Lack of At-Large Berths Sinks Huntington Beach

There were plenty of unhappy county coaches Monday afternoon when the Southern Section released the boys’ soccer playoff draw. But probably no one feels worse than Huntington Beach Coach Kevin Smith, whose team finished 15-4-2, good enough for fourth in the county poll, but not good enough for an at-large berth.

The Oilers’ problem was that they suffered all their losses in the Sunset League, which left them in fourth place, a point behind Esperanza. As late as two weeks ago, Huntington Beach was ranked 25th by the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America. But no at-large berths in Division II, or any other division for that matter, left the Oilers out in the cold.

“It’s regrettable, but we’ve got bylaws we need to follow,” said Thom Simmons, a section spokesman.

Said Mater Dei Coach Martin Stringer, whose team lost to Huntington Beach, 3-1 in the Marina holiday tournament final: “I’m very, very surprised they didn’t get in.”

Stringer was pleasantly surprised to see his team seeded fourth in Division II behind top-seeded Riverside Poly, El Dorado and Ventura. The Monarchs (23-5-1), who host Los Amigos (14-6-3) in the first round, lost to top-seeded Corona Centennial, 1-0, early in the season.

“We were fourth when we won it in 1994,” Stringer said. “Maybe that’s an omen.”

Fountain Valley Coach Jason Smith and Irvine Coach Rich Breza were hoping for better omens than ones they received Monday from the Southern Section. Second-ranked Fountain Valley (16-2-3) won the county’s strongest league--the Sunset. Eighth-ranked Irvine (11-2-4) won the Sea View League title. For their trouble, they could meet in the second round.

“That’s ridiculous,” Breza said. “We’re the two best county teams in Division I, we’ve got four losses between us, and we’re going to play in the second round. That makes no sense.”

The possible meeting could also feature a matchup of UCLA signees Cliff McKinley of Fountain Valley and Matt Taylor of Irvine, who have combined for 60 goals.

“How huge is that game going to be, McKinley and Taylor doing battle?,” Smith said. “But you don’t want to see that in the second round, at least the quarters.”

Smith said he doesn’t understand why his team was seeded fourth after being ranked third in the section poll last week.

“How’d that happen?” Smith said. “I guess you get penalized for being in a tough league.”

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

All games at 3:15 p.m.

WILD-CARD ROUND

Wednesday

Division I--Esperanza at Montebello; Saddleback at El Toro; Dana Hills at Century; Santa Ana Valley at Westminster. Division II--Anaheim at Newport Harbor. Division III--Buena Park at Pacifica. Division V--Capistrano Valley Christian at L.A. Brentwood.

FIRST ROUND

Friday

Division I--Esperanza-Montebello winner at Chino; Oxnard-Arroyo Grande winner at Santa Ana; Long Beach Wilson--Downey winner at Irvine; Hawthorne-Oxnard Channel Islands winner at Fountain Valley; El Toro-Saddleback winner at Long Beach Millikan; Century-Dana Hills winner at Paramount; Westminster-Santa Ana Valley winner at Santa Monica.

Division II--Los Amigos at Mater Dei; Woodbridge at Mission Viejo; Corona at Edison; Kennedy at Pomona Garey; Newport Harbor-Anaheim winner at El Dorado.

Division III--Pacifica-Buena Park winner at Santa Margarita; Pasadena Muir at Fullerton; El Centro Southwest at Foothill; La Puente at Brea Olinda; La Puente Bishop Amat at Santiago; Sonora at Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon; Valencia at Canyon.

Division IV--Calvary Chapel at Torrance Bishop Montgomery; Pomona Diamond Ranch at Corona del Mar; Laguna Beach at Cerritos Valley Christian; South El Monte at Orange Lutheran; Covina Northview-Pomona winner at Estancia.

Division V--Ontario Christian at St. Margaret’s; Brentwood-Capistrano Valley Christian winner at L.A. Milken Community.