ARROYO GRANDE 7 The bleacher-stomping home crowd at Doug Hitchen Stadium has figured out Arroyo Grande High/s girls soccer team.

Each time the Eagles/ leading scorer Carla Arbulu would get the ball Tuesday, the decibel level at Hitchen Stadium would soar sky high.

Arbulu didn/t disappoint, scoring two goals to lead the Eagles (25-4) to a 2-1 overtime victory against Sunny Hills of Anaheim in the semifinal game of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs.

Arbulu said Sunny Hills put up a tremendous fight.

"It was expected that team was going to be good," said Arbulu. "We knew they were ranked second in CIF so we were going to have a really tough match. They played really well.

"Although they didn/t pass as well as Mayfair, they still were mentally and physically strong," she added. "They came out to win this game."

With the win, the Eagles will play top-seeded Walnut, which beat Bonita 2-0, in the championship game at Cal State Fullerton or La Mirada High on Saturday. (The exact time and location were not available at press time).

Arbulu scored her first goal 12 minutes into the game with a hard ground ball after receiving the pass off of the heal of two other Eagles. Lauren Alarcio used her speed to carry the ball down the side and centered it. Then Allie Edgerton used a step over fake to leave Arbulu with the golden opportunity.

"The timing on that goal was beautiful," said Eagles/ coach Debbie Dorney. "It was just beautiful."

Sunny Hills (29-3-0, 10-0-0 Freeway League) answered back with 13:28 left in the half as Tanya Taylor, who had 29 goals under her belt going into the game, knocked in a shot off of an extremely long throw-in by Natalie Jung.

In the first quarter of two 10-minute overtimes, Arbulu sealed the win off of a centering pass by Erica Leger with less than two minutes left in the quarter.

"Leger created that goal entirely," said Dorney. "She did not try to cross it around her defender. She completely beat her (defender) around the corner and was just looking at Carla."

Arbulu raised her hands high in the sky after the goal, then hugged Leger to the delight of the crowd.

"I was so happy," Arbulu said. "That second goal I don/t even remember. All I remember is seeing the ball in front of me and it was like slow motion. I was so nervous."

Eagles goalie Erika Blecha stopped a point-blank shot off a corner kick to preserve the win.

Santa Ynez 2, Hemet 1

HEMET 7 The third-ranked Pirates (21-4-1) played themselves into the Division IV championship game after spotting the Bulldogs (20-6-4) a goal.

Michelle Enyeart struck for Hemet 15 minutes into the second half. Leann Sgobba tied the game 13 minutes later, and then Christina Pauley scored the game winner on Jana Balius/ pass with four minutes left to play.

Marissa McCandlish, Kaylee Bazzell, Brittany Heringer and Ashton Swiacki sparked a tough Santa Ynez defense, and goal keeper Aly Sprague was solid once again.

Santa Ynez will play Serrano of Phelan, which beat fourth-seeded Pasadena Poly 2-1, at either Cal State Fullerton or La Mirada High Saturday at a time and site to be determined.

Boys soccer

Santa Ana Valley 4, Santa Maria 3

SANTA ANA 7 The Saints (23-4-1) couldn/t hold a 3-1 lead in regulation and lost in double overtime at the Santa Ana Bowl to the Falcons (18-10-2) in a Division IV semi.

Heber Otero of Santa Maria scored the first goal. Jose Olivera put the Saints ahead 2-1 with a goal 15 minutes into the second half. Victor Velasco nailed one into the right corner to put the Saints ahead 3-1 with 15 minutes left.

But the Falcons scored two minutes later, tied the score with four minutes left in regulation, then won it with four minutes left in the second overtime.

Boys volleyball

St. Joseph 3, Paso Robles 0

PASO ROBLES 7 Matt Segura smacked 13 kills and Brett Kleinsmith had 11 as the Knights swept the Bearcats 25-16, 25-19, 25-16 in their season opener.

Boys tennis

Santa Ynez 10, Righetti 8

SANTA YNEZ 7 The Pirates doubles teams of Eric Reif and Pat Dalo, Garrett Gunning and Steve Sauer, and Adam Stapp and Jose Navarro all swept their matches to negate Righetti/s 8-1 advantage in singles.

Rikin Tank and Lee Medvedoff swept their singles matches for the Warriors. David Seidenberg won twice. Colin Pollock earned the PIrates/ lone singles point. The match was both teams/ season opener.

Paso Robles 10, Santa Maria 8

Ricky Chan and Jose Garcia swept their singles matches, but the Saints came up short at the Minami Center in their season opener.

Alex Martinez and Jose Angulu the Saints/ top doubles tandem, gave Santa Maria its other two points.

Baseball

Coast Valley at Nipomo, ppd.

NIPOMO 7 Recent rain caused the postponement of Nipomo/s inaugural varsity baseball game. The game has been re-scheduled for Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

Sports Writer Kenny Cress contributed to this report

March 03, 2004