Crean Lutheran boys soccer team charges into second round after two playoff victories

Crean Lutheran coach Glen Worthington talks to his team at halftime of its playoff opener. (Photo courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs)

Crean Lutheran High School’s boys soccer team is off to a sizzling start in the CIF Division 5 playoffs with two shutouts in its first two games.

Coach Glen Worthington’s team has defeated Rancho Alamitos 3-0 and St. Margaret’s 3-0 to advance into the second round of the playoffs Saturday. Crean Lutheran (13-5-3) will host Palm Springs (9-1-2) at 3 p.m.

“Saints soccer is off to a great start in CIF with big ambitions to still be playing a week from now,” Worthington said. “In our two CIF games so far, we’ve had nine different athletes on the score sheet with at least one goal or assist. We’re very tough to beat when we play that well as a team. Our defense is solid with goalie Nate Kim’s leadership, our back four’s consistency, and the stellar play of our defensive mids Joseph Yang and Lucas Tanikawa. I couldn’t be more proud of our team.”

In the wild card match Tuesday aganst Rancho Alamitos, Scott Cho, Gavin Rivas and Joseph Yang had goals and Daniel Chun, Connor Grace and Soloman Hwang had assists. Goalkeeper Nate Kim recorded a shutout.

In first-round road match at St. Margaret’s on Thursday Chun, Hwang and Connor Richardson had goals and Jaden Park, Gavin Rivas and Lucas Tanikawa had assists. Kim had another shutout.

The winner of Saturday’s match advances into the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com