80 grueling minutes of regulation play wasn't enough.

Twenty minutes of overtime? Still not enough.

Ten minutes of sudden death overtime?? Even THAT was still not enough.

So this classic CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I boys soccer wild card game between host San Pedro High and Fairfax of Los Angeles had to go to the always dreadful penalty kick shootout, but the No.16 Pirates would prevail by making all three of their PK attempts to down the No.17 Lions.

Senior goalie Jose Lopez was unshakable for San Pedro (8-6-1 overall), who somehow squeezed into the playoffs with last Friday's stunning 1-0 victory over eventual Marine League champion Banning of Wilmington. Lopez not only had six saves in the 110-minute struggle, he stopped two of Fairfax's three penalty kick attempts, as the Lions didn't make a single try in three attempts.

Meanwhile, senior midfielders Santiago Rodriguez and Jose Machado, along with the final penalty kick being nailed in by junior midfielder Steve Correa was all the Pirates needed to advance to Friday's first round battle at top-seeded and defending City Division I champion Fremont of Los Angeles.

Both San Pedro and Fairfax (12-5-3) had several chances in the second half and first overtime, but the Pirates had the best chance in the 9th minute of sudden death overtime. Junior defender Chiek Gouman delivered a high kick that Machado was narrowly close to scoring off his perfectly timed header... it sailed wide left out of the reach of Fairfax sophomore goalie Francisco Perez by four inches.

Also in the fourth minute of sudden death overtime, Lopez stopped a free kick that was a borderline penalty kick from the left end of the net that kept the game scoreless, denying the Lions on their best opportunity to win.

Once Correa calmly drilled his penalty kick goal to seal the victory for the Pirates, the players mobbed Lopez and the team immediately ran over to celebrate for a brief moment underneath the Pirate Stadium Victory Arch, as Fairfax headed towards their bus thinking San Pedro wasn't going to shake their hands... but the Pirates still rushed over to midfield for the customary postgame handshake.

The Lions, probably stunned by the outcome of the game, still refused to shake hands with San Pedro and left.