Sports
Crossroads Soccer Kicks for Regional Title
The Roadrunners play McFarland for the SoCal Division 3 championship Friday.
This has been a season full of winning for the Crossroads High School boys varsity soccer team and, win or lose, it will come to an end Friday night at Warren High School in Downey.
The Roadrunners will meet McFarland from Kern County for the CIF Southern California Division III Regional championship (kick-off at 7:30 p.m.) in the second of six finals games to be played this weekend. The Crossroads-McFarland game will be preceded by the Division III girls regional final at 5 p.m. pitting Los Angeles Marymount against defending champion and No. 1-seeded Westlake Village Oaks Christian.
Crossroads (17-7-2) qualifed for this year's SoCal regional playoffs by finishing second in the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs, losing to Desert Mirage 2-1 at Warren in the finals. The Roadrunners reached the championship game after victories over Yeshiva, Tarbut V'Torah, Ontario Christian, Rosamond and Desert Hot Springs.
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The Roadrunners were seeded fifth out of eight teams for regionals and opened the tournament with a 2-2 tie against fourth-seeded San Diego Francis Parker. Crossroads, though, advanced 4-3 on penalty kicks. The Lancers (18-2-4) had lost to Coronado for the San Diego Section Division IV title.
In the semifinals, Crossroads upset top-seeded Carpinteria Cate 4-3 at San Marcos High, handing the host Rams (ranked seventh in California) just their second loss all season. Now the Roadrunners will try to pull off yet another big upset against second-seeded McFarland, the Central Section Division VI champion, on the same field where they lost to Desert Mirage.
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The Cougars (24-5-2), who beat Tranquility 3-1 in their section final, earned a spot in Friday's regional championship game with a 5-0 shutout of seventh-seeded Victorville University Prep and Wednesday afternoon's 3-2 overtime win against sixth-seeded Lancaster Paraclete.
Crossroads blanked St. Monica Catholic, 3-0, in the second round of the Westside Tournament, and drew 1-1 with another Santa Monica school, New Roads, on Jan. 21 at West L.A. College. Competing in the strong Alpha League against Los Angeles Windward, Brentwood, Pasadena Marshall and North Hollywood Campbell Hall only toughened the Roadrunners up for the playoffs.
The Division I and II boys and girls regional finals will be played Saturday, also at Warren High.
