With a playoff win on the line, Central rose to the challenge on Thursday. While the 2-2 score might suggest a draw, it was the Spartans who were credited with the win. The Central Spartans got it done in the shootout by posting three goals to the Cathedral Catholic Dons's one. Given Central's advantage in MaxPreps' California soccer rankings (they are ranked 22nd, while Cathedral Catholic are ranked 233rd) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Ricardo Munguia and Edgard German scored both of Central's goals, bringing their combined season tally to 25 goals.

Spartans
| 02/19/26 vs Cathedral Catholic | 2-2 |
| 02/17/26 vs Carlsbad | 3-0 |
| 02/13/26 @ Imperial | 1-0 |
The victory keeps Central at an undefeated 26-0-3. As for Cathedral Catholic, their loss was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 9-9-3.
Coming up, Central will host Otay Ranch at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Cathedral Catholic does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps