South Sioux City advanced to the A-5 district final Wednesday with a 3-0 shutout of Papillion-LaVista Monday in semifinal action at the Cardinal Athletic Complex.
The Cardinals (13-4) had a couple of chances to score early in the match, but wouldn’t break the ice until the final minute when Lazaro Hernandez Sanchez poked home a loose ball in front of the Monarch goal to give the Cards a 1-0 lead at the break.
South Sioux City put it out of reach in the second half with a pair of goals in a three-minute span. Sanchez beat his defender on the left side and scored from about seven yards away to make it 2-0 with 26:53 left in the match, and sophomore Diego Montes closed the scoring with a rocket launch from about 25 yards out to send the Cardinals to Wednesday’s district finals.
SSC outshot Papio 7-0 in the contest and will get home-field advantage for Wednesday’s 5 p.m. final against Millard South, who upset top-seeded Millard West 2-1 in Monday’s other semifinal matchup.
The winner of Wednesday’s match advances to the state tournament, set to begin Tuesday, May 13 at Creighton University’s Morrison Stadium in downtown Omaha.
