Today’s Games : Palos Verdes Overshadows Rest of Boys’ 4-A Field

Palos Verdes High School is the undisputed Goliath in the sparse field of 4-A boys’ soccer teams that begin Southern Section playoffs today.

Four Orange County entries are among the 15 teams that will be hoping to upset top-seeded Palos Verdes (29-0).

“They play at an incredible speed,” Ocean View Coach Paul Kollar said of Palos Verdes. “It is lightning fast. They have exceptional athletes. Average athletes can’t keep up with them.”

Kollar is happy his team is in the bottom half of the bracket while Palos Verdes is in the top half. But he is unhappy the Sea Hawks (14-7-4) drew the tournament’s second-seeded team and must make a 2-hour drive. Ocean View, the third-place team in the Sunset League, plays at Simi Valley (22-3-1).

The Sunset League’s second-place team, Marina (15-6-4), is in almost the same predicament, playing at fourth-seeded Newbury Park (18-3-1) in Ventura County.

“If you look at the pairings, both us and Marina, possibly the southern-most teams, are playing (teams in) the northern-most league, the Marmonte League,” Kollar said.

“I don’t want it to sound like sour grapes, because we could have drawn Palos Verdes, and it would have been an hour instead of 2 hours, but you mean to tell me they couldn’t have paired them up a little better?”

Marina can play with the best the bracket has to offer. The Vikings tied Newbury Park, 0-0, in the South Torrance tournament this season and lost, 1-0, to second-seeded Simi Valley.

Edison, the Sunset League’s top team, gets the home-field advantage in a first-round match against Rolling Hills (11-6-5), the Bay League’s third-place team.

The good news for Angelus League champion Mater Dei (11-8) is it has a home match against Claremont (15-5-5). The bad news is a victory would match the Monarchs against Palos Verdes, assuming Westlake, a wild-card winner Wednesday, loses to Palos Verdes in the first round.

“Palos Verdes, when we see them, will be 30-0,” Mater Dei Coach John O’Neil said. “If we get past the first two opponents, it’s going to be fun.”

Servite, the only other county participant in 4-A playoffs, lost its wild-card game, 3-2, to Upland Wednesday.

Orange County schools are well-represented in the Southern Section 2-A playoffs. Thirteen of the 29 teams in the main draw, including top-seeded Brea-Olinda and third-seeded Pacifica, are from the county.

Brea Coach Manny Toledo always fields strong squads. The Wildcats were 2-A champions in 1986 and finalists in ’87. Last season, as a wild-card entry, Brea advanced to the quarterfinals.

This season’s squad might be Toledo’s best. Brea (14-3-1) clinched its fifth Orange League title in six years and went through league play undefeated and untied for the first time.

“Offensively I have to say this is probably the most explosive team I have had since I have been at Brea the past eight years,” Toledo said.

Though the Wildcats weren’t tested in league play (they outscored opponents, 34-6), Toledo said his team played a tough nonleague schedule and is peaking at the right time.

Brea beat teams by a goal or two in the first round of league play, but in the second round the Wildcats outscored every opponent by at least three or four goals, Toledo said.

Brea has a first-round bye and plays the winner of today’s game between La Quinta (10-7-3) and Ganesha (12-7-3).

Brea is led by the Ochs brothers, Jaysn (18 goals) and J.R. (11 goals). Goalie Jeff Bettencourt has eight shutouts this season, two away from the school record.

Pacifica (13-1-2) also drew a bye and takes on the winner of the Righetti (14-8)-Montebello (15-4-2) match. Eight county teams are paired against each other, so at least six (including Brea and Pacifica) will be in the second round of 16. Esperanza (12-3-2) has the best record of the rest, followed by Trabuco Hills (10-2-5) and Anaheim (11-4-3). El Dorado, Kennedy, Los Alamitos, Valencia, Woodbridge, Katella, Laguna Hills and La Quinta are the other county entries.

Whittier Christian (15-3-3) is the top-seeded team in the small schools division, and is the only team in the 31-team draw with a first-round bye. The Heralds will play the winner of today’s match between Webb (3-0-3) and Temecula Valley (12-9-1).

In the girls’ 3-A division, No. 2 Mater Dei (12-4-2) will play host to Trabuco Hills (10-8-1) today. Mater Dei, an excellent midfield-control and defensive team, is led by goalkeeper Michelle Lodyga and midfielder Tina Manfre.

Top-seeded Agoura (19-0) has a first-round bye.

Other 3-A matches involving county teams are: Foothill (6-7-2) at No. 3 Moreno Valley (14-2-1), San Gorgonio (15-4-4) at No. 5 La Habra (12-3-4), Redlands (14-8-4) at No. 6 Canyon (15-2-3), Fullerton (8-5-6) at No. 7 Orange (10-1-2), Sunny Hills (9-7-2) at No. 8 Pacifica (10-2-1), Rosary (8-5-2) at No. 9 Troy (10-2-2), Bishop Montgomery (9-9-2) at La Quinta (12-1-4), Kennedy (10-9-1) at Woodbridge (11-9-1) and Long Beach Poly (9-5-4) at El Modena (7-7-2).

Times staff writer Barbie Ludovise contributed to this story.