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  • San Clemente's Santiago DiGiuseppe, left, points to the crowd and...

    San Clemente's Santiago DiGiuseppe, left, points to the crowd and celebrates with teammates Oscar Hernandez and Blayne Martinez after scoring a goal during the Division 1 Southern California Regional Tuesday at San Clemente High School.

  • Carlsbad's Juan Tovar, center, shields San Clemente's Matias Ledesma from...

    Carlsbad's Juan Tovar, center, shields San Clemente's Matias Ledesma from the ball during the Division 1 Southern California Regional Tuesday at San Clemente High School.

  • San Clemente's Blayne Martinez, left, gets tangled up with Carlsbad's...

    San Clemente's Blayne Martinez, left, gets tangled up with Carlsbad's Sam Oakes while going for a ball during the Division 1 Southern California Regional Tuesday at San Clemente High School.

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Damian Dottore. Sports. HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Associate Mug Shot taken August 24, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

San Clemente coach Mike Pronier said he thought his boys soccer team “might have finally turned the corner.”

Shootouts have become quite a stumbling block for the Tritons as San Clemente had seen its postseason come to an end in three of the four matches that have been decided on penalty kicks. This time, though, it appeared the Tritons had the upper hand

Cole Martinez blocked Carlsbad’s first penalty attempt after the teams played to a 1-1 tie in the first round of the Division 1 So Cal Regionals. After that, the Tritons’ usual rotten luck returned.

The Lancers converted their next four chances and their keeper, Matt Deemer, turned away two of the Tritons’ penalty shots to eliminate third-seeded San Clemente (25-3-2) on PKs, 4-3.

“No disrespect to Carlsbad, I feel this game was winnable,” Pronier said. “I would have liked another chance to get to the final. We had the run of play, but Carlsbad hung in there and made their opportunity count.”

In the 65th minute, the Lancers (20-4-4) took a 1-0 lead when senior defenseman Sam Oakes deflected a long throw from Colin Morrison off the near post and into the goal. That was the one and only scoring chance Carlsbad had in the second half.

“I definitely think we could have been a little sharper tonight,” Pronier said.

The Tritons watched several shots sail either over or around the goal, some missing by just a few inches. Even when Santiago DiGiuseppe tied the score in the 76th minute, he banked his shot off the bottom of the cross bar. Liam McVicar set up the scoring play with his pass from the right corner to the top of the box.

“I am very disappointed at the result,” Pronier said. “But if you look back at what the kids have done over the whole season, it was a good season.”

In another Division 1 match:

Birmingham of Van Nuys 4, Anaheim 1: Francisco Santana scored for the visiting Colonists (15-7-6) in the first-round match.

Contact the writer: ddottore@ocregister.com