Saddleback Soccer Faces Interesting Scenario

As Saddleback boys’ soccer Coach Mel Silva drove to the Southern Section seeding meeting Monday morning, he thought he considered all possible scenarios for the county’s top-ranked team. One that didn’t cross his mind was facing Long Beach Poly (14-4-4) or Los Alamitos (14-9-2) in Friday’s first round and possibly ninth-ranked Fountain Valley (16-6-1) in the second round. If the top-seeded Roadrunners reach the quarterfinals, they would probably play Peninsula (22-3-2)--third in section polls last week--or eighth-ranked Esperanza.

Fountain Valley has been to the Division I finals two of the last three years and Esperanza won a co-championship in 1996.

“I never thought it would be bang, bang, bang,” Silva said. “It’s a funny thing. I wish I was on the committee to see what the rationale was.”

Of course, most of Silva’s dismay stems from the section’s regionalized playoff format, which strives to pair teams by location.

“If they’re going to do that, why seed people?” Silva said. “Most of the really tough teams come from the county. It defeats the purpose. But I told the kids, ‘If you want to be champions, it doesn’t matter where you are. Keep playing the way you’re playing and we’ll get through.’ ”

Second-seeded Capistrano Valley (23-3-2) seemed to get the better draw. The Cougars open Friday with either Bell Gardens (14-2-4) or La Puente Nogales (16-4-3) and wouldn’t play a ranked team until the quarterfinals, where they could meet No. 7 La Verne Damien (14-4-7).

San Clemente and Woodbridge are the second- and fourth-seeded teams in Division II. Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills are seeded first and second in Division III and Servite is fourth. Laguna Beach is seeded second in Division IV and Orange Lutheran is the top-seeded team in Division V.