Millikan Finds Easy Route Past Peninsula

Hugo Sanchez and Agustin Nunez, the best of friends off the field, were a lethal tandem for host Long Beach Millikan High on Tuesday in a second-round game of the Southern Section Division I boys’ soccer playoffs.

Sanchez scored three goals and Nunez had a goal and an assist as defending champion Millikan defeated Palos Verdes Peninsula, 4-1, to advance to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years.

The third-seeded Rams (24-2-2) will play an upstart Upland team that defeated Citrus Belt League champion Rialto, 1-0, in overtime, on Tuesday after beating Sierra League champion Diamond Bar, 2-1, in the first round.

“I told the kids that this was a big win, but not that big,” Millikan Coach Rod Petkovic said. “I told them that this puts us in the top eight, but our next goal is to get into the top four.”

Millikan, which led, 2-1, at halftime, took command of the game at the 59-minute mark when the 5-foot-6 Sanchez beat Peninsula goalkeeper Brent Butler with a header off a pass from Nunez.

The Rams scored five minutes later when Sanchez scored on a left-footed shot off a pass from Bryan Kinnear.

“The fourth goal was just really a great shot by that kid,” Peninsula Coach Bruce Myhre said. “He just had a little too much room and he just placed it perfectly into the right corner of the net.”

Millikan took a 1-0 lead at the 17-minute mark when Nunez scored on a rebound of a blocked shot, but Peninsula (20-8-2) tied the score two minutes later on a header by Robbie Pickard off a free kick by Brian Selogie.

“We didn’t get down at all when they scored,” Sanchez said. “In fact, that encouraged us to play that much harder.”

Sanchez’s first goal of the game came six minutes later when he beat goalkeeper Peter Dusevic on a play in which the Peninsula bench claimed he was offsides.

“That really upset me because that was definitely offsides,” said Myhre, who will coach at Palos Verdes High next season when it re-opens. “But we just lost to a better team. They’re very good.”

Goalkeeper Jose Barragan had five saves for Millikan.

Dusevic had six saves for Peninsula in the first half and Butler had two in the second as Myhre went with a two-goalie rotation that had produced six shutouts this season.

John Ortega

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Alta Loma 5, Aliso Niguel 4 (OT)--Kameron Hart scored the game-winner with two minutes remaining in the second 10-minute overtime in a Division I second-round game at Aliso Niguel.

Matt Davey of Aliso Niguel sent the game into overtime when his goal in the 78th minute tied the score at 3-3.

Brendan Duggan of Aliso Niguel (14-11-2), and Dan Larocque of Alta Loma traded goals in the first overtime period before Hart’s winning score.

Montebello Schurr 2, Santa Ana 2 (Schurr won on penalty kicks, 8-7)--Luis Marquez had the winning penalty kick for visiting Schurr (16-5-2) in a Division I second-round game. Eddie Negrete and Jaime Carillo scored in regulation for Schurr.

Cathedral City 3, Temecula Chaparral 2--Host Cathedral City (22-3) upset top-seeded Chaparral as Julio Alvarez kicked in the game-winner in a Division III second-round game.

Alvarez’s goal came after Cathedral City had taken a 2-1 lead.

La Palma Kennedy 2, Corona Centennial 1--Blake Calabrese scored the winner on an assist by Danny Robinson in the 36th minute of the Division III second-round game at Centennial.

Centennial (22-3-1) scored first on Sergio Soto’s unassisted goal in the opening minutes, but Robinson tied the score in the 20th minute. Scott Loveless had seven saves for Kennedy (19-3-2).

Santa Ana Mater Dei 2, La Habra 0--Randy Poggio and Wayne Matthews each scored to lead visiting Mater Dei (22-5) in a Division III second-round game. Poggio’s goal was his 27th of the season.

Pomona Diamond Ranch 3, La Canada St. Francis 1--Mario Rodriguez scored three goals for host Diamond Ranch (19-6), which upset second-seeded St. Francis in a Division IV second-round game.

Rodriguez, who has 31 goals in 19 games, scored his final goal on a breakaway in injury time. Carlos Marco had cut the lead to 2-1 with three minutes remaining for St. Francis, which defeated Diamond Ranch for the title last season.