Central Valley High School grad Ozzie Ramos and the ASC San Diego men’s soccer team continued its run of success in the National Premier Soccer League playoffs this past weekend.

ASC San Diego held on for a 2-1 win over host FC Arizona in the West Region title game Saturday night.

Ramos filled a key role as ASC San Diego advanced to the NPSL semifinals for the first time.

“It’s something I get to check off my goals list,” he said. “We won our Region. ASC has never done that before.”

Ramos started at center defensive midfielder against the Crossfire.

“I played the entire game,” he said. “I got the assist on the first goal.”

ASC San Diego outscored FC Arizona 2-0 in the opening half.

“We were very calm,” Ramos said. “We treated it like another game even though we knew it was very important.”

ASC San Diego improved to 3-0 in postseason play.

ASC San Diego won its first two games on penalty kicks prior to topping FC Arizona.

 “It has not been an easy season,” Ramos said. “We don’t have ideal situations as far as housing and meals. Some guys are living out of their cars.”

“Clearly our preparation has paid off,” he added. “Although it’s very competitive for spots, we care a lot about each other. We all get along very well.”

Fourth-seeded ASC San Diego will face the top-seeded New York Cosmos on the road this Saturday at Hofstra University.

“They’re the No. 1 seed for a reason,” Ramos said. “I think they’ve won every game but one. We’re very confident, too. Every one of our playoff games have been away and we’ve won. They also have to worry about us.”

ASC San Diego finds itself one win away from playing for the NPSL Championship.

Quite impressive considering ASC San Diego snuck into the postseason tournament.

“Our last game prior to playoffs, we needed to win 6-0,” Ramos said. “We definitely want to continue this run. The further you go, the more exposure you get. We want to be the last team standing.”