Boys’ soccer: Taking an indepth look at the Division I playoffs

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Quick recap: Last year Santa Margarita and Loyolaended the season as co-champions. The championship game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Now, on to this year...

The favorite:

Top seed Santa Margarita (15-3-3, 7-2-1 Trinity champion). The Super Eagles had a Division I-best 10 goals allowed. Their defense, led by senior center back Roger Downes, never gave up more than one goal in a game this season.

The Eagles could face Loyola in a rematch of last year’s championship game in the first round. Santa Margarita will host the winner of the wild-card game between Loyola-Long Beach Wilson on Friday at 3 p.m.

The contenders: Millikan (20-2-3, 11-1-0 Moore champion), St. Francis (20-5-2, 9-1-2 Mission champion), Servite (21-4-3, 6-3-1 Trinity No. 2) and Los Alamitos (19-4-3, 7-2-1 Sunset No. 2).

The dark horse: Quartz Hill (21-2-2, 13-0-1 Golden League champs). The Rebels scored an amazing 103 goals and allowed only 14. But are they playoff ready? The quality of their opponents is not very strong. The lack of ‘big-game’ experience could hurt them. Or it might just mean that they are fresh for a playoff run.

Four players to watch: senior Roger Downes, defense, Santa Margarita; senior Nick Posthuma, forward, St. Francis; senior Tim Pontius, defense, Servite; junior Eric Wageman, forward, Quartz Hills

Playoffs begin on Wednesday with two wild-card games. The first round begins on Friday.

The Southern Section boys’ soccer playoff schedules are here.

-- Jaime Cardenas

-- Image from www.jupiterimages.com