HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER PLAYOFFS : Castillo Engineers San Diego’s Victory Over Bonita Vista

Two years ago, Hector Castillo didn’t try out for San Diego High’s soccer team because he didn’t know there was one. He was unaware because he spent his afternoons at home, caring for his 2- and 3-year-old cousins while his aunt was at work.

Now two years after moving from his native Monterey, Mexico, where he grew up playing on the streets, Castillo is regarded as one of the top players in the county.

The San Diego senior scored two goals, his 14th and 15th of the season, Friday night and helped bury Bonita Vista, 4-1, as San Diego advanced to the Division I championship game Friday night at USD.

Sophomore Juan Velasco scored San Diego’s other goals and Darin Clark got Bonita Vista’s only goal on a corner kick that caromed in off a defender.

But it was Castillo playing the starring role. He nearly scored on a well-timed bicycle kick early in the game and he proved to be an imaginative architect throughout, threading the ball to teammates when it appeared there were no passing lanes.

“He just has a knack of knowing just where to make a pass,” Hidalgo said. “It’s a God-given talent. You can’t teach that stuff.”

Just ask the Bonita Vista players. They tried diligently to work the ball through the midfield, but rarely connected more than two consecutive passes.

Their ineffectiveness might have been because of the aggressive play of San Diego’s midfield.

“That was our goal,” Hidalgo said. “We wanted to get ahold of the midfield. And we managed that. As you could see, the Bonita Vista midfield, for the most part, was nonexistent.”

For San Diego (20-1-2), the victory atoned for a 2-1 loss to Bonita Vista in the Grossmont Tournament in December.