MERCED – No. 2 Golden Valley scored three rapid-fire goals in the first half Saturday and added three more in the second half to defeat sixth-seeded East Union 6-0 in the semifinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III boys soccer playoffs on Bobcat Field at UC Merced.

“They are a very strong team,” Lancers coach Ronnie Green said. “I knew they would be coming in, but when they scored that first goal early sucked the life out of us. We couldn’t bounce back, unfortunately, and honestly I think the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) did an injustice to soccer this year by playing back-to-back-to-back-to-back games instead of having separation between the quarterfinals and semifinals.

“This game is normally played next Wednesday, and being that we had two overtime games, two 100-minute games prior to this, we were beat up.”

Carlos Miranda scored two goals for the Cougars (15-3-1) with Giovanny Ramirez, Ivan Segura, Hayden Maldonado and Malachi Wright adding a goal apiece.

“They work very hard at practice,” Golden Valley coach Lance Eber said. “And they deserve all that credit because that’s hours of practice.”

Cougars goalie Manuel Zarate came up big every time East Union (22-7-1) threatened with six saves before leaving the game late in the second half.

“He (Zarate) is a great goalie and he knows how to run his defense,” Eber said. “And that is a result of all the hours of practice they put in.”

Golden Valley will face top-seeded Lincoln of Lincoln for the championship tonight at 7 at Cosumnes River College.