Mater Dei Soccer Team Forfeits 19 Games, Removed From Playoffs

The Mater Dei High School boys’ soccer team has been removed from the Southern Section 4-A playoffs after forfeiting 19 games because of an ineligible player, school officials announced Thursday.

The Monarchs, who finished second to Santa Margarita in the Angelus League, were scheduled to play Alta Loma today in a first-round game at Mater Dei. Bishop Amat, which was the league’s fourth-place team, will replace Mater Dei and play at Alta Loma at 3 p.m. today.

Mater Dei, which was 16-5-3 and 5-2-3 in league before the forfeits, finishes 0-24 and 0-10. Bishop Amat, which tied the Monarchs twice, is 10-7-5 and 5-4-1.

Bishop Amat Coach Bill Mulvehill said he was informed that his team was in the playoffs Thursday at approximately 2:30 p.m.

“We’re just going out to practice right now,” Mulvehill said Thursday evening. “We had turned in all the equipment and had just about closed up shop for the season. This is a nice surprise.”

Although the Lancers are technically the league’s third-place team, they will go into the playoffs as the No. 2 representative. St. John Bosco, which finished third behind Mater Dei, was eliminated by Don Lugo in a wild-card game Tuesday.

Mater Dei officials discovered the ineligible player during a routine eligibility check Wednesday. A release from school officials said a clerical error was discovered, which showed that a Monarch player should not have been allowed to play all season.