Goalkeeper Miguel Solis stopped one shot in a penalty-kick shootout to help the Santa Barbara High boys soccer team defeat West Torrance and advance to the championship game at the South Torrance Holiday Classic soccer tournament.
The Dons, the defending tournament champions, will play Long Beach Millikan at 2 p.m. Thursday for the title. Millikan is the No 4-ranked team in CIF Division 1.
Santa Barbara and West Torrance battled to a scoreless draw in the semifinals on Wednesday and went to a shootout. Sanford Spivey, Edgar Ruiz, Thomas Crawford and Alberto Hernandez converted the shots. Solis saved West Torrance’s first shot and the Warriors’ third shooter hit the post.
In the quarterfinals, Tony Alfaro headed in a corner kick from Alberto Hernandez at the far post in the 25th minute and the Dons made it stand up for a 1-0 victory over Channel Islands.
“Tony was surprisingly left umarked and buried it,” said Santa Barbara coach Todd Heil.
Heil said playing good competition as helped the team come together as a unit.
“We’re growing and learning to play together,” he said. “That’s the big thing, learning to play together with all the new players.”
