PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: IN RIGHT PLACH, AT RIGHT TIME FOR CANYON.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Deena Plach spent most of the season recovering from a knee injury and wasn't able to contribute much to the Canyon High girls' soccer team. At least not until Wednesday.

With Canyon's season on the line, Plach had her best game of the season as she scored two early goals to lead the Cowboys to a 4-0 victory over visiting Santa Fe High (14-8-2) of Santa Fe Springs in a Southern Section Division II wild-card playoff game.

``She persevered, stayed focused and kept trying,'' Canyon coach Gregg Cohen said of Plach, who had one goal this season entering the game. She scored nine goals as a freshman.

Senior fullbacks Amanda Branam and Candice Crane contributed standout defensive efforts for Canyon (20-2-5), and sophomore goalie Lyndsay Taylor had three saves.

Freshman forward Laura Brown and senior forward Nicole Norris each scored in the closing minutes to cement the victory.

Canyon will hope to build on the victory when it visits Arroyo High of El Monte at 3 p.m. on Friday.

- Gideon Rubin

In other Southern Section girls' soccer:

--Calabasas 9, La Puente 0: Katie Auerbach scored four goals for the Coyotes (13-9-1), who got past La Puente (15-6-2) in a Division III Wild Card game at Calabasas.

Marissa Kagan scored the Coyotes' first goal two minutes into the game and Auerbach, a senior forward who now has 27 goals this season, followed with three more within a 10-minute span to put the game out of reach.

The Calabasas offense, which had 24 shots on goal, also got second-half goals by Mandy Marutzky, Auerbach, Alana Rosu, Nadia Pasillas and Erin Kitzpatrick.

``(Winning this game 9-0) is awesome,'' Calabasas coach Michelle French said. ``This year we have a really good team and we should do good in the playoffs. This (game) was a great practice for us.''

Defenders Heather Goldman, Jacqui Stewart and Bonnie Anderson limited the Warriors, the third-place team in the Mountview League, to two shots on goal. Ashley Englehart and Ariane Marcus shared duties at goalie to record the shut-out.

Calabasas, which finished in second place in the Frontier League with a 6-2 record behind Nordhoff, will travel to Bonita of La Verne for Friday's first-round game.

- Julio Cortez

--Agoura 1, San Marcos 0: Heather Sims scored the lone goal for the Chargers (11-8-6) in a Division III wild-card game at Agoura.

In Southern Section boys' soccer:

--Ventura 4, Simi Valley 1 (OT):: Simi Valley (13-10-1) blew a 1-0 lead in the final minute of regulation and went on to lose at Ventura (14-6-4) in overtime of their Southern Section Division II Wild Card game.

The Cougars, who will play at Quartz Hill in a first-round match on Friday, tied the score with 30 seconds left on a header by Shane Wilkes off a pass by Mike Enfield.

Ventura's Brian Anderson scored three goals in the two 10-minute overtime periods for the final margin, including a goal in the opening minute of overtime for a 2-1 lead.

Simi Valley dominated the second half but came up with only one goal when Jaime Rodriguez's shot from the right corner caromed off the left post in the 60th minute.

- Kirby Lee

--Lakewood 3, Highland 0: Lakewood (12-9-6) moves on to the next round after the Division I wild-card victory over the visiting Bulldogs of Palmdale (10-11-3).

Andres Muniz's goal in the 43rd minute broke the scoreless tie. Goalie Michael Reaper had seven saves for the shutout.

In the 55th minute, Muniz dribbled a corner kick and fed Aaron Newman for Lakewood's second goal of the game. The third goal was scored on a penalty kick in the 75th minute by Juan Rodriguez.

The Lancers took advantage of their size and quickness to create scoring opportunities to keep the Bulldogs ofalance throughout the game.

Highland had nine shots on goal. The Bulldogs' best opportunity came early in the second half when Jason Storrs headed a corner kick that hit the crossbar. Goalkeeper Dwight Guillen had five saves and yielded three goals for Highland.

- Rob Moscato

In Southern Section girls' water polo:

--Flintridge Prep 5, Keppel 2: Mariam Anthony had three goals and Amy Thomas added two goals for the Rebels of La Canada (19-3) in a Division III match at Flintridge Prep.

--Thousand Oaks 10, Calabasas 1 The host Lancers next play defending Division II champion Santa Barbara Saturday at 3:15 p.m

--Notre Dame 7, Arcadia 4: Sammy Zuckerman had five goals, giving her 68 on the season, for the Knights of Sherman Oaks (13-5) in a Division III match at Notre Dame.

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Photo: Calabasas goalie Jessica Wolfe, right, prepares to block a shot by Thousand Oaks' Karli Rufi during their Division II playoff game.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer