Soccer: Clovis North and McLane to play for regional championships after dramatic wins
The latest in the CIF soccer regionals involving Fresno-area teams:
Thursday’s games
The Clovis North boys are one win away from finishing the season undefeated and with another title.
The No. 2 seed Broncos scored three second-half goals, including Bryan Lopez’s penalty kick in a 3-2 win over No. 3 Mountain View in the CIF Northern California Division I regional semifinals at Clovis East on Thursday.
Brandon Lopez, Dylan Mostes and Bryan Lopez each scored goals for Clovis North.
The Broncos will next visit No. 1 Davis At 3 p.m. Saturday for the regional championship. Davis defeated Monte Vista.
Clovis North and Davis will head to the match undefeated at 26-0-1 and 22-0-2, respectively.
The Broncos are not the only Fresno-area team headed to the finals.
No. 2 McLane advanced after scoring on a late penalty kick to defeat No. 3 Las Lomas-Walnut Creek 1-0 in a Division III match at McLane Stadium.
Guillermo Martinez got tripped inside the box and the referee blew the whistle, signaling a penalty kick.
Victor Luevano then scored the penalty kick with less than 2 minutes left in the match.
The Highlanders will host the regional championship against No. 4 Terra Linda-San Rafael at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Tuesday’s update
Noel Garcia and Bryan Lopez each scored a goal as the undefeated Clovis North High boys soccer team beat Vintage-Napa 2-0 in a CIF Northern California regional playoff match on Tuesday.
No. 2-seeded Clovis North moves on to host a Division I regional semifinal game against No. 3 Mountain View at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Goalkeeper Lucas Tabangcura got the 17th shutout of the season for the Broncos, who improved to 25-0-1.
▪ No. 2 McLane 1, No. 7 Lincoln-San Jose 0: The Highlanders (21-6-3) won in a shootout and will host another Division III regional match at 5 p.m. Thursday. Central Section-champion McLane will face No. 3 Las Lomas-Walnut Creek.
Girls soccer
Clovis North’s season came to an end.
The fourth-seeded Broncos lost to No. 5 Menlo-Atherton 1-0 in the Northern California Division I regionals at Lamonica Stadium.
The Broncos wrap up the season at 19-3-3. Clovis North won the section Division I final over Liberty-Bakersfield on Friday.
In other regional games:
▪ No. 5 Mira Monte 2, No. 4 Exeter 1: It was a battle of Central Section teams in Division IV. The Monarchs finish the season at 22-4.
Central Section champion
▪ McLane 3, Rosamond 0: McLane is Central Section Division VI champion for its first section title in 21 years under coach David Alvarez.
The Highlanders reached the finals twice before before breaking through for a section title.
Senior Yadira Dominguez scored in the 35th and 67th minutes and Celeste Thahane added a goal in the 41st minute.
Fifth-seeded McLane lost to No. 4 Stone Ridge Christian of Merced in a shootout Wednesday in the Division V regional playoffs, the Highlanders’ third game in three days.
This story was originally published February 28, 2023 at 9:28 PM.
