Horne Carries Damien

Kenny Horne made the last goal of his high school career count the most, scoring in the 72nd minute to lift La Verne Damien to a 3-2 victory over defending champion Anaheim Esperanza in the Southern Section Division I boys’ soccer final at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

Horne, a senior forward who will play at Cal State Northridge, scored on a 15-yard kick after Tony Vela served to the middle of the penalty area, drawing goalkeeper James Fraser out of position as the ball ricocheted off another player and dropped in front of Horne.

Horne’s goal, his 16th this season, came after Damien (26-0-2), ranked No. 7 nationally by Student Sports magazine, had taken 1-0 and 2-1 leads, only to be tied each time by an Esperanza squad that was bidding for the school’s fourth title overall. The Aztecs (26-4-2) are ranked No. 17 nationally.

Midfielder Matt Kristoff converted his first goal in the 50th minute to tie the score, 1-1, after Scott Dailey had given Damien a 1-0 halftime lead in the 33rd minute.

After Vela scored off Juan Fresquez’s corner kick to put the Spartans ahead at the 58-minute mark, Kristoff gathered a loose ball and scored for a 2-2 tie in the 63rd minute.

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Los Angeles Loyola 1, Thousand Oaks 1 -- Josh Brown scored in the first half for Loyola and Jason Leopoldo scored in the second half for defending champion Thousand Oaks, but the teams settled for a tie in a Division II rematch of the 2004 final.

No overtimes or penalty-kick shootouts are used in Southern Section title games.

Loyola (31-3-2) started the game at Cal State Fullerton ranked No. 9 nationally. Thousand Oaks (15-9-2), which last season won the title with a 1-0 victory over Loyola, was not among the top 25 in the country before Saturday’s game.

Loyola outshot the Lancers, 14-8, but the margin was only 8-6 in the second half.

Thousand Oaks finally benefited when Leopoldo recorded his 14th goal this season.

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Santa Ana Saddleback 5, La Habra Sonora 0 -- Top-seeded Saddleback, ranked No. 1 in the country, looked every bit the part as five players scored, four in the second half, en route to its first section championship in the Division III final at Cal State Fullerton.

Felix Rosales, Nixon Valle and Carlos Godinez each had a goal and an assist and Isidro Guevara and Jorge Reyes also scored for Saddleback (26-0-2), which won 17 of its last 18 games with speed and balance on offense and a stalwart defense that produced its 16th shutout this season.

The title came in the Roadrunners’ first appearance in a championship game.

Sonora (19-8-2) was making its first appearance in a final since sharing the 2-A Division title with Anaheim in 1984.

Lauren Peterson

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Santa Maria 4, Santa Ynez 0 -- The Los Padres League co-champions split two regular-season matchups, but the rubber match, in the Division IV final at Lompoc High, wasn’t close.

It was the Saints’ first appearance in a final for Santa Maria (21-2-1). The Pirates finished 22-5.

Jose Coracero stole the ball and broke away to open the scoring in the 26th minute. The Saints increased their lead to 2-0 when Edgar Miranda scored off his own rebound. Jose Villalba scored in the 51st minute and Eric Navorro in the 67th.

Eric Maddy

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El Monte Mountain View 3, Westlake Village Oaks Christian 2 -- Cruz Hernandez scored in each half to lead the second-seeded Vikings (21-3-2) in the Division V final at La Mirada High.

Hernandez opened the scoring in the 34th minute and Brett Taylor tied it in the 37th.

The Vikings took a 2-1 lead on Diego De Los Santos’ goal in the 56th minute and made it 3-1 on Hernandez’s goal in the 63rd.

Liam Leonard scored for the unseeded Lions (14-6-1) in the 77th minute.

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Fillmore 3, Mojave 0 -- Gilberto Camarena scored in the sixth minute and Ramiro Sanchez in the 72nd minute in the Division VI final at La Mirada.

The other goal came when the ball deflected off a defender and into the net. .

Fillmore finished 19-4 and Mojave 17-5-6.

-- Steven Herbert