Saddleback Looks for Soccer Repeat

Santa Ana Saddleback, Santa Maria and Fillmore each won Southern Section titles in 2005 and are seeded among the top teams in their divisions for the upcoming boys’ soccer playoffs, while five girls’ defending champions are also among the top-seeded teams.

Top-seeded Saddleback (25-1-1), which won the Southern Section Division III title last year, opens the playoffs with a first-round game Friday against the winner of a Wednesday wild-card featuring Lakewood and Lakewood Mayfair.

The Roadrunners, with 17 shutouts, are riding a 12-game winning streak since a 2-1 loss to Santa Margarita in the semifinals of the West Coast Classic in December. The only other blemish for Saddleback, ranked No. 6 nationally by Student Sports magazine, is a 1-1 nonleague tie with Anaheim Katella.

Saddleback has rolled along despite the absences of senior forward Nixon Valle and senior attacking midfielder Danny Luna.

Valle sat out the last three weeks because of a broken left shoulder, but he may return in time for the quarterfinals if the Roadrunners make it that far. Luna sat out most of the season because of a torn anterior-cruciate ligament in his left knee but was cleared to play this week.

In the girls’ playoffs, defending Division I champion Los Alamitos (16-5-3), the second-place team in the Sunset League behind top-seeded Anaheim Esperanza (19-5-1), is seeded third and faces Mission League runner-up Flintridge Sacred Heart (16-4-4) in a first-round game Saturday. The Griffins are led by senior forward Bo Medina.

Defending Division II champion Ventura Buena is seeded fourth, while 2005 Division III co-champion Walnut is top-seeded and will be aiming for a fourth consecutive title. Palos Verdes Peninsula Chadwick, the defending Division IV champion, also is top-seeded and will face the winner of a wild-card game between Oxnard Rio Mesa and Lompoc. Westlake Village Oaks Christian, a Division V co-champion the last three seasons, is seeded third.

Lauren Peterson

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Girls’ Water Polo

Newport Harbor, which defeated Sea View League rival Santa Ana Foothill twice this season, was seeded No. 1 in the Division I playoffs when the Southern Section pairings were announced Monday.

The Sailors (23-4) beat second-seeded Foothill, 5-3, to win the Santa Barbara tournament title and again, 8-7, in overtime in Sea View League play. The Knights (21-3) won the most recent match between the teams, 5-3, in a semifinal of the Irvine/Southern California Championships, which they went on to win for the fourth time in the last six years.

Foothill has won five section titles in the last six years, including last year, when the Knights beat Newport Harbor, 8-4.

Other top-seeded teams are Corona del Mar (21-3) in Division II, Whittier (24-3) in Division III, Agoura (23-5) in Division IV, Riverside Arlington (21-5) in Division V and Downey (26-3) in Division VI.