Southern Section Soccer Playoffs : Improving Woodbridge to Face Top-Seeded Brea in Quarterfinal Match

Clyde Best, Woodbridge High School boys’ soccer coach, remembers the season before last as “disastrous,” and the one before that as not even that good.

By last season, the Warriors were a .500 team.

And now, this season. Or, more precisely, this postseason.

Woodbridge, a wild-card team, has advanced to the division 2-A quarterfinals. The Warriors play top-seeded Brea-Olinda, the defending champion, at Woodbridge today at 3.

Woodbridge was 11-9-2 in the regular season, but that record was good enough to be the best in school history. The Warriors finished third in the Pacific Coast League, but in the crowded 2-A bracket, that doesn’t guarantee a team a spot in the main draw, but merely a chance at one of 10 wild-card berths. Woodbridge edged Valencia on penalty kicks in the wild-card game, upset highly regarded Sea View League champion Newport Harbor in the first round and beat Troy in the second round.

“We were a good 11-9 team,” said Best, who played for several teams in the now-defunct North American Soccer League and for the Los Angeles Lazers and the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League. “They’re just now realizing their potential.”

Best said the Warriors are better than their record would indicate because he doesn’t emphasize winning nonleague games, but tries different combinations of players to prepare for league.

Jeff Smith, who has scored 16 goals, leads the offense with help from Matt Evans. Sweeper Irwin Sedlemayer anchors the defense.

Brea-Olinda (15-4-2) is led by Rob Hillard and Mike Oziminski.

Other county teams in 2-A boys’ action:

Sunny Hills, the second-seeded team, plays host to San Marino (15-5-3), the Rio Hondo League champion. The Lancers (16-2) are led by Steve Fichtelberg, who has scored 22 goals, including two in each of Sunny Hills’ two playoff games.

Orange (19-7-1), which is led by James Vlcek, will play at Central of El Centro.

4-A boys:

Mater Dei is the only Orange County team in the playoffs after Villa Park, Canyon and third-seeded Marina lost in the second round. The Monarchs play host to second-seeded Royal (23-1-2). Mater Dei (22-2-1) is led by junior Paul Oldham, who has scored 39 goals.

3-A boys:

No. 1 Esperanza, the defending champion, hosts Righetti (18-2-4), the Northern League champion. Esperanza (21-2-1) is led by striker Brent Bish and defender Luis Cabral.

Surprising El Dorado (11-6-4), which upset third-seeded La Serna on penalty kicks in the second round, plays host to Dominguez, the San Gabriel Valley League champion. El Dorado goalkeeper Neal Johnson set a school record for saves this season, with 233 in the regular season.

1-A boys:

The sole remaining county team, Orange Lutheran (18-3-3), plays at Fillmore (15-2-1).

3-A girls:

At least one county team and possibly as many as three will be in the semifinals.

Either Los Alamitos (20-1-4) or Foothill (12-8-2) will advance from its quarterfinal meeting at Foothill.

Top-seeded and undefeated Laguna Hills (21-0-4), led by goalkeeper Lynn Lambert and scoring leaders Erin McGinnis and Joanna Noble, is a good bet to advance. The Hawks play at Alemany (11-4-2).

Kennedy (18-3-3) plays Arcadia (13-5-0).

2-A girls:

Valencia (17-6-1), the only remaining county team, must wait to play its quarterfinal game. Valencia will meet the winner of Ontario Christian-Rim of the World, a match that has been postponed by weather conditions. The quarterfinal will be rescheduled after the second-round match is completed.