Royal Rings Up Bell Gardens

Despite the absence of two key starters, Royal High rallied from a halftime deficit Thursday to upset Bell Gardens, 2-1, in a Southern Section Division I quarterfinal at Rancho Simi Park.

The Highlanders (24-5-1) got goals from Kendall Simmonds and Sean Geselle to defeat the third-seeded Lancers (21-3-1). They advance to play second-seeded Santa Ana (20-0-4) in a semifinal Tuesday.

Simmonds tied the match in the 62nd minute on a cross from Rene Marquez. With 10 minutes to play, Simmonds was fouled in the penalty area, leading to a penalty kick that Geselle converted for the winning goal.

Royal played without center midfielder Brandon Kay, who was ejected Tuesday in a second-round match, and sweeper Ryan Walker. Royal Coach Kevin Corley said Walker was benched because he missed practice Wednesday.

Royal played the first half with five defenders and only one forward before switching to four defenders and two forwards in the second half.

“They’re such a high-scoring team we wanted to lay back and frustrate them first,� Corley said. “Then we switched up and used high pressure all over the field. They didn’t know what hit them.�

Buena 1, El Dorado 0--Dylan Chappell scored on a free kick in the first half and the Bulldogs (17-3-5) upset the second-seeded Golden Hawks (22-5-4) in a Division II quarterfinal at Buena.

Buena goalkeeper Andy Davies made seven saves and posted his 13th shutout.

Moorpark 2, Bosco Tech 1--Juan Amezcua and Hugo Ramirez scored second-half goals to rally the Musketeers (21-5-1) past the Tigers (12-10-1) in a Division III quarterfinal at Bosco Tech.

Amezcua’s goal, his school-record 28th, came just after halftime when he headed in a throw-in from Mark Weaver. Ramirez scored in the 68th minute.