Southern Section Soccer Playoffs : Newbury Park Waltzes Into Title Game

The unranked Newbury Park High boys’ soccer team just keeps rolling along.

“We’re coming together really well right now,” Newbury Park Coach Ted Isenburg said. “It was just a matter of time. Even though we haven’t been ranked, we’re still here.”

The Panthers rolled right into Southern Section 4-A Division championship match for the first time in school history with a 3-0 semifinal victory Tuesday at Fountain Valley.

Newbury Park (19-5-1), which has won nine matches in a row, will meet Royal in the final at Gahr High in Cerritos at 8 p.m. Friday. Royal defeated Palos Verdes, 2-0, in the other semifinal.

Newbury Park moved into the championship game behind the eighth shutout of the season by Panther goalkeeper Richard Bengston. The Panthers outshot Fountain Valley, 16-12.

Newbury Park took a 2-0 lead at the half on goals by junior midfielder Jeff Yoos and senior Jason Swayne.

Yoos scored his fifth goal after an indirect free kick by teammate Bill Kranz at the 20-minute mark of the first half. Swayne’s sixth goal came from eight yards out after a crossing pass by Eric Gunter 35 minutes into the half.

Eddie Hamper scored Newbury Park’s last goal on an assist from Avo Meneshian 32 minutes into the second half.

“I think they were just overmatched,” Isenburg said of Fountain Valley. “Our team played very well. Our boys just worked the ball much better this game than they have been. It just confused their people and they just couldn’t stay with it.”

Fountain Valley finished at 16-6-4.

Calabasas 5, Cabrillo 2--Paul Ratcliffe scored two goals to lead the Coyotes to a Southern Section 1-A Division playoff victory at Calabasas.

Calabasas, which tied Santa Paula for the Frontier League title and is ranked No. 2 behind the Cardinals in the 1-A Division, plays Santa Paula in the final at Gahr High at noon Saturday. The teams split their two Frontier League games matches this year.

Ratcliffe, a senior midfielder who leads the Coyotes (18-4-1) with 23 goals, helped Calabasas jump out to a 4-1 halftime lead.

Calabasas last played for the championship in 1986, when Agoura defeated the Coyotes, 3-1.

Santa Paula 2, Agoura 0--Joey Magdaleno scored two goals to lead Santa Paula to a Southern Section 1-A Division semifinal victory at Santa Paula.

Both goals came when Agoura was attempting to clear the ball out of its end of the field.

“If the ball bounced another way, they wouldn’t have scored,” Agoura Coach Bart Morefield said. “They were cheap goals because they weren’t pretty.”

Agoura was no luckier on Santa Paula’s side of the field.

“They stifled us,” Morefield said.

Agoura (15-5-3), which finished third in the Frontier League, had played in the 1-A final each of the past three years.

GIRLS

Agoura 2, South Pasadena 0--Forward Dawn Krenik scored two goals for the Chargers in a Southern Section 2-A semifinal game at Agoura.

“She’s one of our offensive leaders,” Agoura Coach Dave Godwin said of Krenik, who also led Agoura’s volleyball team to the 3-A volleyball final.

Trisha Arledge stopped three shots to record her 20th shutout of the season for Agoura, which has won or tied its past 51 games. The Chargers are the defending 2-A champions.

Agoura (24-0-3) will play Temple City, a 3-1 winner over Bonita, in the championship game Saturday at 2 p.m. at Gahr High.