SOUTHERN SECTION SOCCER PLAYOFFS : Boys’ Roundup : Mater Dei Upsets Royal, 2-1, to Reach Semifinal

A goal by junior Paul Oldham broke a 1-1 tie with with 12 seconds left to lead Mater Dei High School to a 2-1 upset victory over second-seeded Royal Friday in a boy’s Southern Section 4-A quarterfinal soccer game at Mater Dei.

Mater Dei, the only Orange County team left in 4-A, plays South Torrance Tuesday in one semifinal at a site to be chosen today by the CIF office. It’s the first time in the school’s history that Mater Dei has reached the semifinal round.

Mater Dei, the Angelus League champion, took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jeremy Skiver 25 minutes into the first half.

Ray Harris then scored for Royal with four minutes left in the half, to tie the score.

Oldham won the game with his 40th goal of the season off an assist by John Coggins from about 12 yards in front of the net.

Junior Mike Reis had a season-high 13 saves for Mater Dei.

In 2-A boys’ play:

Orange 3, Central 2--The Panthers fell behind defending Southern Section 2-A co-champion Central in El Centro before scoring three second-half goals to get the victory and advance to a semifinal match Tuesday against Sunny Hills.

Goals by Juan Cortez and Fernando Martinez in the first half put Central (24-4-1) ahead but senior Jim Vlcek scored twice in the first 20 minutes of the second half to tie the score, 2-2.

Senior forward David Shill scored the winning goal for Orange (21-7-1) off an assist from Vlcek with 13 minutes left in the game.

Sunny Hills 1, San Marino 0--Senior Ramon Miramontes scored with eight minutes left to give the second-seeded Lancers (17-2) the victory at home.

Sunny Hills played excellent defense and freshman goalie Jason Sugarman only had to make two saves.

Brea-Olinda 1, Woodbridge 0--Senior forward Robbie Hillard scored on a header off a throw-in by Matt Swindle in the second half for the defending co-champion Wildcats (17-4-2), who tied a school record for wins in a single season.

Brea-Olinda plays Coachella Valley, which beat La Salle, 2-0, in the other semifinal Tuesday at Brea-Olinda Junior High School.

Senior Brian Hester had seven saves in recording his eighth shutout of the season and second in the playoffs.