Southern Section Division 1 soccer quarterfinals are filled with top matchups

The Southern Section boys’ soccer playoffs resume Tuesday with quarterfinal matches, and with No. 1-seeded San Clemente eliminated from the Division 1 playoffs, there are a lot of scenarios of which team might come out on top.

No. 2-seeded Loyola travels to face Santa Ana, one of only two teams to have beaten the Cubs this season. Michael Maloney has 20 goals for the Cubs, who have been impressive in their playoff victories.

Another intriguing matchup has Cathedral facing Santa Barbara at San Marcos. It’s a rematch of the Division 1 championship game from two years ago won by Santa Barbara on penalty kicks. Yes, Cathedral has been practicing its penalty kicks in recent weeks.

“This is a championship-caliber game,” Cathedral coach Arturo Lopez said. “I think whoever wins has to be as close to perfect as possible.”

Servite faces the surprise team of the playoffs, Irvine University, which beat San Clemente. The other quarterfinal has JSerra at Mission Viejo.

In girls’ soccer Wednesday, No. 1-seeded Upland faces a surging Harvard-Westlake in the Division 1 quarterfinals. But the Wolverines will be without the No. 1 freshman player in the Southland, Alyssa Thompson, who left for a training camp with the Under-17 Women’s National Team in Florida.