BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW                                                                   Oct 16, 2010

In a moment that could be considered the biggest of his high school career, Kelly senior defender Jose Gonzalez had all the confidence in the world as he went up to shoot his penalty kick. Luckily for Gonzalez, that confidence paid off as his goal gave the Trojans a 1-0 victory in penalty over Washington Friday night at North Park.

“I knew I had to make it, because we had to win,” said Gonzalez. “I had my teammates behind me and knew when I kicked it, it would go in.”

The Trojans (15-5-2) outshot Washington for the game 11-8, and had multiple opportunities to win the game in regulation and overtime, but Washington (15-1-2), withstood every charge Kelly threw at them.

Both teams traded shots in the opening minutes of the game, with both goalies making relatively easy saves to keep their opponent from getting on the scoreboard. With 27:55 remaining in the first half, Jose Herrera had what looked to be an easy goal slip away from him as his shot on the open goal went left.

The teams played evenly in the second half, with each squad having numerous chances to turn the game in their favor, bit not being able to capitalize.

The penalty kick session started with Kelly making two of its first three attempts, while the Minutemen missed two of their first three, forcing them to convert their last two kicks, which they did. Oscar Rios, Anthony Perez and Humberto Rodriguez added penalty shots for Kelly, while Rafael Alcaron, Josue Briseno and Misael Martinez knocked in their shots for Washington.

The win gave Kelly its first city championship since 2007. The Trojans have been to the title game three times in the past four years and have come away with two championships. This was the Minutemens’ first-ever appearance in the city championship game.

“This is the best feeling in the world,” Gonzalez said. “It means we’re the champions, the best in the city and we haven’t been that since 2007. It’s really nice.”