Santa Barbara High’s boys soccer team continues to find ways to win big games.
In a second-round CIF-SS Division 1 playoff clash at Mater Dei, Brandon Pacheco got it done for the Dons.
Pacheco scored two goals and Santa Barbara beat the Monarchs 2-0 on Friday to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Dons (21-1-4) will face Cathedral on Tuesday at San Marcos at 5 p.m. The teams played in the 2018 Division 1 final and Santa Barbara won in a penalty-kick shootout.
Pacheco scored the first goal in the 33rd minute on a rebound of his own blast that was blocked by the Mater Dei goalkeeper. Five minutes later, he curled around his defender, received a pass from Jesus Hernandez and beat the goalkeeper to the near post.
“Quite the night for Brandon Pacheco,” said Dons coach Todd Heil.
Santa Barbara goalkeeper Connor Lambe took care of business in the penalty area.
“He was tremendous in the goal tonight, pretty much grabbing anything that was in the air in his box, and even making a reflex save in the fifth minute of play to keep the game tied at 0-0,” said Heil.
He praised the defense of Sean Williams, Erick Hernandez, Luke Goodman, Cason Goodman and Alberto Vargas, saying: “Our entire back line was great tonight.”
They faced a Mater Dei team that finished in a three-way tie for first in the Trinity League with JSerra and Servite.
“So proud of the boys and the effort they continue to give each night,” Heil said. “It’s not easy to be stuck in a bus for 4-5 hours and then have to get out and be ready to compete against a highly ranked opponent at their house. We battled tonight and, sometimes given our opponents style, it was tough to play soccer. But we not only competed with them, we finished our chances and we’re moving on to the Division 1 quarterfinals against Cathedral, a team that has been to the D1 finals the last two years in a row.”
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.