Bsoc: Medina, Mancilla lead Dons into South semis

Matt Medina score a pair of game-winning goals and goalkeeper Elvis Mancilla posted a pair of clean sheets, helping Santa Barbara advance to the semifinals of the South Torrance Holiday Soccer Tournament.

The Dons play either El Rancho or Buena in Friday’s semifinals at 11 a.m.

Santa Barbara started Thursday with a 1-0 win over Mira Costa. Medina scored in the 29th minute off an assist from Jason Ildefonso. Mancilla stopped three shots to record his eighth shutout of the season.

In the quarterfinals, Santa Barbara edged Southeast High of the L.A. City Section, 1-0. Again, Medina scored the goal, which came in the sixth minute. He ran onto a through ball from Jose Barron and beat the goalkeeper one on one.

Southeast put heavy pressure on the Dons in the last few minutes, but Mancilla came up big to preserve his ninth shuout.

“Elvis was fantastic,” Santa Barbara coach Todd Heil said. “He made 3-4 great saves at the end when Southeast was giving us all we could handle.”

Santa Barbara improves to 11-1.