And it was a final that had a lackluster start. It continued that way until the overtime period when both teams began to move the ball up and down the field rather than sit back, defend and await a counter attack.

Hilltop couldn't produce its usual fluid brand of soccer with Bonita closing open spaces with a pressuring defense. The Lancers finished short-handed the final two minutes of the overtime after Angel Robles received a red card for a hard foul on Bonita's Roger San Roman on a breakaway.

Hilltop, the Mesa League champion and the No. 6 ranked team in the state and No. 16 in the nation by ESPN Rise Magazine, did manage to out shoot the Barons 4-1 in the first half.

It was more of the same in the second half with both teams trying to pressure but could not penetrate each others' defenses.

The Lancers beat Bonita Vista twice in the regular season, a 2-0 win at home and 2-1 on the road.

"They didn't do anything different," Hilltop coach John Salts. "Both our earlier games were just as hard fought. We just didn't make it happen. This is an incredible team. They are a great group of players. This is an awesome group. It's just too bad it had to end the way it did. But this is soccer and someone has to win and someone has to lose."

Hilltop's previous three losses this season came to league rival Eastlake and two against Poway.

This was a team considered favorite to win the section title and be selected to the Southern California Regional playoff tournament.

Instead, it will be Bonita Vista hoping to get a slot when the state makes it selections Sunday afternoon.

"If we don't get in, we still had a heck of a run," Murphy said. "We're liking this right now."