Santa Barbara High’s boys soccer team experienced one of those days where it struggled to finish its chances and suffered a 2-1 loss to top-seeded San Diego Cathedral Catholic in the semifinals of the CIF State Division 1 Regionals on Thursday.
Santa Barbara outshot Cathedral Catholic, 10-4, but came up with only one goal.
“Unfortunately, we picked the wrong day to not be at our best in front of their goal,” said Dons coach Todd Heil.
Cathedral Catholic led 1-0 at halftime and added second goal before Brandon Sanchez found the back of the net for Santa Barbara in the 65th minute.
“We pressed but we just couldn’t get the equalizer,” said Heil.
Santa Barbara finished the year at 23-7-3 and had an incredible postseason in CIF Division 1, going 5-2.
Cathedral Catholic (17-6-2) will play No. 2 seed Loyola for the regional championship on Saturday.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.