San Clemente's Boys Soccer Team Rolls Into Playoff's Semifinals With 2-0 Victory

Despite a number of factors working against San Clemente Tuesday night at Thalassa Stadium, the Tritons made it look easy, dominating the shots and possession battles in a 2-0 victory over El Rancho of Pico Rivera in the first round of the CIF Southern California Regionals Division I boys soccer tournament.

San Clemente was without the services of senior midfielder Jesus Garcia, who injured his knee in Saturday's Southern Section title game. Senior sweeper Kevin Gould battled through an illness to not only play but also score a goal. And Steve Palacios despite a separated shoulder played, thanks, in part, to a pad that was secured to the senior striker with a small mountain of athletic tape and gauze.

Nevertheless, San Clemente, the No. 2 seed and the newly minted Southern Section Division 1 champions, fired off 12 shots in the first half, 10 more in the second, and had its first goal -- a Fabian Caudillo one-timer 17 minutes in -- taken off the board by an offsides whistle.

"I told them it was going to take a team effort, and that any type of win today is a great win," San Clemente coach Michael Pronier said. "And to get a shutout, which we haven't had in what seems like months, is really exciting."

San Clemente's defense, led by Gould, claimed its 10th clean sheet of the season with a brilliant defensive performance, allowing only 10 El Rancho shots, six of which were saved by sophomore keeper Dylan Digiacomo.

Gould made it 1-0 three minutes after the Caudillo score was taken off the board, when he received a pass from Palacios from 20 yards out, shadowing the right side of the box. Gould corralled the through and sent it into the net with a screaming liner on the Tritons' seventh shot of the night, and the sixth during a furious seven-minute window in which San Clemente took over.

El Rancho was able to pick up its pace in the second half and fired off two more shot than it had in the first, but San Clemente's defense held strong.

Bryan Fouch put the game away with four minutes left off a perfectly-placed Caudillo free kick that was sent into the corner to DJ Fuller, who then delivered an equally impressive cross to the box on the ground.

The play was set up by Pronier, who directed Fuller to run-out, rather than take the free kick from 40 yards out.

"[El Rancho] was getting packed in on corner kicks; they really weren't coming out," Pronier said. "Often times teams are ready for that, and you just have to get a ball. I think the ball [Caudillo] played was perfect. Any shorter and it wouldn't have been good enough, but it took [Fuller] right to the endline, and we've been talking in practice about hitting it across hard, and [Fuller] hit it across hard."

Fouch, a reserve forward, has made the most of his postseason opportunities.

Tuesday's score was the senior's fourth of the playoffs, and it sent the San Clemente student cheering section into a frenzy.

"Bryan Fouch comes off the bench [to score] again," Pronier said with a smile. "They're calling him 'Super Sub' now."

With the victory, San Clemente moves on to  host a semifinal match Thursday against sixth-seeded Golden Valley (23-4-2) of Bakersfield (Central Section), which scored an upset 1-0 victory over third-seeded South East (L.A. City Section) on Tuesday.