San Luis out to break second round jinx

Since reaching the 5A Division II state final three years ago, the San Luis boy's soccer team has had some unfortunate luck in the second round.

Two years ago, the Sidewinders were a higher seed than Marana-Mountain View, but were forced to go to Tucson instead of a neutral site in Tempe to face the Mountain Lions on turf, losing their first game not played on grass.

Last year, they had beaten every mutual opponent they had against Tucson-Ironwood, but came out flat after another long road trip and lost 3-0.

As they prepare for the quarterfinals against No. 7 Phoenix-North, everything seems to be in their favor.

While not at home, the game was moved to Yuma Catholic for a 4 p.m. start today. And their only mutual opponent was Gila Ridge, a squad the Mustangs (10-3) trailed 2-0 before coming from behind, while No. 2 San Luis (12-2) beat them easily four times this year.

"This is a good draw for us for the second round," Sidewinders coach Tim Conroy said. "I think we match up well with them."

San Luis earned the spot in the second round with a 2-0 win over Mountain View, while North topped Phoenix-Camelback 3-1.

But given the past, Conroy said he's trying to keep his team focused.

 "We can't afford to look past this one," Conroy said. "We have to focus on this one right now, then we'll see what happens. We haven't talked about Rincon other than the fact they knocked off Kofa the other day. Everything is focused on North."

And while San Luis is trying to avoid an upset, the Cibola girls team is looking for one.

The No. 8 Raiders (11-3) face No. 1 Scottsdale-Horizon (12-1), which is fresh off a 9-0 beat down of Camelback. Cibola topped Tempe-Marcos de Niza 5-3 in its playoff opener.

"They're very good and they're going to be a very good opponent," Fritz said. "We're going to have to play well. We're going to have to do the things we did (Wednesday) - come out and score some goals and defend a little bit. That's an equation we have to live by."

Itzel Rodriguez, who made a 150-foot free kick to put to bed a Padres' rally in the first round, said the team is staying positive.

"We can do it. We're a team," Rodriguez said. "All these girls are good, and I am with them."