The Castle Park Trojans’ reign as San Diego Section Division III champions ended after one year following the fourth-seeded Trojans’ 1-0 loss to top-seeded St. Augustine in Tuesday’s divisional soccer semifinals.
The victorious Saints (14-3-5) will play 11th-seeded University City (13-8) in Saturday’s championship game at Westview High School. Kick-off is 5:30 p.m.
Last year, Castle Park upset St. Augustine on kicks from the mark en route to its magical run to the division title.
But the Saints prevailed this year.
David Cook scored the game’s only goal in the first half and Zach Sheppard was credited with two saves in posting the shutout victory.
The Trojans (19-4-1) advanced to the semifinals following last Fridays’ 2-0 quarterfinal victory against fifth-seeded Canyon Crest Academy (12-8-2). Ivan Cabrales and Alfredo Rodriguez each scored goals for Castle Park while Victor Perez and Jose Figueroa each were credited with assists. Goalkeeper Jose Aguayo made eight saves.
Aguayo had seven saves in the loss to St. Augustine.
Figueroa was named the Trojans’ Player of the Game in the win over Canyon Crest.
“Friday’s win was a great team effort all around from the goal to the front, but the unsung hero for our game was Jose Figueroa for his sacrifice on the field,” CPHS coach Jose Cobian Jr. said. “Jose does not know the meaning of the word quit; he does whatever needs to be done to pull off the victory.”
University City began its string of upset wins in the playoffs with a 2-0 first-round win at sixth-seeded Montgomery (11-11-3), followed by a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over third-seeded Cathedral Catholic (17-5-3) and a 3-0 semifinal win at seventh-seeded La Jolla (11-9-3).
South Bay League champion Southwest (16-5-1) received a bye to last Friday’s quarterfinals but dropped a 1-0 decision to La Jolla.
Phillip Brents
