Girls’ Soccer Teams Prepare Title Defenses

Aliso Niguel, Santa Margarita, North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake and Pasadena Poly will get a chance to defend the Southern Section girls’ soccer titles they won last year as the top-seeded teams in Divisions I, III, IV and V, respectively.

Conspicuously absent from the playoffs, which begin with wild-card games Wednesday and first-round games on Saturday, is Mission Viejo, a co-champion in Division II with Ventura Buena last season. The Diablos struggled this season and missed the playoffs.

Aliso Niguel (16-3-3) faces the winner of a wild-card game between Corona Santiago and Santa Ana on Saturday.

Huntington Beach Edison (17-1-6), the top-seeded team in Division II, plays Baseline League at-large entry Chino Don Lugo on Saturday, while Anaheim Loara plays at Santa Margarita (15-1-4).

Harvard-Westlake (19-1-1) faces the winner of the Los Angeles Notre Dame Academy-South El Monte wild-card game, and Pasadena Poly (18-1-2) plays host to either North Hollywood Campbell Hall or Sierra Madre Maranatha.

Lauren Peterson