MORENO VALLEY — Grand Terrace interim girls soccer coach Bert Rodriguez probably would prefer his team’s playoff wins to come with a little less stress. But he’ll take them just the same. Two sessions of overtime could not produce a winner. However, Grand Terrace won a penalty-kick shootout 4- 2 to advance to Wednesday’s CIF Southern Section Division 5 quarterfinal match at Coachella Valley. The Titans (9-6-5 overall) avenged a previous loss to Rancho Verde (1-0 in December). Grand Terrace will be making its second quarterfinal appearance in three years. Mia Mezzanato provided the equalizer for Grand Terrace in the 50th minute on a shot that rebounded off a Rancho Verde defender in the penalty box. That answered a goal from the Mustangs’ Arlyne Sanchez 4 minutes earlier “It means a lot for us to get through, especially because over the last couple of years our season has come to an end on Valentine’s Day. But it certainly hasn’t been easy to get here,” Mezzanato said. “One thing we definitely need to do on Wednesday is get off to a better start. For whatever reason, whether we played them before and had to figure out their adjustments or that we were out of routine because we didn’t have school, we just didn’t play well in that first half and we have to be on it from the opening kickoff.” Saturday marked Grand Terrace’s second straight playoff win decided by penalty kicks, as the Titans also got by Arrowhead Christian Academy in Thursday’s opening round in that fashion. “Our halftime talk was about recapturing the energy and intensity we played with in Thursday’s first round, and I guess it took giving up that goal for them to find it but from that point to the end of the match they responded beautifully and I couldn’t be prouder,” Rodriguez said. “We spent a lot of time on PKs in practice recently and it’s good to know that’s paid off for us. We’re just excited to see how far we can take this thing.” Both offenses struggled to find a rhythm in the first half of Saturday’s match, as shots on goal were few and far between. Rancho Verde (11-4-7) had its best opportunity at an early goal in the 10th minute on a shot from Joveya Tamayo that narrowly missed the mark from just inside the goalie’s box. However, the physicality and intensity picked up after intermission as evidenced by three yellow cards issued by the officiating crew. Grand Terrace actually played the end of regulation time and both 10-minute overtime periods with a player advantage as a result of a second yellow card issued to a Rancho Verde player. However, the Titans still couldn’t break through. In the shootout, Grand Terrace’s Evelyn Zapien, Kailia Williams, Mezzanatto, and Deanna Sandoval all converted from the spot. Rancho Verde missed its first two tries, as Tamayo’s shot hit the crossbar while Melissa Bahena’s attempt was stooped by Grand Terrace goalkeeper Gabriela Jacome. Sophia Franco and Mia Zuniga did make their kicks, but it was too little, too late for the Mustangs. Related Articles IE Varsity’s CIF Southern Section playoff scoreboard for Feb. 14 Santa Margarita girls soccer beats Santiago to move on in CIF-SS playoffs Murrieta Mesa boys basketball team scores playoff win over league rival Temecula Valley Centennial boys basketball team outpaces Etiwanda in Open Division action Norte Vista boys soccer team falls in overtime to Culver City ...read more read less