Rain Sending Marmonte to the Postseason

Marmonte League coaches have voted to cancel the second half of the boys’ and girls’ soccer season and play a postseason tournament to help determine which teams will advance to the Southern Section playoffs.

This month’s rains and the resulting field conditions at almost all Marmonte schools had left some teams as many as nine games behind in league play entering Friday’s contests. Make-up games, some of which have been rescheduled several times, had begun to conflict with second-round league games.

Many coaches and administrators doubted that each team could complete a 14-game league schedule by the Southern Section deadline of Feb. 11. The coaches voted 14-2 in favor of ending the Marmonte League’s regular season on Wednesday, when first-round play is scheduled to be completed.

As part of the make-up schedule, 10 boys’ and girls’ teams from six schools will meet at Simi Valley High today, highlighted by the Royal-Simi Valley boys’ match at 1 p.m. that will decide the league championship.

In all, seven matches will be played. The Newbury Park and Westlake boys’ and girls’ teams will play two matches.

Complicating the event for many teams is Saturday morning’s Scholastic Assessment Test, which will cause some players to miss games and which contributed to Channel Islands’ decision not to play.

After the conclusion of the league’s regular schedule, a postseason tournament will begin on Friday with subsequent games scheduled for Feb. 6, 8 and 10. All league teams will compete, but the regular-season champions already are assured first-place berths in the Southern Section playoffs, which begin Feb. 17 for the boys and Feb. 22 for the girls.

The tournament will determine second- and third-place representatives.