No. 6 Pusch Ridge advanced to the second round of the 3A boys soccer playoffs after beating No. 11 Florence 6-2 Tuesday night at home. The Lions will travel to play at No. 3 Gilbert Christian Saturday at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinal round. The Knights beat No. 14 Yuma Catholic 3-1 in the first round to advance. The semifinal round will be played at Central High School Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m.

Pusch Ridge (11-1 in ranking matches) collected 26 shots on the night compared to 13 for Florence (9-4) but the Gophers took a 1-0 lead in the match after Ty O’Rourke connected on a goal in the 13 minute with the Lions caught shorthanded on defense due to an offensive push. Joaquin Borboa tied the match up at 1-1 in the 18th minute and Ben Mejias put the Lions up for good two minutes later for a 2-1 lead.

Borboa hit E.J. Bailey in the 31st minute and Braeden Neale scored of a rebound in the 34th minute for a 4-1 lead at the half. Michael Molina cut the lead down to 4-2 in the 42nd minute but Borboa scored again in the 56th and Bailey scored the final goal in the 70th minute for the 6-2 margin. Zane O’Rourke came up with 12 saves for Florence and Brandon Rhodes had four for Pusch Ridge.

Gilbert Christian (12-1) has given up only two goals in the new year for a 44-2 scoring differential over the last 10 matches.