02 Mar Richmond High Comes Up Short in NCS Championship Shootout

The Richmond High Oilers boys varsity soccer team kneels in a circle before their 2-2 shootout loss in the North Coast Section Division II finals to University High School of San Francisco, where the game was played on Feb. 27.

By Denis Perez-Bravo

Richmond High School was 45 minutes from a North Coast Section Division II championship Saturday before San Francisco’s University High School rallied for a 2-2 draw and won in a penalty shootout. 

Richmond High came into the 2026 NCS DII Winter Soccer Championship as the No. 2 seed and having beaten Saint Mary’s, Mt. Diablo and Granada high schools; University High was the No. 1 seed.

The Oilers led 1-0 at halftime after an early goal and carried the advantage into the second half of the Feb. 28 NCS final. 

But University responded with aerial play and persistence to tie the game. 

University equalized the score in the 60th minute when senior Rowan Sellers headed in a corner kick. The Devils continued to press with long throws and crosses, testing Richmond’s back line.

In the 67th minute, a long throw into the box led to a scramble in front of the goal. After a missed header and a series of deflections inside the penalty area, Sellers put the ball in the right side of the net to give University a 2-1 lead. 

Richmond answered in the 79th. A cross from the left deflected and fell to Anthony Quinteros, whose volley ricocheted off a defender and past the goalkeeper to tie the match at 2.

After a scoreless overtime under the golden goal rule, the title was decided by penalty kicks. 

Erick Ramirez and Santiago Hernandez converted their attempts for Richmond. Goalkeeper Ismael Rios stopped University’s third attempt, but the Oilers could not take advantage. Ultimately, in the sixth round, the Devils converted and secured the shootout and the title.

Richmond, the NCS runner-up, advances as the No. 3 seed in the California Interscholastic Federation Division III regional playoffs and will host Galt High on Tuesday at 5 p.m.