SOCCER PLAYOFFS ROUNDUP : Wyse Knows Score, Too, Leads Valhalla Into Final
As Valhalla’s starting goalkeeper for most of the season, Chris Wyse spent his time trying to ensure that no soccer ball made it into the net. But injuries to the top-ranked Norsemen put Wyse on the other side during the San Diego Section boys’ 2-A playoffs.
Wyse showed that he was right at home in Valhalla’s semifinal match against Mission Bay Wednesday night. Playing only his second match at midfielder, Wyse headed in a pass from Toby Taitano in the 10th minute for the only score as the Norsemen increased their unbeaten streak to 78 with a 1-0 victory.
Valhalla (22-0-1) will meet second-seeded San Diego (21-1-2) in a rematch of last year’s section championship--which ended in a 1-1 tie--Saturday at 7 p.m. at Torrey Pines. V Jason Lawson, who replaced Wyse in goal, made several diving saves to thwart the aggressive Buccaneers (13-4-4).
San Diego 2, Carlsbad 1 (2 OT)--Hector Castillo’s header seven minutes into the second overtime won it for No. 2-seeded San Diego.
Manuel Rodriguez slide-tackled the ball away from two Carlsbad players and sent a pass up the right wing to Martin Moreno, who then crossed the ball into the middle for Castillo.
Carlsbad scored first on a goal by Fred Kaczmaiek. San Diego tied it 6:30 into second half on a goal by Giang Lai.
Girls 2-A
USDHS 1, Ramona 0--Cynthia Keenan scored late in the first half to give unseeded University of San Diego High School its semifinal victory over the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (18-6). The victory put USDHS (14-6-4) into Saturday’s 5 p.m. final at Torrey Pines against top-seeded San Pasqual, the defending champion.
San Pasqual 2, University City 1--San Pasqual has a chance to win its fifth consecutive section title after defeating University City in the semifinals. Paloma Van Derzanden and Shannon MacMillan each scored a goal in the first half for top-seeded San Pasqual (22-4-1). University City (14-5-5) scored on a penalty kick midway through the second half.
