SOUTHERN SECTION SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS : Tonight’s Boys’ Games : Mission Viejo Will Meet Santa Barbara for 3-A Title

Mission Viejo High School is the only team of five seeded Orange County boys’ soccer teams to advance to the finals of the Southern Section playoffs.

The Diablos (22-1-3), the top-seeded team in the 3-A, meet unseeded Santa Barbara (21-1-6) in the 3-A championship at 8 tonight at Gahr High School in Cerritos.

The Diablos field a strong and unselfish offensive unit. Fifteen of the team’s 16 field players have scored at least once.

Midfielder Joe-Max Moore leads the way with 24 goals and 10 assists, followed by Andy Wortrich with 13 goals and 15 assists.

Whittier Christian, top-seeded in the Small Schools division; Brea-Olinda, top-seeded in the 2-A; Pacifica, third-seeded in the 2-A; and Santa Ana, third seeded in the 3-A, all have been eliminated.

Though the seeded teams have been upset, unseeded teams, such as Edison, have take up the slack. The Chargers, the No. 1 team from the Sunset League, advanced to the final in the 4-A.

In the 2-A, unseeded Esperanza (16-3-2), the top team from the Empire League, plays Central (21-1-1) for the championship tonight at Gahr at 6.

Second-year Coach Kino Oaxaca’s Aztecs are out to prove to the rest of the Empire League that they are a quality team.

Despite winning the Empire League, the Aztecs were overlooked by the league coaches when it came time to select the all-Empire League soccer squad. The coaches selected only one Aztec, Darin Martinez.