Hopefully they saved some goals for Tuesday.
Top-seeded Watsonville exploded for five goals to storm past No. 8 Los Gatos, 5-0, in Saturday’s Central Coast Section Open Division quarterfinals at Emmett M. Geiser Field.
Jael Leal scored two goals, and Angel Luis Hernandez, Alexis Valenzuela and Julian Garcia also scored.
With the win, the Wildcatz (14-2-5) earned what should be a barnburner of a rematch with old rival Bellarmine, the No. 4 seed, in Tuesday’s semifinal round.
The Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan division champions also clinched a spot in the upcoming NorCal state playoffs by virtue of being one of the four Open Division semifinalists.
Bellarmine (16-2-3) — a 2-0 winner over No. 5 Palo Alto — was one of two teams to beat Watsonville this winter. The 17-time CCS champion Bells stunned the 11-time CCS champion Wildcatz with a last-minute goal in their 3-2 preseason victory in late December.
Watsonville will welcome in Bellarmine at 7 p.m.
In girls’ CCS soccer action:
• Aptos 4, Westmont 2 – Freshman Jazmin Castaneda recorded a hat trick to power the No. 7-seeded Mariners over the No. 2-seeded Warriors in Saturday’s CCS Division I quarterfinals.
Aubree Westjohn scored the fourth goal for Aptos (13-1-5) off an assist from Chantal Aguirre, and Caroline Miller made eight saves.
The Mariners, runners-up in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, now travel to No. 3 Christopher — a 3-0 winner over No. 6 Aragon — on Wednesday at 3 p.m. for a semifinal match.
Brynn Mitchell, Bella McDaniel and Olivia Meier also dished assists for Aptos.
• Piedmont Hills 2, Watsonville 0 – The PCAL-Mission champions were held scoreless for the first time since Dec. 7 of last year in their heartbreaking CCS D-II quarterfinal loss at Emmett M. Geiser Field.
Watsonville, the top seed in the division, finished its season with a 15-5-1 overall record after the loss to No. 8 Piedmont Hills, which moves on to play No. 5 Notre Dame-Belmont on Wednesday at a site and time to be announced.
