COLLEGE SOCCER PLAYOFF ROUNDUP : CLU Men Avenge Loss to Claremont

The Cal Lutheran men’s and women’s soccer teams won their NCAA Division III first-round playoff matches Saturday and advanced to regional finals today.

The Cal Lutheran men (15-4-2) edged host Claremont-Mudd, 1-0, and will meet Colorado College in the North Central/Far West regional final. The match will be played at Claremont at 1 p.m.

Keir Cochran scored the only goal of the match with seven minutes left in the first half, and the Kingsmen avenged a 1-0 loss at Claremont on Oct. 31 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference final. Claremont finished 15-3-2.

The Regals trounced Trinity (Texas) University, 3-0, at UC San Diego. They will play host UC San Diego at noon in the West regional final.

The Regals (17-3) played “the best soccer we’ve played all season” in the first half, assistant Scott Murray said.

Freshman forward Jill Gallegos scored two goals to give Cal Lutheran a 2-0 halftime lead against Trinity (16-5). Freshman Joey Allard scored in the second half.

“Jill Gallegos was on fire today,” Murray said. “Trinity is a good, physical team, but we wouldn’t be denied today. If we play (today) like we played in the first half (Saturday), there will be no stopping us.”

In an NAIA District 3 semifinal, The Master’s College upset host Westmont, 1-0, in sudden-death overtime on a penalty kick by Ezequiel Bongarra. The Mustangs (8-11-1) will play in the district final Saturday at 1 p.m.