SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION II BOYS’ SOCCER PLAYOFFS : San Clemente Scores in Second Half for 1-0 Victory Over Loara

San Clemente boys’ soccer Coach Michael Pronier paced the sideline nervously as he watched the Tritons play Loara in the opening round of a Southern Section Division II playoff game Friday.

Pronier was pacing for good reason, though, as Loara, the Empire League’s No. 3 team, playing in its first playoff game in 12 years, was giving seventh-ranked San Clemente a fight.

But the Tritons, who won the South Coast League title this season for the first time since 1987, finally broke through with 18 minutes remaining in the game for a 1-0 victory over Loara at San Clemente High School.

San Clemente will play El Modena, a 1-0 winner over Diamond Bar Friday, in the second round Tuesday. San Clemente defeated El Modena, 3-1, in the regular season.

San Clemente (16-2-5) scored when Loara’s Tony Norris couldn’t stop a kick by San Clemente’s Michael Poirier, freeing teammate Rob Oveson to go one on one with Loara goalkeeper Raphael Urtiz, who had 12 saves for the Saxons (8-9-4). Oveson kicked the ball to the left of Urtiz, who lunged for it and missed.

“Yeah, I was worried, I think,” Pronier said afterward. “I couldn’t figure what it was except the first half, we didn’t keep the ball on the ground and the field wasn’t that messy that we couldn’t.”

Loara Coach Sergio Rasilla said it was a mistake that led to the goal.

“If you look at how they scored, we let them get the goal,” Rasilla said. “He (Norris) went to clear it out, he slipped and the ball went under him allowing the forward to come in against our goalie.”

Both teams played an up-tempo style with San Clemente constantly pressuring.

Loara’s last good shot came with seven minutes left as forward Bill Milligan broke through, but the shot went behind San Clemente’s net. San Clemente goalkeeper Mario Garcia stopped 17 shots.

“Our sweeper, Phong Vuong, played a pivotal part in the game,” Pronier said. “Our team plays with a lot of heart. We really push them to go the whole game and not let up.”

In other Division II playoff games:

El Modena 1, Diamond Bar 0--Alex Mandel, on an assist from Pilberto Maldanado, scored the games only score midway through the second half to give El Modena (8-6-2) the win. Bijal Shah had four saves for El Modena. Diamond Bar finishes the season at 14-5-2.

Capistrano Valley 4, Long Beach Wilson 1--Gary Berry, Brooke Humphreys, Ryan Hawkins and Kyle Berger scored for Capistrano Valley (17-5-4), which advances to play Villa Park Tuesday. Long Beach Wilson finished at 8-6-6.

Villa Park 1, El Dorado 0 (OT)--Villa Park’s center forward Scott Manson scored off a cross from midfielder Jeff Szekeres with three minutes left in the second overtime period. Sean Barkto had 10 saves for Villa Park (8-8-4). Blayne Laeitner had seven saves for host El Dorado (133-6-1), which hit the crossbar twice.

Esperanza 2, Chino Hills Ayala 1--Albert Raya of Esperanza (14-2-5) scored the unassisted winning goal with one minute left. Ayala was ahead at the first half until Mark Alleman tied the score for the Aztecs early in the second half. Esperanza advances to play Cerritos Gahr, a 2-1 winner over Santa Barbara, in the second round Tuesday.

South Torrance 0, Orange 0 (South Torrance advances on penalty kicks)--South Torrance won the shootout, 4-2, to end Orange’s season.