Lopez comes off bench to put Oxnard College men's soccer team into state final

The Oxnard College men’s soccer team will play Sunday for another state championship.

Substitute Alfonso Lopez curled in a left-footed shot from the right with 12 minutes to play to lift Oxnard College to a 1-0 win over Merced College on Friday afternoon in the CCCAA state semifinals at American River College in Sacramento.

“That was a huge, because I don’t think we deserved to go to overtime,” Oxnard College head coach Ross Greaney said. “But it was looking that way, because we hadn’t broken through.”

With its 16th straight win, the Condors (21-1-1) advanced to play powerhouse Mt. San Antonio College for the state championship Sunday afternoon in Sacramento.

“It’s great to be in the final,” Greaney said.

Oxnard will get midfielder Noe Eulloqui (Thousand Oaks) back for the final. The hero of the regional final win over Fullerton missed the semifinal due to a yellow card suspension.

It will be the second state final for the Condors. Oxnard won the state championship in 2015.

Mt. SAC, the defending state champion, handed visiting Oxnard its only loss of the year, 3-0, on Sept. 27.

“Mt. SAC is solid,” Greaney said. “They beat us. Hopefully, we can be better than we were than we were in September. … I think we’re a much better team now.”

Playing an all-Ventura County starting 11, including two of the last three Star All-County Boys Soccer Players of the Year — Enrique Tiscareno (Channel Islands High) and Danny Orozco (Channel Islands) — the Condors controlled play for much of the semifinal.

They had a pair of goals nullified by offsides flags and a penalty kick appeal for a Merced handball in the first half.

“We needed one of those VAR checks,” Greaney said.

Yet it was Oxnard goalkeeper Efrain Perez (Hueneme High) who made the save of the day in the 23rd minute, coming off his line to stone Merced’s 19-goal striker Daniel Borges on a breakaway.

“That’s a big save,” Greaney said.

Winger Odin Rosten (St. Bonaventure High) created problem after problem for the Merced defense before coming off for Lopez in the 77th minute.

Lopez, who had only returned to the field in the regional final win over Fullerton after a three-week injury layoff, made an immediate impact.

On his first attack on the field, the Ventura High graduate dribbled along the right into the Merced penalty area. After briefly losing possession, he won the ball back, took a touch and looped a curling shot into the upper corner of the Merced net.

“To step back on the field after that many days off and score a goal like that is pretty amazing,” Greaney said. “We’re lucky we have a player who can score a goal like that.”

Moorpark volleyball falls in 5

With the decisive fifth set tied at 7-7, College of San Mateo scored the final eight points to eliminate the Moorpark College women’s volleyball team in the CCCAA state quarterfinals Friday morning at Fresno City College.

Freshman outside hitter Cashe Olswang (Westlake High) had 14 kills, sophomore middle blocker Ryann Gaglio (Agoura) and sophomore outside hitter Tyler Mobley each had 10 kills, setter Brooke Bunker (Simi Valley) finished with 35 assists, and libero Larissa Dakoske had 21 digs for Moorpark (18-5).

Making its first state tournament appearance since 2002, Moorpark came from behind to take the first set 25-22 behind six kills from Olswang and 12 assists from Bunker.

After San Mateo came from behind to take the second set 26-24, the Raiders rolled in the third set, 25-17.

But San Mateo responded by extending the match by taking the fourth set, 25-19, and seizing the match when it was tied 7-7 in the fifth set.

“We just didn't take care of the ball in the fourth and fifth sets, especially on first contact,” Moorpark coach Adam Black told CCCAASports.org. “Even in the last set, I felt like we could make a dramatic comeback. We did that all season where we came back from big deficits to win matches. Give San Mateo credit as they were outstanding and played great defense.”

Naomie Cremoux had 23 kills and Angelina Estrada had 49 assists for San Mateo (23-3).

Joe Curley covers college sports for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcscolleges on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Lopez comes off bench to put Oxnard College into state soccer final