Santa Monica routs Banning, 3-0

Things went from bad to worse for the Wilmington Banning boys' soccer team on Thursday.

Already without key midfielder Edson Lemus, Banning lost goalkeeper Freddy Ortiz when he came down hard on his left elbow seven minutes into its Southern California Regional Division I semifinal.

Without their best playmaker and starting goalkeeper, the fourth-seeded Pilots lost to top-seeded Santa Monica, 3-0, at Santa Monica Community College.

The Vikings, ranked No. 2 in the nation by one publication, took 17 shots to Banning's seven.

Senior Eduardo Delgado scored twice, in the ninth and 49th minute, on assists from junior Ricky Martinez, and Loyola Marymount-bound Artur Jozkowicz had the other goal midway through the second half -- the Vikings' 108th of the season.

Santa Monica (27-0-1) will play seventh-seeded Poway (21-2-5), which upset third-seeded Fresno Roosevelt, 3-1, in the other semifinal, for the Division I title at 1 p.m. Saturday at Downey Warren High, site of all three boys' finals.

Banning (20-3-1), the City Section champion, did not have Lemus, a sophomore, because of his commitment to the U.S. national youth team. Lemus left for Dallas on Wednesday, and though he didn't get to play a lot of games this season, he proved valuable during the playoffs. Add to his absence the loss of Ortiz and the Pilots were playing with a short stack.

"If we would have had those two players -- and they are very valuable -- it would have been tighter," Banning Coach Frank Sandoval said. "But it just fell apart. And sometimes you have that."

Banning didn't have a shot on goal until it was already behind, 3-0, and only nine minutes were left. Junior Michael Freedman, making his first start of the season, had to make only four saves for the shutout.

By comparison, Alexis Ocampo, who replaced Ortiz, faced 10 shots on goal and had to make many spectacular saves to keep the score close.

"We were dominating them," said Delgado, whose goals were his 11th and 12th of the season. "What we were missing was finishing more of our chances. But we're happy, everyone is happy, and we're ready for Saturday."

In other boys' semifinal matches, California-bound Mike Munoz scored three goals for Santa Margarita (23-3-4) as the top-seeded Eagles beat fourth-seeded Canoga Park, 4-1, at Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro. The Eagles will play second-seeded San Diego Cathedral (27-2-2), which beat sixth-seeded Riverside Arlington, 1-0, in the Division II final at 3:30 p.m. Canoga Park finished 17-3-7.

In Division III, Los Angeles Salesian, last year's Southern Section Division V champion, made up for losing in the section semifinals this season with a 2-0 victory over seventh-seeded Inglewood Animo to advance to Saturday's 10:30 a.m. championship game against eighth-seeded Avenal, which beat fifth-seeded Cudahy Elizabeth, 2-1, in overtime Thursday. Third-seeded Salesian is 34-1-2 over the last two seasons.

In the girls' semifinals, eighth-seeded Thousand Oaks continued its giant-killing-ways in Division I by upsetting fourth-seeded San Clemente, 4-2, in penalty kicks. The Lancers, who beat top-seeded La Jolla Torrey Pines in the first round, will play second-seeded Long Beach Wilson, a 1-0 winner over Lakewood Mayfair, in the title game at 3:30 p.m. at Downey High, site of all the girls' finals.

In Division II, second-seeded Apple Valley Granite Hills beat sixth-seeded Torrance Bishop Montgomery, 2-1, in overtime, and will play top-seeded San Diego Cathedral Catholic, which routed fifth-seeded Coronado, 6-1, for the championship at 10:30 a.m.

Top-seeded Westlake Village Oaks Christian beat fourth-seeded San Diego Francis Parker, 2-1, to advance to the 1 p.m. championship game against second-seeded La Jolla The Bishop's, a 2-0 winner over third-seeded Visalia Central Valley Christian.