A brisk breeze made the going tough in Prospect's Central Coast Section Division III semifinal against Palma on Thursday.

But Prospect was able to take advantage of the gusts — scoring a first-half goal from senior Anthony Salciccia with the wind at its back and hanging on for a 1-0 victory at Milpitas High.

The No. 8 Panthers (16-4-3) will play in the second CCS final in school history when they face the winner of Burlingame/Terra Nova at Milpitas at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Salciccia, who is headed to Cal on a soccer scholarship, continued his torrid postseason run.

Playing against the wind in the first half, Palma keeper Xavier Mottu tried a low, conservative clearance pass to one of his defenders.

But Salciccia swooped in on the right wing to make the first touch. From 31 yards out he settled the ball and quickly launched a perfectly placed left-footed shot that found the left side of the net.

"The left back had his back to the ball and I was able to anticipate it and slam it to the left side," said Salciccia, who has scored all five of Prospect's playoff goals.

But the talented senior had help. The Panthers are a skilled and play an appealing brand of soccer.

Junior defender Trevor Hinshaw made several impressive clearances. He teams with junior Aref Elbanna and sophomore Jose Perez to form a solid back line.

Perez' deft ballhandling skills helped to move the ball out of the Prospect zone several times in the second half when Palma (14-5-2) had the wind at its back.

"All three of my defenders are midfielders at heart," Prospect Coach Frank Medina said.

Salciccia's gift for the game was evident from the start, as it has been all year in a season where he has scored 31 goals with 15 assists. Salciccia scored a hat trick in Prospect's playoff opening victory against Sacred Heart Prep and scored another goal in extra time against No. 1 seeded Santa Cruz to tie the score; the Panthers eventually won on penalty kicks.

"If you're sitting in the stands, it's easy to see that Anthony stands out among the 22 players on the field," Medina said. "He's not overrated at all, but this is a total team and teams that have played us understand that. The guys around him are underrated."

Prospect is back in its first CCS final since the Panthers tied Monta Vista in 1992 to take a share of the Division II title.

Check out Dennis Knight's After School blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/highschools. Contact him at dknight@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5899.