DIVISION II GIRLS’ SOCCER

In the other semifinal:

Ventura Buena 3, Laguna Hills 0--Monica Almaraz, Buena’s leading scorer, scored her 26th and 27th goals and added her 25th assist for the top-seeded Bulldogs playing at home.

Buena found itself in for a bruising tussle right from the start against larger, more physically-inclined Laguna Hills team that instigated collisions around every loose ball.

“We had to try and knock them out of their game but they were very composed,” said Laguna Hills Coach Kevin Macare, whose team had only sporadic scoring chances despite forcing full-field play.

Laguna Hills stymied the Bulldogs early on, smothering several strong shots in front of the goal before Almaraz dropped a 40-yard free kick over Hawks’ goalie Deanna Moore 27 minutes into the match.