SOUTHERN SECTION SOCCER PLAYOFFS : Newport Harbor Shuts Down Palm Springs

For most of Tuesday’s Southern Section Division 1-A playoff match against Newport Harbor, the Palm Springs boys’ soccer team played like a bunch of guys with a bus to catch.

Newport Harbor, on the other hand, played with patience and discipline in posting a 2-0 second-round victory on the Sailors’ field.

Newport Harbor (11-8-2), the defending Division 1-A co-champion, advances to Friday’s quarterfinals at a site to be determined against Corona, a 5-0 winner over Workman Tuesday.

Brian Groskreutz scored on a header off a loose ball at the 11-minute 50-second mark of the first half to give the Sailors a 1-0 lead. Later, with less than a minute left in the half, Chris Hunter scored on a direct kick from just outside the penalty area.

In the second half, impatience took Palm Springs out of its game. Good passing and ball control in the first half led to several Indian scoring opportunities, but Palm Springs resorted to long, low-percentage shots throughout the second half.

“We want them to take those shots,” Newport Harbor Coach Elias Shehadi said during the match. “(Palm Springs) is much better when they control the ball like they did in the first half.”

Actually, it wasn’t particularly surprising that Palm Springs (19-3-3) seemed like a team in a hurry. The Indians didn’t arrive at Newport Harbor until 20 minutes after the scheduled 3 p.m. start because the bus driver got lost en route; instead of turning onto 17th Street in Costa Mesa off Newport Boulevard, the bus exited the Newport Freeway at 17th Street in Santa Ana.

After a brief warm-up period, the match started 35 minutes late. Although Palm Springs outshot the Sailors, 15-7, the Indians’ only realistic scoring opportunities came in the first 10 minutes of the game on short shots set up by several passes.