ROUNDUP : South Falls to West in Field Hockey

The South is the youngest field hockey team in the U.S. Olympic Festival tournament, and its members might also be the quickest learners based on their performance against the No. 1-seeded West team in a semifinal Tuesday at Loyola Marymount.

Three days after being overwhelmed by the West in the Festival’s opening match, the South squad--which includes the U.S. Junior (21 and under) team--gave a much better account of themselves in a 3-2 loss at Sullivan Field.

The West (4-0 in tournament play) will play the East (2-1-1) in the gold-medal game at 4 p.m. today.

The South (0-3-1) will play the North (1-3) in the bronze-medal game at 2 p.m.

The West defeated the East, 3-2, in pool play Monday.

The South--having been shut out by the West, 3-0, in the teams’ first confrontation--took a 1-0 lead in the rematch when Bing Hoang, a 17-year old forward-midfielder from Westlake Village, scored nine minutes into the match.

Hoang’s brother Tommy, 24, quickly retaliated for the West by scoring his second goal of the tournament less than a minute later to tie the score, 1-1.

Tommy Hoang scored again with six minutes left in the half to give the West a lead it would never relinquish.

David Wisner of Westlake Village scored his second goal of the tournament early in the second half to extend the West’s lead to 3-1 before Scott Williams of Thousand Oaks narrowed the South’s deficit to 3-2 with less than 14 minutes remaining.

The West had eight shots on goal. The South had five.

Tuesday’s match ended Brian Spencer’s scoring streak at three games as the 29-year-old forward from Chatsworth was held without a goal for the first time in the Festival. Spencer, a member of the 1984 Olympic team, had scored five goals in the West’s first three matches.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Sara Wilson, a former standout at Hart High, had five points and five rebounds in the West’s 69-60 victory over the East in the bronze-medal game at Pauley Pavilion. Wilson made two of three shots from the field, one of two free throws, and had three offensive rebounds.

The West, which had lost to the East, 70-54, in pool play Saturday, was led by Frozena Jerro, who had 11 points.

SOFTBALL

Lisa Erickson of La Crescenta drove in a run to help give the South a 3-1 victory over the North at Hjelte Park in Encino.

Erickson, a former Cal State Northridge All-American, drove in Sharon Sodano with a line-drive single to left field in the fifth inning to give South a 3-1 lead.

The two-run margin could prove crucial because total runs scored serves as the first tiebreaker in determining the second team in tonight’s 8 p.m. gold-medal game.

The East has already secured a berth in the final. “It was a fat, fat pitch,” Erickson said. “It was exactly what I was looking for. (Coach) Niles (Sherman) told me not to take anything high because they were assuming that I would bunt.”

The other key hit was a two-run single by pinch-hitter Charlotte Wiley in the fourth inning which gave South a 2-1 lead. Christine Oliver of Simi Valley pitched the first five innings for the South and allowed one run on four hits. Kim Maher of Ventura had a bunt single in the fourth and Priscilla Rouse of Canoga Park had two singles.