PHOTOS: Sunny Hills gets past Santiago and advances into CIF playoffs quarterfinal round

Ethan Castro is mobbed by teammates after scoring Sunny Hills’ first goal moments before halftime in a CIF playoff win over Santiago. (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone).

Life is often about being in the right place at the right time.

Consider, for example, Ethan Castro. He was right where he needed to be Tuesday to break a scoreless time and help propel the Sunny Hills boys soccer team to a 2-0 win over host Santiago in the second round of the CIF Division 3 boys soccer playoffs.

The victory advanced the Lancers to a home quarterfinal match Friday at 3 p.m. against Palmdale, a penalty kick (5-4) winner over Valencia Tuesday.

As for Castro, he was a member of the Lancer JV team. He was added to the varsity roster for the playoffs and was impressive enough last week in practice to earn game time.

With less than a minute to play in the first half, Castro was in front of the Santiago goal when Anthony Noria’s blast from the wing caromed off a Santiago defender, hit Castro in the chest and dropped to his feet. Castro didn’t waste the opportunity and put the ball in the back of the net.

His first goal as a varsity Lancer? “Yeah,” Castro said.

Pretty exciting? “Yeah,” Castro said.

To see the slide show, click on the first picture:

From left, goalkeeper Logan Williams recorded his second playoff shutout and Ethan Castro and Matthias Brown scored goals in Sunny Hills’ 2-0 win over Santiago.

Matthias Brown of Sunny Hills is congratulated by onrushing teammates after scoring a critical second goal in the 72nd minute.

Santiago’s Bryan Palacios and Sunny Hills’ Dylan Dohan duel for the ball.

Santiago’s David Juarez avoids the tackle by Sunny Hills’ Daniel Park.

Santiago’s Jesus Reyes comes out of a scrum with Sunny Hills’ Matthias Brown with the ball.

Sunny Hills’ Connor Logan pushes the ball upfield.

Santiago’s Yahir Torres (14) and Sunny Hills’ Michael Franco compete for the ball.

The ball just misses Sunny Hills’ Dylan Dohan as Santiago’s Kevin Munoz closes in.

Sunny Hills’ Samuel Takaki (6) punches the ball away from Santiago’s Florentino Salgado.

Santiago’s Jesus Reyes and Sunny Hills’ Henry Garcia battle for the ball.

Goalkeeper Logan Williams and his Sunny Hills’ defense recorded their second consecutive playoff shutout.

Santiago’s Jose Lopez and Sunny Hills’ Dylan Dohan meet at midfield at the match’s conclusion.

Sunny Hills’ players applaud Santiago side after the Lancers recorded a 2-0 victory.

Castro’s coach, Mike Schade, thought the goal was huge.

“Awesome,” he said of Castro’s score. “A goal, a minute before the half, really helped.”

That did not mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that the rest of the game was a mere formality.
“They (Santiago) had great rhythm and they put a lot of pressure on us,” Schade said. “They are very, very good.”

As they have in most matches this season the Lancers were up to the challenge. Goalkeeper Logan Williams recorded his second playoff shutout in a row with some nice saves and his defense was able to repel each Santiago advance.

After losing a goal to an offsides call about 20 minutes into the second half, the Lancers received some breathing room when their leading scorer, junior Matthias Brown beat a defender down the east sideline and put in a spectacular shot in the 72 nd minute.

“Matthias’ goal was also really important,” Schade said.

—Courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone