SALINAS >> Talk of a shot at redemption will likely come up over the next few days as Salinas High’s girls’ soccer team returns to the pitch for practice.

Relishing a spot in the Central Coast Section finals Wednesday warranted a celebration first, even if it was somewhat subdued.

“The feeling is the job isn’t complete,” Salinas coach Ralph Bozzo said.

The Cowboys punched their ticket to the CCS Division II championships after knocking off visiting West Catholic Athletic League nemesis Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco 1-0.

Up next in a record-breaking season for No. 2 seed Salinas (18-1-2) is No. 8 seed Homestead of Sunnyvale — which held on to beat Branham of San Jose 1-0 — on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Alvarez High.

Last year Homestead knocked Salinas out of the postseason with a 2-0 win in the Division II quarterfinals.

“They are a very organized team with a talented player in the middle,” Bozzo said. “When they jump ahead, they move her to the back and she shuts you down.”

Bozzo was referring to Saara Lahtela, who has 19 goals on the season for the Mustangs (10-7-4), who knocked off top seed Aptos last Saturday and have not allowed a goal in the postseason.

“We will watch some film of Homestead,” Bozzo said. “There’s really nothing we can teach in the next two days. We want to recover and be healthy and strong for Saturday.”

The Cowboys, whose 18 overall wins are a school record, are unbeaten in its past 17 matches. It’s only setback on the season was a 2-1 decision to Mitty, which is in the CCS Division I finals.

“I told them after the game, ‘practice on Thursday,’” Bozzo said. “Let’s get ready for Saturday. Playoff games are hard. When you do not finish your chances, the game, gets a little complicated.”

Bozzo was referring to the opening minutes of its match with the Fightin’ Irish, when Salinas misfired on a handful of shots and missed a penalty kick, keeping the game scoreless in the first half.

“The resilience of this team is just keep working hard,” Bozzo said. “When teams get tired and fatigue sets in, they tend to fall apart. When that happens to us, our mentality and will kick in. We play a full 80 minutes. It’s magic.”

Salinas broke up a scoreless battle in the 62nd minute when Morgan Retterer took a pass from Delilah Vega-Aguilar and knocked it through the net for her team-leading 25th goal of the season.

“Delilah split the two defenders with a perfect pass to Morgan,” said Bozzo, who led Salinas to a CCS Division IV title in 2022.

The Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division champions turned to their defense where goalie Taylor Ramirez answered the call with six saves in earning her seventh shutout.

Bozzo praised the efforts of Cal Poly-bound Kate Nunes and Jenifer Molina, who controlled the middle of the pitch for Salinas.

“Those two girls got to so many balls first and distributed them to our playmakers,” Bozzo said. “They stop the opponents’ attack and started ours. We were just more athletic.”

Division V

North County 2, Rancho San Juan 1 >> The Condors erased a 1-0 halftime deficit with a pair of goals in the second half to advance to their first Central Coast Section Division V title game.

North County, which improved to 16-3-3, will go into Saturday’s finals against top seed Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton — 5-0 winners over Notre Dame of San Jose — riding a five-game winning streak.

The game will be at 12:30 p.m. at Del Mar High in San Jose.

Owners of five CCS titles and champions of the West Bay Foothill Division, the Gators (10-7-3) have outscored two postseason opponents 14-0, and are 7-1-1 in their last nine matches with six shutouts.

Just two years removed from a two-win season, the 16 wins is a school record for the Condors, who came into the tournament seeded No. 2.

Andrea Ibarra and Anahi Flores both collected goals for North County, which finished second in the Mission Division behind Pajaro Valley.

A member of the Gabilan Division, Rancho San Juan, which has reached the CCS semifinals three straight years, finished the year 10-9-2. Karina Vargas gave them a 1-0 first half lead with a goal on a penalty kick.

Boys

Division IV

Gonzales 2, Monterey 0 >> The last time Gonzales played for a CCS soccer title, head coach Miguel Vidauri was a sophomore on that title team.

The Cypress Division champion Spartans (17-3-3) are headed to the Division IV championships for the first time since 2007 after blanking Monterey at Rabobank Stadium.

Because Gonzales’ stadium is being renovated with a new turf field and all-weather track, it hasn’t had a home game this season.

“I’ve been telling them since the first day I started coaching about having pride in your school and community,” Vidauri said. “It was a big change when I came in. These kids all bought in.”

Making their first postseason appearance in seven years, the Spartans will face No. 8 seed Pioneer of San Jose — 4-1 winners over Greenfield — on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Alvarez High.

“I don’t know much about them,” Vidauri said. “I will reach out to Palma and Greenfield’s coaches to get a feel for what they do. We are hoping the entire community gets behind us.”

Seeded No. 2, Gonzales brought a large contingent of fans, along with its band for Wednesday’s semifinal match, in which it got goals from Omar Gonzalez and Jorge Uribe to earn its 11th straight win.

“We watched a lot of film of Monterey,” Vidauri said. “I got some helpful tips from some coaches. We were able to dominate both ends of the game.”

A member of the Gabilan Division, the No. 3 seeded Toreadores (12-7-4), had advanced to the semifinals after beating Salinas on penalty kicks last Saturday.

One of Gonzales’ three losses this year was a 2-1 setback to 20-0-2 Alvarez, which is playing Friday in the CCS Division I title game.

“I believe we have one of the best teams in the county,” Vidauri said. “These kids respond. We have faced adversity all year. This is just another game with higher stakes. Our mentality is we believe we’re going to win every single game.”

Luis Cabada was credited with his seventh shutout of the year in goal for Gonzales.

Pioneer 4, Greenfield 1 >> Producing two goals in the first two minutes, the No. 8 seeded Mustangs continued their charge toward a CCS Division IV title after knocking off host Greenfield.

In two postseason matches, Pioneer (11-8-2) has upset top seed Palma 5-4 on penalty kicks and the No. 4 seeded Bruins (10-6-6) to advance to the finals, where it will look to complete the hat trick against county teams when it faces Gonzales.

Runner-ups in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mt. Hamilton Division, the Mustangs are unbeaten in their last five matches. They are chasing their first section title since 2001.

Greenfield, which was 6-2-3 at home this year, found itself staring at a 4-1 halftime deficit, just the second time all year that it has allowed four or more goals in an entire match.

Alex Sanchez injected some life into the Bruins with a goal in the first half.

The Bruins, who snapped a string of seven straight playoff losses with a 2-1 decision over Lincoln last Saturday, had their unbeaten streak of five matches come to an end.