On Tuesday Sept. 13, the 8th-ranked Mustangs traveled to Capistrano Valley High School to face the 3rd-ranked Capo Valley Cougars.
The first quarter scoring was limited to John Beck for Capo Valley (CV) and Dan Burdiak for the Mustangs. After some exceptional team defense and offense on both sides, the quarter ended in a 1-1 tie.
The second quarter saw Tyler Testman score twice for CV.  Mustang Cody Kelley scored on a beautiful shot in the upper corner and CV’s Phillip Penrose closed out the scoring for the quarter. Matt Grollman played a very strong first half in goal with five great saves which kept the game within reach. The half ended with CV up 4-2.
In the third quarter, the Mustangs came roaring back with early goals from Matt Thornton and Dylan Colbert. Testman scored again for CV. After three ejections, CV’s Phillip Penrose was majored and forced to sit out for the rest of the game. Then with 55 seconds left, Dylan Colbert scored his second goal of the quarter to tie the game 5-5.
CV’s offensive power, Testman, came out shooting in the fourth quarter and scored. Costa answered 20 seconds later with a perfectly placed goal from Josh Huttinger. Testman scored once more midway through the 4th making it 7-6 in favor of CV.  With 40 seconds left in regulation, Mustang Dan Burdiak scored yet again to tie the game at 7. The game ended in a 7 -7 tie and headed into overtime.
Neither team scored in the first overtime. In the second overtime, Mustang goalie Ian Zaun made a key steal and a game saving block with mere seconds left to keep it tied, and ushered in yet the third overtime period.
Third overtime was designated sudden death with the team scoring next winning the game. The Mustang defense came up big again and forced a turnover. Zaun launched a deep outlet pass to Cody Kelley at the left post. Kelley immediately passed to Dan Burdiak, who slammed in the game winner from the right post.
As Assistant Coach Dave Halushka reminded his team when heading into overtime, “This game will come down to whoever wants it more.” ER
