SOCCER PLAYOFFS : Garfield Advances as Bell Sits Out Finals

Garfield’s quest for its sixth City Section championship continues as the Bulldogs defeated visiting San Fernando, 2-1, Friday in a second-round City Section match.

Bulldog Gerardo Gomez converted a penalty kick late in the second half for the winning goal, setting up a quarterfinal match worthy of a final. Undefeated Garfield (8-0-3) will host Belmont (7-1-2) in a rematch of the 1991-92 final where the Bulldogs garnered their fifth City title with a 2-1 win.

Garfield dominated most of the game Friday, outshooting the Tigers, 6-2 in the first half and 7-3 in the second. Oscar Fuentes found the net first on a half-volley at close range in the 15th minute. The Tigers (4-4-1) tied in the 52nd minute when striker Ruben Bolanos broke from his defender and tapped the ball over the goalie’s head. The decisive goal came with 10 minutes remaining after a Tiger defender tripped up Bulldog Giovanni Hernandez inside the goal area to set up the penalty kick.

San Fernando replaced South Gate in the match after the Rams were forced to forfeit all their games because of an academically ineligible player. South Gate school officials hadn’t noticed that striker Carlos Osorio’s new name wasn’t in the books.

“He didn’t tell me that he changed his name on his school records (after his mother married in December) so we didn’t notice that he was on the (academically) ineligible list,” said Rams Coach Tony Dauer.

Osorio was instrumental in the Rams’ advance to the playoffs, Dauer said, scoring five goals in the season. “Without him we probably wouldn’t done as well as we did.”

The Garfield-Belmont winner will play San Pedro (10-0-1) or Locke (6-3-1) in the semifinals Thursday. In the upper bracket, Bell (10-0-1) will meet Van Nuys (7-2-2) and Hamilton (8-2) will play Kennedy (8-1). The final will start at 2 p.m. Saturday at East Los Angeles College. The girls’ final will start there at noon.

In other second-round action:

Belmont 3, North Hollywood 1--An 11th-minute goal by Carlos Tejas inside of the penalty area put the Sentinels on the board, but the Huskies (4-5-2) tied it 10 minutes later. Midway through the second half, defender Fernando Bautista scored on a rebound to put Belmont out front and striker Jose Salmeron secured the win with a goal five minutes later.

Bell 4, Granada Hills 2--The Eagles’ short one-touch-passing style paid off with four goals in a tense match. Bell striker Jorge Iberri led scorers with two goals, the first at the five-minute mark. Maynor Alvarez’s goal gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead going into the second half. After Iberri’s second talley, the Highlanders (4-2-2) closed the gap to one. With four minutes left, Hector Galdamez ended the drama with the security goal. In 11 games, the Eagles scoring machine has made 50 goals, allowing just eight.

Locke 2, Wilson 1--Orlando Ortega and Oscar Zendejas put the the Saints (6-3-1) up 2-0 by the half, to upset the Mules (6-2-2) at Wilson. Senior Victor Arana scored the Mules’ only goal in a collision with Saint goalie Fernando Tizcarino. Tizcarino will miss the next match.

In Tuesday first-round action:

Belmont 5, Carson 0--Salvador Gochez sealed the playoff victory with two goals in the second half, eliminating the Colts (3-5-2) in the first round.

Granada Hills 3, Roosevelt 2--With 15 minutes left to play, the Highlanders scored three times to knock out the Roughriders (3-4-1). Roosevelt had been leading on goals by Jesus Perez and Alfonso Fuentes.

Girls’ Playoffs

Chatsworth 2, Garfield 0--The Bulldogs (7-2-1) held off the five-time defending City Section champions to just one goal each half. Senior Liz Oyarzabal finished the season with five goals and junior Erica Herrera led Garfield with seven goals.

Grant 6, Bell 0--Last year’s City Section finalist had no trouble handing the Eagles (8-1-1) their only defeat of the season to advance to the semifinals.

In Tuesday’s first-round action:

Palisades 6, Fremont 1--Karin de Leon scored the only goal for the Pathfinders (4-3). Junior Lorena Meza and sophomore Diana Meza were the Pathfinders’ leading scores for the season with a total of 16 goals.

Garfield 2, Westchester 0--Sandra Vasquez scored on a rebound late in the first half and Jennifer Inzunza locked it up five minutes into the second half to advance to the quarterfinals. Senior goalie Julissa Medina recorded her fourth shutout of the year.

Bell 2, Hamilton 1--Striker Maria Suarez’s last-minute goal gave the Eagles the quarterfinal berth. Liz Ceja scored the Eagles first goal.