Prep Wednesday : SOUTHERN SECTION SOCCER PLAYOFFS : 4-A Girls : Linhart Leads Capistrano Valley Rout

Becky Linhart scored three goals and Cindy Attaway added two to lead the second-seeded Capistrano Valley High School girls’ soccer team to a 7-0 Southern Section 4-A semifinal victory over Royal Tuesday at Capistrano Valley.

Linhart, who has scored five goals in two games, scored twice in the first half as Capistrano Valley (21-4-1) took a 3-0 lead.

The Cougars will play Simi Valley in Friday’s 4-A final at Gahr High School.

“We knew we were capable of a game like this, but I didn’t expect that we would have it at this time of the year,” Capistrano Valley Coach Steve Bignal said. “We kept passing and moving the ball around, and that was a key for us.”

Royal (21-2-2), which lost starting midfielder Jenny Steele when she suffered torn ankle ligaments during the Highlanders’ second-round playoff game against Dana Hills, suffered a further blow late in the first half when its leading scorer, striker Staci Blough (17 goals this season) was forced out of the game by an ankle injury.

“I could tell in the first five minutes that we were in trouble,” said Royal Coach Kevin Corley. “They ran around us and we wound up chasing them as they were getting the ball behind us and scoring goals. And when (Blough) went down, we had just about nothing left.”

Jenny Sparano and Amy Doherty also scored for Capistrano Valley.