Prep roundup: SLO High boys soccer beats St. Joseph 3-2
The San Luis Obispo High boys soccer team avoided overtime against St. Joseph by 10 minutes on a late winner by defender Cole Halfman, who scored after a failed clearance. The clearance fell to the left-footed Halfman, who put a right-footed shot in the back of the net the top of the 18-yard box.
The Tigers (10-3-2, 4-1-1 PAC 8) opened the scoring in the fifth minute on a penalty kick by Keith McCarty and ended the first half up 1-0. Vaughn Pavlovich added another goal early in the second half, which was assisted by McCarty.
St. Joseph converted a penalty kick of their own and scored a late header with about 20 minutes left in the game to equalize at 2-2.
San Luis Obispo hosts rival Mission Prep Friday at 4:30 p.m.
Arroyo Grande 2, Atascadero 1
The Eagles scored 14 minutes into the game to open a 1-0 lead. The Greyhounds evened the score on a John Majors goal in the 44th minute, which was assisted by Brian Vazquez.
The score would remain tied until the 82 minute, when Arroyo Grande scored what would prove to be the game winner.
Carson Setting finished with seven saves for Atascadero (9-6, 1-4 PAC 8), host Pioneer Valley on Friday.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
St. Joseph 49, San Luis Obispo 41
The Tigers were led by Whitney Burns, who scored 17 points in the loss. San Luis Obispo would cut the St. Joseph lead to 3 in the third quarter, but were unable to overcome a slow start where they were outscored 17-7 in the first quarter.
San Luis Obispo (9-8, 2-4 PAC 8) takes on Mission Prep on Friday.
Mission Prep 44, Righetti 38
The Royals trailed by as many as 15 points, and 26-15 at the half, before retaking the lead with 1:05 left in the third quarter. Jacqueline San Jule had 13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, and Noelle Laird chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Jennifer Laird and Jenna Lee each scored nine points and combined for nine steals for Mission Prep.
The win hands Righetti (5-1 PAC 8) its first loss of the season in league play.
Mission Prep improves to 10-7 and 4-2 in league.
Arroyo Grande 57, Atascadero 40
Ashlyn Herlihy had 23 points to lead the Eagles over the Greyhounds. Brynn Thoming and Meghan Smith each added seven points for Arroyo Grande.
Atascadero’s Reylyssa Reyes had seven points, and Ariana Gonzales posted six points.
The Eagles jumped out to a 15-5 lead after the first quarter.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Mission Prep 68, Righetti 55
The Royals were propelled by an eight-point fourth quarter by Max Basile, who finished with 20 points for the game. Kyle Stewart had 16 points, and Matthew Blaney added 14 points in a well-rounded scoring performance.
Mission Prep was consistent, scoring 16 points in the first three quarters before posting 20 in the final period.
The Royals (10-8, 5-1 PAC 8) trail only undefeated St. Joesph in the league standings.
St. Joseph 73, San Luis Obispo 57
Nick Attala had 12 points, and Seth Moore added 11 points for San Luis Obispo. The Tigers (12-8, 3-3 PAC 8) tried to contain Jojo Walker, who scored 21.
San Luis Obispo plays Mission Prep on Friday.
GIRLS SOCCER
Arroyo Grande 4, Atascadero 0
Cate Boller had a hat trick and an assist, and Biddy Eschenbach had a goal and an assist for Arroyo Grande.
Demi Wack had a pair of assist for the Eagles (7-5-3, 4-2 PAC 8) who play St. Joseph on Friday.
San Luis Obispo 1, St. Joseph 0
Grace Park scored the lone goal on the road against St. Joseph to keep San Luis Obispo undefeated on the season.
Freshman Joella Holmes assisted on the goal with 20 minutes left in the first half for San Luis Obispo (14-0-1, 6-0 PAC 8).
“St. Joe’s was the best team we have played all year,” San Luis Obispo coach Leslie O’Connor said.
Eislee Sohner made an importnat save 10 minutes into the game to keep it scoreless.
“I thought it was in and she made an outstanding save,” O’Connor said.
San Luis Obispo takes on Mission Prep at home on Friday.
Mission Prep 1, Righetti 1
Mission Prep played to a tie on the road against Righetti on Wednesday night.
The Warriors got on the scoreboard in the sixth minute of the first half, but the Royals got back into the game in the second half. In the 23rd minute, Sammi Fernandez sent a through ball to Emily Riforgiate who scored from an angle to even it up at 1-1.
“We wanted this win because we know how much it would mean in terms of position in the table,” Mission Prep coach Gil Braga said, “but I am still satisfied with the attitude and persistence of our team. We fought hard until the very end but the ball just refused to go inside their net."
The Royals had 14 shots and Gabby Flores made 8 saves. Mission's record moves to 9-3-2 overall and 3-0-2 in the PAC-8. On Friday the Royals will visit San Luis Obispo for the SLO Town Showdown.
"SLO is favorite for this game, no doubt about it,” Braga said. “They have won every league game and haven't even lost at all this season. We want to go out there and test our strength against the strongest team in the league. We respect them but we also know that in soccer anything can happen. We're ready for it."
This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 9:33 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: SLO High boys soccer beats St. Joseph 3-2."