Roosevelt High experienced the power of Southern Section boys soccer Monday afternoon at McLane Stadium.

Sixth-seeded San Jacinto rode a pair of goals from John Leyva and a stingy defense to a 2-0 victory over the third-seeded Rough Riders in the opening round of the CIF Southern California Regional Division II playoffs.

The Tigers didn't even win a Southern Section championship, falling 4-1 in the Division V final to Saddleback-Santa Ana, the same opponent they will face at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the regional semifinals.

"That team was good," Roosevelt senior midfielder Adrian Torres said. "We played our hearts out, but playing for state ain't no joke."

The Rough Riders (21-2-3) came up empty on six shot attempts during a scoreless first half.

San Jacinto finally struck in the 48th minute when Leyva corralled a pass and got a step on Roosevelt's defense before blasting a left-footed shot into the right corner past a diving Isaiah Rodriguez, who played the second half in the cage after starter Jesse Diaz injured his thumb late in the first.

Roughly 6 minutes later, Leyva connected again when he headed in the Tigers' second goal off a deflected free kick.

"We had a couple of mistakes," Roosevelt senior defender Eduardo Lopez said. "This was the hardest team we've played. I've got to give it to them."

The Rough Riders' best chance to score came in the 77th minute when standout forward Santiago Gaspar had a free kick from 27 meters. His shot went off the top post and ricochetted to Torres, whose header was smothered by a diving Alejandro Arellano.

"We've had a lot of fortunate bounces this year, and it caught up to us," Roosevelt coach Joel Munoz said. "But they have had a great run and did everything I asked them to."

Roosevelt hadn't played a game since its 3-2 victory over Selma for the Central Section Division III title nine days ago. San Jacinto, however, played Saturday when it lost to Saddleback.

"It takes the wind out of your sails. That was my one fear coming into this," Munoz said. "(San Jacinto) might have had dead legs for a half, but they got into the flow of the game better than we did.

"In the first half we had a few runners open where we just missed making our one-two passes. Your timing is off with that week off."

The CIF SoCal Regionals continue today with Divisions I and III. On the girls side, Buchanan (18-4-1) will host El Camino Real-Woodland Hills (18-4-3) at Tice Park in D-I and Caruthers (28-0) will host St. Bonaventure-Ventura (15-10) in D-III, while Farmersville's boys (21-4-3) entertain Chadwick-Palos Verdes Peninsula (9-2-5) in D-III. All games start at 4 p.m.