JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers YEAH, THAT'S A FOUL—La Reina senior midfielder Kelsea Brajkovich, right, is taken down by Valley Christian's Jacqueline Lara during Tuesday's playoff match at CLU. La Reina lost in overtime. It all happened so fast.

One minute La Reina senior midfielder Kelsea Brajkovich was doing everything she possibly could to get her team into the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division V girls' soccer playoffs, and the next minute her high school career was over.

Just like that—finished in the blink of an eye.

"That's just the way soccer is; you get a few chances, and that's it," said the University of Washington-bound Brajkovich.

"When two good teams are playing with good defenses and good offenses, you have to capitalize on your opportunities. That's what our opponent did today."

The Regents were upended by Valley Christian, 21, in suddendeath overtime Tuesday afternoon at Cal Lutheran.

Valley Christian junior forward Jacqueline Lara netted the golden goal just a minute into the second 10minute overtime period to lift her squad to victory.

HEADER—La Reina's Jillian DeGennaro, left, battles Valley Christian's Mandy Petrus. "I think the ball hit off one of the La Reina players and just sort of bounced to me," Lara said of the game-clincher. "Their goalie was coming for it fast, but I just kicked it in before she got there."

La Reina, which finished its campaign with a 15-7-3 overall record, almost never made it to overtime.

After falling behind 1-0 on a first-half goal by Valley Christian junior midfielder Leezett Del Toro, the Regents regrouped during intermission and came out attacking on offense in the second half.

Several La Reina scoring chances, however, went for naught until junior midfielder Brooke Ellias appeared to put in the equalizer on a laser-guided free-kick from freshman Rachel Brajkovich.

But the tying goal was disallowed when Ellias was ruled to be offside, to the dismay of the LRHS faithful.

"I was surprised (by the call)," Ellias said. "But, you know what? Everything happens for a reason."

Instead of hanging her head, Ellias put herself in proper position to score again in the waning moments of regulation.

With an assist from sophomore forward Jillian DeGennaro and senior midfielder Megan Scanlon, Ellias tied the game at 1-1 on a blast from in close.

"I was really happy to come back and score because I really wanted to win this," Ellias said. "Making it into overtime was nice, but we just couldn't put a second (goal) in.

"I'm sad about it, and I wish we could've been going on, but it's okay."

Scanlon, who served as team captain along with Kelsea Brajkovich, was thrilled to see Ellias bounce back after the tough offside call went against her.

"Instead of taking it as a negative, (Ellias) came right back and picked it up and scored another," said Scanlon, who will play at Gonzaga. "It made her hungrier."

La Reina was without two of its top playmakers for much of the contest.

According to head coach Creighton Van Horn, freshman midfielder Rebecca Koval, the team's second-leading scorer, sprained her ankle during warmups and couldn't compete. Sophomore midfielder Emily Melvin hurt her foot in the opening playoff game and was extremely limited on Tuesday.

"Take two quality starters out of your lineup and it's going to cause problems with what you do," Van Horn said.

Still, Van Horn took plenty of positives from the Regents' brief postseason run, and with everyone but five graduating seniors expected to return next season, the building blocks are in place for sustained success in the future.

"Hopefully we made progress this year in terms of getting some respect in our league," the coach said. "I think we're well set for the future."

The senior captains also went out of their way to praise the play of sophomore goalkeeper Ali Parisi, who had six saves against Valley Christian.

"Defensively, we couldn't have done it without her," Kelsea Brajokovich said of Parisi. "She's always calm and composed, and she keeps her head out there."

Added Scanlon: "I would say that Ali was our most valuable player on defense this year, without a doubt."