the attacking area, Villasenor checked the final box.

"It was great, the team battled," said Gonzalez. "We battled until the end. It was unlucky we went down first, but we bounced back and recovered well. For the first time all year, the Vikings get to play back-to-back matches at home, next facing Skyline College on Friday at 4.

It's clear that the Vikings are not just having fun with each other, they appreciate and respect the ability to play with each other. After the game, a raspy-voiced Gonzalez apologized for the state of his voice.

"[Losing my voice] is pretty common -- my voice gets a little lost at the end," said Gonzalez. "All that communication on the field, but as long as we play good, I'm okay with it."