Girls’ soccer: Breaking down the Southern California Regionals

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Southern California Regional Championships begin Tuesday with several intriguing quarterfinal matchups. In Division I, Southern Section Division II champion Thousand Oaks will have the first chance to upset undefeated Torrey Pines, the top seeded team and San Diego Section Division I champion. That game is at Torrey Pines.

Another Division I game to keep an eye on pits El Camino Real, fresh off its eighth consecutive City Section championship, at fourth-seeded San Clemente, which shared the Southern Section Division I title with Long Beach Wilson.

Eagle Rock snuck into the Division II bracket despite losing in the second round of the City Section playoffs and has first crack at second-seeded Granite Hills, the Southern Section Division IV runner-up, in a game to be played at Apple Valley. Top-seeded Cathedral, the San Diego Section Division III champion and overwhelming favorite, will play host to Southern Section Division V semifinalist Oak Park.

High-powered Oaks Christian, the Southern Section Division V champion, is the top-seeded team in Division III and should have little trouble with Sherman Oaks CES, the City Section Small Schools winner. Perhaps no team benefited more from the ‘size of school’ format than Brentwood, which received a berth in the state tournament despite losing in the Southern Section Division V quarterfinals to Oaks Christian. But Brentwood scored first and had the Lions on their heels for much of that game, so don’t be surprised if the Eagles pull the upset at No. 3 seed Central Valley Christian, the Central Section Division IV champion.

Unlike the Southern Section playoffs, the regional tournament pairings are based on enrollment, meaning we won’t see a team from a school with 300 students playing a team from a school with 3,000 students. Division I is for schools with enrollments of 2,300 or more; Division II is reserved for schools from 1,000 to 2,999 students, and Division III is for schools with enrollments under 1,000.

One disappointment is that Lancaster Desert Christian, the Southern Section Division VI winner, declined to participate. The Knights would likely have been the top seeded team in Division III. Taking their place is Southern Section Division VI semifinalist St. Margaret’s, which opens at San Diego Section Division IV runner-up La Jolla Bishop’s.

Click here for a complete breakdown of the divisional brackets.

-- Steve Galluzzo

-- Image from www.flickr.com