Rio Mesa Gets Kickback by Upsetting Buena, 2-1
- Share via
Carlos Perez scored twice in three minutes Friday as Rio Mesa High came from behind to upset Buena, 2-1, in a Southern Section Division II quarterfinal game at Rio Mesa.
After a scoreless first half, Kevin White scored in the 50th minute to give Buena a 1-0 lead.
Perez answered with goals in the 51st and 54th minutes, allowing the Spartans (16-6-3) to edge their Channel League rivals and advance to a semifinal game Tuesday against Orange.
Rio Mesa Coach Brent Kruk said the victory was his program’s first over Buena in five seasons.
The second-place Bulldogs (16-5-2) defeated fourth-place Rio Mesa twice during the regular season by 2-1 scores.
“I’m so happy I’m almost speechless,” said Kruk, who has led his last two teams to the only winning seasons in the program’s 18-year history.
“I told our team afterwards that we’re where we are because we play in a quality league. If we were in a local league other than the [Channel or the] Marmonte, I think we’d be a first-place team.”
Westlake 1, Santa Ana 0--Mark Lamb scored his 15th goal in the 69th minute for the Warriors (19-1-2) in a Division I quarterfinal game at Westlake.
In City Section second-round playoff games:
Reseda 4, El Camino Real 1--William Diaz scored three unassisted goals in the second half to break a halftime tie at Reseda.
After the Conquistadores (11-9-3) scored on a Reseda own goal in the fifth minute, Marvin Quijano scored in the 15th minute for the Regents (10-3-3).
Ninth-seeded Reseda will play Tuesday at top-seeded Banning in a quarterfinal game. The Pilots, defending City champions, eliminated the Regents in a 1994-95 semifinal at Banning.
Sylmar 4, Hollywood 1--Ivan Campos scored two goals and Luis Solorio and Ranferi Benitez each scored one as the Spartans (15-1-3) trounced the Sheiks at Sylmar.
Third-seeded Sylmar will play sixth-seeded Bell on Tuesday at home in a quarterfinal.
Locke 3, Birmingham 0--Jose Roman scored twice and Horacio Sebastian added another goal as the Saints shut out the Braves (10-4-2) at Birmingham.
Garfield 2, Cleveland 1--Cristian Vidal and Carlos Gomez scored for the Bulldogs (12-1-5) at Garfield.
Roberto Gonzalez scored a second-half goal for Cleveland, whose star midfielder, Luis Castro (20 goals), did not play because of a knee injury.
More to Read
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.