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Conway Lifts St. Francis Into Final

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From Staff Reports

Pat Conway of La Canada St. Francis scored two goals, including the game winner 1 1/2 minutes into sudden-death overtime, to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 victory over visiting Temecula Chaparral in a rain-swept Southern Section Division II boys’ soccer semifinal on Tuesday.

The victory propelled St. Francis (26-5) into Saturday’s championship game against Irvine Woodbridge, a 3-1 winner over Irvine Northwood.

“As soon as the pass [from Robby Dow] cleared the defense, I knew I was going to get it,” said Conway, who entered the game with about 15 minutes left in the first half.

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Conway, a junior who has seven goals this season, gave St. Francis a 1-0 lead two minutes into the first 20-minute overtime period when he scored on an assist from Clark Sanchez-Figueras.

But Chaparral (24-5-1) tied the score a few minutes later when sophomore Nick Sisko took a pass from Lee Koch, fought his way past two defenders and beat goalkeeper Tashi Nakanishi with a shot.

St. Francis will be shooting for its third section championship after winning the Division III title in 1996 and the Division IV title in 2001.

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-- John Ortega

In girls’ games:

Mission Viejo 1, Lake Forest El Toro 0 -- Nicole Scheid scored in the 13th minute and the second-seeded Diablos clamped down on defense to advance to the Division I final on Saturday.

The victory was the first in three tries against visiting El Toro this season and advanced Mission Viejo (16-3-7) to the championship game against San Clemente, another South Coast League rival. The Diablos beat the Tritons, 3-0, and the teams tied, 1-1, during league play.

“I still have a headache from the amount of adrenaline we had going before the game,” Mission Viejo Coach Susie Daher said.

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An El Toro scoring opportunity bounced off the crossbar in the opening minutes. A few minutes later, Ashley Keene started a run down the left side, centered a pass to Korie Nicholson, who found Scheid closer to the goal and to her left. Scheid settled the ball and fired it past goalkeeper Kristina Plumley.

The Chargers (9-11-3) had three legitimate scoring chances in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

San Clemente 1, Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley 0 -- Casie Dilbeck’s overtime goal lifted the Tritons into the Division I final, where they will attempt to defend their title, albeit shorthanded.

Dilbeck scored off an assist from sophomore McCall Zerboni in the 96th minute.

On Saturday, San Clemente (15-5-4) is expected to be without Zerboni, the Division I offensive player of the year last season. She is scheduled to participate in a tournament in Florida with her under-17 national team, San Clemente Coach Stacey Juhl Finnerty said.

Capistrano Valley finishes 17-7-3.

-- Dan Arritt

Woodland Hills El Camino Real 7, Chatsworth 0 -- Kandice McLaughlin had two goals and five other players scored once as the host and two-time defending champion Conquistadores advanced to their third consecutive City Section final.

McLaughlin, a junior midfielder, scored both goals by curving 30-yard kicks around goalkeeper Sydney Sterk. McLaughlin’s first goal, off a pass from Samantha Spencer, gave El Camino Real a 2-0 halftime lead and her second goal, off an assist from Nicole Walberg, made it 4-0 in the 58th minute.

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McLaughlin, however, will not be available when the top-seeded Conquistadores (22-1-3) face second-seeded Granada Hills, a 1-0 winner over San Pedro, for the championship Saturday at UCLA. She will be attending a 17-and-under U.S. Youth National Team development camp in Florida.

Chatsworth (14-9-1), which advanced to seven consecutive finals from 1995-01, has fallen short of the championship game two consecutive seasons.

-- Lauren Peterson

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