Dons, Chargers at home for quarterfinal games

Top-seeded Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos both drew home games for Thursday’s quarterfinals in the CIF Division 2 Tournament.

The Dons (27-0-1) will play host to Santa Ana Saddleback (17-4-4) while the Chargers (13-5-7) take on Corona (14-4-3). Both games are scheduled for 3 p.m.

Because of the rain on Wednesday, the field sites might be changed from the high schools to sites with synthetic surfaces. PresidioSports.com will update this story as soon as the final decisions are made, which may come as late as Thursday.

“Even if it stopped raining right now, it would be pretty nasty,” Chargers head coach Tovi Eliasen said Wednesday afternoon.

Editor’s note: Both Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos will be playing their games on their home fields Thursday at 3 p.m.

Dos Pueblos, which handed Santa Barbara its only blemish (a 0-0 draw) on its record, plays a Corona squad that pulled off the upset of the tournament on Tuesday, knocking off third-seeded Valencia 2-1.

The Chargers are coming off an impressive 4-1 second-round win over Valley View of Moreno Valley. Eduardo Cortez scored all four goals in the victory.

Eliasen called the success of the team a building block for the future of the program. “We’re going to the quarterfinals of CIF,” he said after Tuesday’s win. “It’s a big day for DP.”

Forward Rodrigo Perez echoed his coach’s feelings.

“We want to go as far as we possibly can,” he said. “We’ve already made history just making it to the playoffs. We’re setting the bar for the next people. We’re really proud of that.”

Santa Barbara got a 71st-minute goal from Jesse Gonzalez to sneak past a solid Chino Hills team on the road.

The Dons are seeking their sixth CIF and first since 2001.