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Sports

Tritons' Boys Soccer Team Wins Regional Championship Match, 4-1

Second-seeded San Clemente handily defeats top-seeded Buchanan in CIF Southern California Regional Championships Division I boys soccer final at Warren High.

Heading into the Division 1 title match of the CIF Southern California Regional Boys Soccer Championships Saturday night at Warren High in Downey, much of the media focus centered on the top-seeded Buchanan Bears of Clovis, their spot at No. 17 in the ESPN Rise Fab 50 poll, and their 18-game unbeaten streak, which included 400 postseason minutes without allowing a goal, and a 1-0 semifinal victory over Rancho Bernardo of the San Diego Section, the No. 16 team in the country.

San Clemente, a soccer school that has been defined historically by its ultra-successful girls program, came in touting the Southern Section Division 1 boys crown, but seemed to be an afterthought -- a scrappy outfit that had gotten hot at the right time, but would ultimately serve as the last piece in Buchanan's state championship puzzle.

Apparently the Tritons never received the memo.

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Stunning perhaps everyone inside Justice Stadium but themselves, San Clemente ripped the spotlight away from Buchanan Saturday night, dismantling the Bears, 4-1.

The regional title is another championship first for San Clemente, which, after finishing runner-up to Tesoro in South Coast League play, claimed its first section title a week ago.

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"We didn't win league, but we got the bigger prize," San Clemente senior midfielder Fabian Caudillo said. "We pulled a Green Bay on this thing, man. We called it."

San Clemente's regional championship run, which included 2-0 victories over El Rancho of Pico Rivera and Golden Valley of Bakersfield, was a masterpiece.
The climax Saturday was so thorough a victory, that San Clemente coach Michael Pronier described the 80 minutes as the best game his team had ever played.

San Clemente took 20 shots, including three that smacked off the post, two that grazed the crossbar, and four beautiful goals that exemplified the precision-oriented play the Tritons perfected as a group throughout the playoffs.

Kevin Gould erased Buchanan's 430-minute scoreless streak with nine minutes left in the first half on a header off a Steve Palacios bending cross that developed from a corner setpiece played short to Gage Zerbonie.

Gould's goal, his third in as many contests, came on San Clemente's seventh shot of the first half, and stunned the Bears, who were playing without their top defender, Nathan Toto, after he drew a red card in the semifinals.

"This is the prettiest we've ever played," Pronier said. "This is a talented team. When it's good, it's incredible. The best soccer I've ever seen at San Clemente."

Caudillo made it 2-0 just two minutes into the second half after Palacios was fouled on a breakaway. After playing the free-kick in, Justice Duerksen corralled the rebound and moved it back out to the wing to Caudillo, who had time and stepped into a bender that snuck in top-drawer and ignited the San Clemente sideline.

"We were the underdogs coming into this, and we like that," Caudillo said. "We heard that they said we were not going to score on them, they had the scoreless streak, they had the winning streak, and we said, 'Hey, that's for us right there.' 

"We were on a roll [at the end of the season], we just kept getting better and better."

Buchanan's J.P. Medina answered the Caudillo goal with a score of his own in the 56th minute to make it 2-1, and remind the brewing party along from the San Clemente sideline that the night was still young, and there was plenty of soccer left to be played. 

But seven minutes later, Palacios turned in a breathtaking goal from 20 yards out after Bryan Fouch provided the through and he broke away. The far-post shot, taken from the right hash mark and deposited in the left corner, just under the crossbar, left Buchanan keeper Matt Dishno frozen in place, helpless to do anything but watch.

In the 30th minute, Palacios recorded his second assist, when he found Zerbonie streaking toward the box to deliver a sliding, top-drawer winner.

"I come into my locker room and there's [newspaper clippings] up the walls saying this team can't be scored on," Palacios said. "I take that as a challenge, you know. These guys are good. If I can beat them, hopefully that means I'm the best. I'm trying to be the best."

There was little question of that Saturday, as Palacios, who played his third straight game with his left arm dangling lifelessly at his side, the result of a separated shoulder suffered in the section championship match, was voted the regional tournament's most outstanding offensive player.

"We've gone back and forth over the years, because I knew he had [this] in him," Pronier said of his relationship with the senior striker. "He did nothing but bring it every game once we got in the playoffs. He deserves all the recognition in the world for this, along with the other guys."

Pronier also praised his young defense, which allowed only one goal on 16 Buchanan shots. Gould was a stalwart at sweeper again and sophomore keeper Dylan Digiacomo turned in a brilliant 10-save performance that included five diving stops and a one-on-one stuff of a Buchanan breakaway with eight minutes left in the contest.

The victory was the 20th of the season for San Clemente, which also finished with six losses and six ties. Buchanan wrapped up its season at 22-3-3.

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