Boys’ soccer: Loyola, Cathedral lead Catholic march to QF

Seven Catholic school teams will play quarterfinal matches Feb. 13, following second round victories on Feb. 9 on the CIF-Southern Section boys’ soccer playoffs.

That includes three Division 1 teams which posted narrow wins: Loyola, 1-0 over Valencia/Placentia 1-0; Cathedral, 1-0 over Hueneme; and Mater Dei, 2-1 over Los Alamitos 2-1. Santa Ana beat Servite 2-1.

In the quarterfinals, No. 1 Loyola is at No. 8 Edison, No. 2 Cathedral at unranked Mission Viejo, and unranked Wilson/Long Beach at No, 6 Mater Dei. Servite ended the regular season ranked fourth in the CIF-SS weekly poll.

Salesian gained the D-3 quarterfinals by blanking Fullerton 1-0, and plays at West Torrance in the quarterfinals. In D-4, No. 8 Damien beat Canyon/Anaheim 3-1 and next plays at Troy.

Santa Clara, ranked fifth in D-6, edged Brentwood 2-1 and will host No. 4 La Puente in the quarterfinals. And in D-7, No. 5 Bishop Diego hammered Pacifica Christian/Orange County 10-2, and will host No. 4 Vasquez, which edged St. Pius X-St. Matthias 2-1.

In D-5, St. Genevieve lost to No. 4 Sierra Vista 5-1 in the second round.

Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).

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