BOYS’ SOCCER : SIMI VALLEY TOURNAMENT : Host Pioneers Nose Into the Final After McGrath’s Goal Caps Rally

On a night when his own nose was a tad crimson because of the chill, Simi Valley High soccer Coach Andy Silva couldn’t say enough about the ability of one of his players to “smell” the ball near the opponent’s goal.

“In England, that’s what they call a sniffer,” Silva said. “He gets near the goal and he just has a nose for the ball and he gets a toe on it.”

Jeremy McGrath couldn’t have picked a better time to inhale.

McGrath, a senior midfielder, gathered the loose ball in heavy traffic in front of the goal with 17 minutes to play and blasted it into the net to give Simi Valley a come-from-behind, 2-1 victory Friday over San Diego Mt. Carmel in a Simi Valley tournament semifinal.

Simi Valley (5-1-2) will play Bakersfield West for the championship tonight at 7.

McGrath could not have picked a better night to wear an extra pair of socks, either. In a match played in a quagmire after a daylong storm, the Pioneers battled frozen toes as well as the Sundevils, who had outscored three opponents, 8-3, en route to the semifinal.

“Actually, my hands felt worse than my toes did,” McGrath said. “I guess you don’t think about it.”

Mt. Carmel (5-3-1) outmaneuvered the Pioneers to take a 1-0 lead into the second half. Lance Griepenstroh scored on an assist from Brett Cowan five minutes into the game.

Under ideal conditions, Simi Valley might have held a slight edge in team speed, Silva said, but not on a muddy field.

“In these type of conditions, it just makes everything even,” Silva said.

In the second half, Simi Valley assumed control with the authority of a mudslide, flooding the opponent’s zone with the ball.

Junior forward Brian Lopez rolled the ball into the right corner of the goal eight minutes into the second half to tie the score.

Fifteen minutes later, McGrath, who scored two goals in the Pioneers’ 3-0 quarterfinal victory over Moorpark earlier in the day, knifed between a handful of players and kicked home the match-winner.

Mt. Carmel earlier had defeated previously undefeated San Fernando, 5-3, in a quarterfinal.

In other quarterfinals, Oxnard defeated Ridgecrest Burroughs, 1-0, and Bakersfield West defeated Capistrano Valley, 3-2.

In other matches:

Bakersfield West 4, Oxnard 2--West (10-1) nearly wasted a 3-0 first-half advantage before earning the right to meet Simi Valley for the championship.

Mike Dremmel scored a goal six minutes into the game and Juan Cruz added two quick goals to give West (11-1) a 3-0 lead.

Oxnard (4-2) threatened with a pair of goals within five minutes of each other early in the second half, Ruben Torres and Raul Gonzalez scoring.

San Fernando 6, Moorpark 2--Hector Molina, Favian Galvan, Raul Rivas and Antonio Moreno each scored for San Fernando (12-1-2) in a consolation A semifinal. San Fernando will play Capistrano Valley in the consolation A final.

Agoura 2, Chaminade 1--Jeremy Kuklin scored a goal and Elad Goren had an assist for Agoura in a consolation B semifinal. Agoura (5-2-1) will play Clovis-West, a 4-0 winner over Santa Paula, in the consolation B final.