COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Cypress Advances to State Title Game in Soccer

Cypress withstood some tense moments in the second half but came away with a 2-1 victory over El Camino in the final of the Southern California women’s soccer playoffs.

The Chargers (20-0) advanced to the State championship game at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Orange Coast.

Traci Osman scored both goals for Cypress, one midway through the first half and the other in the second minute of the second half. The first goal was set up by Shelby Jacinto’s throw-in from the corner.

Osman controlled a loose ball after a free kick by Tracy Van Herk and kicked it in from about 10 yards to put Cypress ahead, 2-0, with 43 minutes to play.

But that was the last of the Cypress offense for much of the half. El Camino (14-2-1) held the ball in the Cypress end for most of the next 35 minutes. The Warriors had several chances and finally scored 21 minutes into the second half when Jaime Bulacan controlled a rebound and kicked it in.

Cypress’ April O’Brien had eight saves, six in the second half. Cypress turned the flow back toward the El Camino end after starting midfielders Carrie Fair and Caren Morgan returned after rests.

“It’s like anything, once you are up by two you have a tendency to back off, thinking you’ve already won,� Cypress Coach Ray Haas said. “But our midfielders just stepped it up, and we got it going again.�