Angel City heading to division finals

Angel City put on an inspired and confident team effort Tuesday night at Griffith Park to sweep its semi-final match against Zig Zag Jaro 5-1 before a host of ACFC fans.

Playing to their strengths, Angel City produced a fast-paced passing game out of the midfield, while the defence held the quick ZZJ offence to a minimal number of serious chances on goal.

Norwegian giant Marius Sandvik -- who racked up a hat trick and the game's MVP award on the night -- opened the scoring at the 20-minute mark, converting a Matt Onheiber pass with his "lucky" right foot to put the teal boys ahead.

ZZJ struck back 11 minutes later off a free kick lob over the defence, with one of their strikers nudging the ball past a sprawling Peter Marlenga. But ZZJ chances ended there, with Marlenga and the ACFC back four taking control of the 18-yard box for the remainder of the match.

At the 35-minute mark Sandvik notched his second goal off a David Woirhaye corner kick, with a crisp header into the back mesh, leaving ACFC up 2-1 at the half.

Inspired words from coach Bill Alarcon and manager Ben Kull saw the squad take it to ZZJ quickly in the second 45, with David "playmaker" Woirhaye heading in a goal for himself off a Sandvik cross 11 minutes in. Woirhaye has 10 assists on the season and three goals. A solid back-checking midfield under captain David "Puma" Alarcon, and quick defence kept the ball in the ZZJ end for a majority of the half.

Dan Klein netted his first goal of the season at the 67-minute mark with a quick run down the left side and a curling shot which arched over the keeper into the net. And Sandvik capped the night with his third off a Brandon Cole pass eight minutes from time.

Angel City will play the third place squad -- FC Perya -- in the championship match Tuesday (April 28) night at Griffith Park with an 8:45 kickoff. The Blue Eagles will face off against Zig Zag Jaro in the consolation final before that at 7 PM.

In the other semi-final, second-place Blue Eagles seemed out-of-sorts against a fast-paced counterattacking FC Perya side, losing 6-1.

GAME STATS SEMI-FINALS

Goals: Marius Sandvik (3), David Woirhaye, Dan Klein
Assists: Matt Onheiber, David Woirhaye, Marius Sandvik, Brandon Cole
MVP: Marius Sandvik
Shots: ACFC (10), ZZJ (10)
Corner KIcks: ACFC (7), ZZJ (2)
Yellow Cards: ACFC (4), ZZJ (2)
Red Cards: ACFC (0), ZZJ (0)