Soccer Playoffs: Zerboni Hat Trick Leads San Clemente

Gage Zerboni scored three goals and also had an assist as top-seeded San Clemente easily took care of business in the first round of the Southern Section boys’ soccer playoffs with a 4-0 victory over Leuzinger.

Vying for the Division 1 title, the Tritons (26-2-1) scored twice in both halves.

San Clemente, which scored its 19th shutout of the season, will play at Harvard-Westlake, a 3-0 winner over Dana Hills, when the playoffs resume on Wednesday.

In other Division 1 games:

Harvard-Westlake 3, Dana Hills 0—The Dolphins finish 9-5-1.

Santa Barbara 1, Fountain Valley 0—The Barons finish 9-9-5.

JSerra 3, Moreno Valley Valley View 0—Alex Duarte scored two goals and Andres Mendoza scored once for the Lions (16-3-3), who will play at Edison, a 2-1 winner against Long Beach Millikan.

La Verne Damien 3, Tesoro 1—The Titans finished 3-7-5.

(3) El Toro 2, Newport Harbor 1—Michael Bryant assisted on goals by Roger Howard and James Suri to lead the El Toro (25-1-1) past Newport Harbor (13-9-4).

Santa Margarita 1, Laguna Hills 0—Chandler Kirby recorded eight saves, and Ben Draheim got an assist from Benden Hickey for the game’s only score. The Eagles (19-3-4) on Wednesday will play host to Los Alamitos.  Ricky Brown made five saves for Laguna Hills (12-10-3).

Los Alamitos 4, Ventura Buena 1—Brett Hall, Kevin Herring, Sam Rudich and Dan Weis scored for the Griffins (20-3-6), who play at Santa Margarita on Wednesday.

West Torrance 1, Capistrano Valley 0—The Cougars were eliminated from the playoffs.

In Division 3, first round

Corona del Mar 2, Whittier California 1—The Sea Kings (11-7-5) got second-half goals from Jack Nowak and Conor Roche to come from behind against California. CdM will play at Oxnard Channel Islands, which scored a 2-0 upset of second-seeded Santa Ana Valley.

In Division 6, first round

Sage Hill 3, Woodcrest Christian 2—Sage Hill on Wednesday will play host to second-seeded Animo Leadership.

In Division 7, first round

Saddleback Valley Christian 10, Palm Valley Marywood 1—The Warriors on Wednesday will play at Lancaster Desert Christian, a 2-0 winner over Anza Hamilton.