No. 2 Saddleback Drops No. 1 Santa Margarita

Saddleback had just six shots on goal, but junior midfielder George Galvez made two of them count as the second-ranked Roadrunners defeated top-ranked Santa Margarita, 2-1, Monday night in the semifinals of the Mustang Invitational at Trabuco Hills High.

The victory puts Saddleback (8-1) into today’s 6 p.m. championship game against eighth-ranked Santa Ana, which defeated Trabuco Hills, 4-3, in the other semifinal. Santa Margarita (7-1-3) had only four shots on goal, one in the second half.

There wasn’t much separating Saddleback and Santa Margarita other than an untimely and uncharacteristic mistake by usually reliable Santa Margarita goalkeeper Byron Foss. Midway through the first half, Foss bobbled an easy save. The ball was only on the ground for a second, but Galvez was there to tip it in.

“He looked up to see where he was going to throw it,” Santa Margarita Coach Curt Bauer said. “He could have dropped it anywhere but there.”

Galvez scored his second goal in the 57th minute off a throw-in from Thomas Serna. He beat Foss on the ground in the right side of the net. Santa Margarita’s Ryan Coiner scored four minutes later when he headed in a corner kick from Anthony Boscarini. In the first half Coiner had a point-blank shot hit the crossbar.

In the other semifinal:

Santa Ana 4, Trabuco Hills 3--Santa Ana (7-2) went up 4-1 and then hung on to beat Trabuco Hills (5-4-1) and advance to the final for the second consecutive year. Sweeper Mario Gonzalez scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season for the Saints.