INLAND FIELDHOUSE

I’m covering the Apple Valley Granite Hills-Lake Elsinore Lakeside CIF-Southern Section Division 5 first round match for The Press-Enterprise tonight. The best part of the assignment will be analyzing the hows and whys of whether or not Lakeside earns its first ever playoff victory.

THE LOWDOWN:
The Cougars, the No. 3 seed from the Desert Sky League, reached the first round by defeating Environmental Charter, 5-0, in a wild-card match on Tuesday. Coach Paul Casarez’s side has the credentials to be here; the Cougars outscored opponents 57-23, and went 4-1-1 on the road this season.

The Lancers have endured many things this season, injuries included, but still managed to top the Sunbelt League with an   8-1-1 mark. How much will the absence of sophomore forward Oscar Gonzalez (broken leg) be felt? The talented striker still leads the team with 11 goals but missed his team’s final three matches after suffering the injury two weeks ago.

THE STARTING XIs:
Granite Hills — GK: Miguel Bustillos; D: Eric Cline, Joey Banuelos, Matt Fatino, Kevin Benitez; MF: Efren Viernes, Ben Flores. Marvin Soriano, Oscar Lopez; F: Daniel Arreola, Michael Garcia.

Lakeside — GK: J.Chavez; D: Luis Alberto, Dominic Carrillo, Nestor Bravo, Ramiro Ruiz; MF: Mateo Baltazar, Ricky Ruiz, Alfonso Hernandez; F: Gabriel Ruiz, Corey McCullough, Eddie Acuna.

THE DIFFERENCE:
Coach Colin Gilliland’s Lancers must overcome once again, and find a way to score a goal — ’cause goodness, can they defend (only 18 GA this season) — if this group is to earn Lakeside’s boys soccer program its first playoff victory? History us not on their side. Lakeside is 0-3 in the playoffs the last three consecutive seasons.