Crush advance with 2-1 Nor Cal Playoffs win over Cañada, face Sierra in Round 2

The No. 5-seeded Clovis Crush women's soccer team is on its way to Round 2 of the Northern California Regional Playoffs thanks to a 2-1 opening-round win over No. 12 Cañada College on Saturday.

Clovis will travel to No. 4 Sierra College for a second-round contest on Tuesday (Nov. 26) at 2 p.m. Sierra needed overtime to defeat No. 13 Evergreen Valley College in its playoff opener.

On Saturday, the Crush had to rally from behind at home late to pull out the victory. After a scoreless opening half, Cañada struck first, getting a goal from Sulma Plancarte in the 53^rd minute.

It remained that way until the 70^th minute. Clovis' Leslie Zepeda took a pass from Jackie Segura and dribbled through the Colts' defense and beat the Cañada goalkeeper with her shot for the equalizer.

With momentum on their side, the Crush's relentless attack finally paid off as Amanda Avila came away with the game-winning goal in the 81st minute off the assist from Keska Turner.

Goalkeeper Amanda Petrakis and the Crush defense clamped down over the remainder of the contest to close out the victory.

With the win, Clovis improved to 10-7-3. The Crush will be facing Sierra for the first time this season on Tuesday. Sierra is 20-3-0- overall and finished second in the Big 8 Conference with a 14-2-0 mark.

The winner of Tuesday's playoff game will advance to the third round to take on either No. 1 Lake Tahoe Community College or No. 8 City College of San Francisco on Saturday (Nov. 30). Two more wins are needed to move on to the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Soccer State Championships on Dec. 6 & 8 at DeAnza College in Cupertino.