Senior goalkeeper Mario Cisneros’s team is his family, and there was no way he would let them down in the biggest game of the year.

    After 80 grueling minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, the South Fremont Cougars and the Aberdeen Tigers went to penaly kicks.

    And with the shootout 6-5 in South Fremont’s favor, it was up to Cisneros to make a save when Aberdeen’s Juan Juarez stepped up for his kick.

    For the Cougars, who had entered their district tournament as the No. 3 seed, they were never supposed to have been one win away from state.

    And Cisneros, with an injured quadricep from early in the season, should have never been able to make the save.

    But he did, and South Fremont beat Aberdeen 6-5 in penalty kicks Saturday afternon at Century High School.

    “I just forgot about my let hurting,” said Cisneros, a starting goalkeeper this season but also the netminder when South Fremont went to state two years ago. “I knew I had to be strong. That’s how I did it.

    “My teammates are my family. If you have a family that cares about you then you can get anything done.”

     Before the sudden death overtime, the Cougars and Tigers were deadlocked at 1-1. As the afternoon sun slowly dripped down the skyline, both teams struggled to create scoring opportunities.

    It was the Aberdeen Tigers with the most quality chances in the first half. Senior Juan Luis Torres scored in the eighth minute. Torres and the rest of the Tigers’ attacking forwards continued to threaten in South Fremont’s scoring third, but the Cougars’ defense held them scoreless in the final 92 minutes.

    “We really wanted it,” Cisneros said. “And we took it.”

    In the 32nd minute, South Fremont senior Rafael Gracia came up from his midfield position and capitalized on one of the Cougars’ only scoring chances of the entire match. Just that little bit of offense proved to be enough.

    “I really don’t have words for it,”  Cisneros said. “I’m still in shock that we won. It was a pretty good game. Both teams gave it everything they had.”

    In the state tournament, South Fremont plays Bonners Ferry Thursday at 2 p.m. in Twin Falls.

    “I think both teams played really hard,” said South Fremont’s head coach Shayn Blair. “It’s tough to lose this kind of game.”