Boys’ soccer: Making the playoff push and the latest top 5 rankings

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The term OTB, or ‘On The Bubble,’ isn’t limited to NCAA basketball. There were plenty of OTB teams in boys’ soccer heading into the final week of the regular season. It’s not just the Cinderella teams either. Some well-known names are OTB as well.

Damien, Orange Lutheran, Loyola and Servite, for example, are all OTB in the Southern Section. Of the four, Loyola is in the best spot to move forward into the playoffs, but the other three can’t afford another slip up. All are in Division I.

Orange Lutheran is in the worst spot of the four, which is a bit surprising. After handing No. 5 Servite its worst loss of the season, a 4-0 goliza last week,the Lancers are in danger of not making the playoffs.

Orange Lutheran (14-6-4, 4-4-1 Trinity League) didn’t help its cause when it lost to Mater Dei, 2-1, on Wednesday. The Trinity League, which is a six-team league, has only three guaranteed playoff spots, but four teams are worthy of the playoffs: Santa Margarita, Mater Dei, Servite and Orange Lutheran.

‘If there’s a year for at-large teams, this is the year,’ Lancers Coach Steve Harder said. ‘If Servite doesn’t get in the playoffs, that’s crazy. And if we don’t get in, that’s just as bad.’

Damien is another team that’s OTB. They have a crucial game at Chino Hills tomorrow and it’s do or die for the Spartans. A win allows them to stay in the top half of the Sierra League standings, but a loss allows Ayala to sneak in and potentially knock out the 2006 division champions.

The pairings will be announced Monday and the playoffs start Wednesday.

My top 5 took a beating last week as Nos 3 through 5 all lost a game. That means two teams are out and two new teams are in.

No. 1. Santa Monica (19-0-1, 7-0 Ocean League) -- The Vikings scored 10 goals in two days as they downed Inglewood, 3-0, and Morningside, 7-0. They continued their goalden touch this week with a 7-1 victory over Hawthorne on Monday.

No. 2. Santa Margarita (16-2-4, 7-1-1 Trinity) -- The Super Eagles are peaking at the right time -- not counting their slip up against Servite. The Eagles downed Mater Dei, 2-0, and Orange Lutheran, 2-1, last week. They started this week by beating JSerra, 4-0.

No. 3. Saddleback (20-2-0, 8-1-0 Golden West) -- All year a friend of mine has been telling me about the Roadrunners. You can stop now, dude. The Roadrunners are looking like the team to beat in Division III.

No. 4. Santa Barbara (18-3-1, 6-1-0 Channel) -- The Dons are the No. 1 team in Division II and their resume includes victories over previous top 5 teams St. Francis and Ventura. Currently, the Dons are on a six-game winning streak, during which they’ve outscored their opponents, 22-6.

No. 5. Servite (20-4-3, 5-3-1 Trinity) -- We could have easily been talking about a Friars collapse of monumental proportions if it hadn’t been for their victory over Santa Margarita two weeks ago. After starting 17-1-3, the Friars lost three of their next four, and were outscored, 6-1, in those games, heading into the week. Servite got back on the winning track Wednesday with a 4-0 victory over St. John Bosco. They’ll close out the season on Thursday against Mater Dei at home. If they can avoid a loss, they can clinch a spot in the playoffs. Not to make things harder for the Friars, but none of the teams I had ranked at No. 5 won their next games since I started these rankings last month.

I’ll be at the game on Thursday. So, memo to Servite’s student section, God is everywhere.

And with that, I’m out.

-- Jaime Cardenas