Sports

Soccer Playoffs: JSerra Upsets, Will Face San Clemente

It will be a South County semifinal after the Lions took down fourth-seeded Palos Verdes. Meanwhile, nobody can stop the Tritons' Gage Zerboni.

JSerra Upsets, Will Face San Clemente

San Clemente gave up as many as two goals for only the third time this season, but the Tritons picked a good time for it.

They scored seven goals, and with their 7-2 quarterfinal victory Friday over Santa Barbara, the top-seeded Tritons move into the Southern Section Division 1 semifinals where they will face JSerra.

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San Clemente, which will host the semifinals on Tuesday, did all the necessary damage in the first half when it scored four times.

Five players scored for the Tritons, as Gage Zerboni and Bryce Kaminski scored twice. Zerboni also had two assists, giving him 22 on the season.

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More than that, Zerboni's two goals matched a single season school record with 30.

Others who found the net were Alex Cucuk, Blayne Martinez and Colin McDermott.The latter two also contributed an assist each, as did Santiago Digiuseppe, Oscar Hernandez and Andy Jabali.

Only once this season has San Clemente (28-2-1) allowed more than three goals; it came in a 3-0 loss to Carlsbad on Dec. 5, the sixth game of the season.

In other Division 1 quarterfinals

JSerra 2, (4) Palos Verdes 1—The Lions (18-3-3) had a home game against fourth-seeded Palos Verdes and they didn't waste  the opportunity. JSerra received goals from Andres Mendoza and Ether Bustos. Jonathan Fabulich and Bustos also had assists.

(2) L.A. Loyola 2, Los Alamitos 1—The Griffins (21-4-6) took a first-half lead but gave up two second-half goals to fall at home. Los Alamitos put the pressure on immediately as Evan Bacani scored in the second minute. It stayed that way until the 67th minute when the Cubs tied the contest. They tallied the game-winner in the second minute of extra time. Loyola will play at Servite, which tied with Claremont, 0-0, but advanced on penalty kicks, 4-2.


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