Mission Viejo, Mater Dei Top Soccer Playoff Pairings

Mission Viejo High School’s girls team and Mater Dei’s boys team are the leading Orange County entrants in the Southern Section soccer playoffs, which begin this week.

Mission Viejo (22-0-2), the defending 4-A girls’ champion, is the top-seeded team in the pairings announced Monday at the Southern Section office in Artesia. The Diablos are led by junior midfielder Julie Foudy, the 1987 Southern Section player of the year, sweeper Rae Hubocan and fullback Sheri Bertell.

Mission Viejo, which has not lost in 65 games, will play host to Palos Verdes (11-11-1), the No. 3 Bay League representative, in a first-round game at 3 p.m. Friday.

Mater Dei (23-1-2), the top-seeded team in the boys’ 4-A division, will play host to Rolling Hills (18-6-1), the No. 3 Bay League representative, in a first-round game at 3 p.m. Thursday.

The Monarchs, 1987 co-champions with West Torrance, are led by senior forward Paul Oldham, who leads the team with 37 goals this season, and senior defender Chris Mastropaolo, the 1987 4-A defensive player of the year.

In the girls’ 3-A division, Esperanza (19-1-2) is the second-seeded team behind Simi Valley (21-2-1). Esperanza will play host to the winner of today’s 3 p.m. wild-card match between Sonora (8-3-1) and Pacifica (8-5-1) in a first-round match at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Last season, the Aztecs finished third in the Empire League and lost in the first round. Esperanza Coach John Coppage took over the girls’ program last May after leading the Esperanza boys to a 3-A championship in 1986 and to the final match in 1987.

Laguna Hills (16-5-1) is the fourth-seeded team in the girls’ 3-A and will play host to Rosary (7-2-3), the No. 2 Freeway League representative, at 3 p.m. Thursday.

In the boys’ 3-A, Mission Viejo (15-4-4) is seeded fourth. Mission Viejo will play host to Chino (11-10-2), the No. 3 representative from the Hacienda League, at 3 p.m. Friday.

In the boys’ 2-A, Kennedy (14-3-3) and Laguna Beach (17-4-2) are the top Orange County entrants. Kennedy, the second-seeded team, will play host to the winner of Wednesday’s wild-card match between Brea-Olinda (8-5-7) and Glenn (7-10-2) at 3 p.m. Friday.

Laguna Beach, the fourth-seeded team, will play host to Norwalk (5-10-1), the No. 2 representative from the Suburban League, at 3 p.m. Friday.

In the boys’ 1-A, Whittier Christian (16-2-4) is the third-seeded team. The Heralds will play host to Canyon Springs (10-3-7), the No. 3 representative from the Sunkist League, at 3 p.m. Friday.