SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS’ SOCCER PLAYOFFS : Estancia Gets Best of Collision Around the Goal

Estancia broke a scoreless tie with two minutes left and defeated Garden Grove, 1-0, in a Division III wild-card boys’ soccer game Wednesday at Garden Grove High.

The Eagles (9-8-5) advance to play Whittier La Serna, the first-place team from the Del Rio League, on Tuesday at La Serna.

The key play began uneventfully when the Estancia defense cleared the ball from its end high in the air. It landed in front of a Garden Grove defender, but the ball took a wild bounce over his head.

Estancia midfielder Eric Espinoza then fielded the ball, made a move on another Argonaut defender and found himself one on one with Garden Grove goalkeeper Hector Rivas.

Looking at a tough angle, Espinoza passed the ball across the middle to a charging Greg Dill, the Eagles’ leading scorer.

Dill and Rivas got to the pass at the same time, but only Dill was still on his feet after the collision, and he put the ball into the open net for his 16th goal of the season.

“After I scored, Eric told me he passed up the shot because he never makes those tough angle shots,” Dill said.

Dill, who led the Pacific Coast League in scoring this season after being named all-league his junior year, showed the wear of a long game.

“He (Rivas) cut me up on my legs,” Dill said. “But it doesn’t hurt when you score.”

Estancia Coach Rich Llopis was not on hand to see his team advance because he had to attend class at Cal State Fullerton.

“Coach (Llopis) had already missed his class a couple times and he couldn’t miss another one,” Dill said.

For Garden Grove Coach Ryan Hill, this was a game that typified the Argonauts’ 9-9-3 season.

“This is the story of our year,” he said. “We outshoot the team and lose the game.”

In another Division III wild-card game:

Anaheim 2, Walnut 1 (2 OT)--Junior Juan Lopez scored the winning goal with two minutes left in the second overtime period for Anaheim. Lopez, who has 25 goals for the season, also scored the first goal on an assist from Jose Sanchez. The Colonists (19-6-2) will meet Bell Gardens at Bell Gardens in first-round play.

In Division I:

Edison 8, Redondo Union 1--The Chargers scored at will: Bryan Bagby had two and Darrin Urabe, Jerry Jimenez, Travis Clutter, Jason Trout, Todd Marcus and Matt Dutton each scored one. Edison (18-5-3) advances to play at top-seeded Simi Valley Royal Friday.

In Division V:

Pasadena Poly 1, Whittier Christian 0 (2OT)--The Heralds finished 11-7-5.