Local teams flood CIF-Southern Section Division 2 soccer playoff fields
The CIF-Southern Section Division 2 girls soccer playoffs are loaded with local teams.
The field includes five area teams, including three of the top four seeds.
“Division 2 is tough,” Oxnard head coach Andrew Aquailar said. “It’s deep with a lot of really good programs that have been around. But I think some teams will make a run. We’ll see which ones.”
Marmonte League champion Westlake earned the No. 1 seed. The Warriors (13-1-1) will host Santa Monica in the first round Saturday.
Third-seeded Oaks Christian (14-1-4) will host Royal (6-6-2) on Saturday in an all-local first-round matchup.
Pacific View League champion Oxnard (14-2-4), the fourth seed, will host South Torrance in Saturday's first round. The Yellowjackets won the CIF-SS Division 5 title in 2016 and the CIF-State SoCal Division III regional championship in 2020.
“Everybody’s got playoff experience, it seems like, and you need that in these big games,” Aquailar said. “But we do too, so I think we’ve got a good chance.”
Oak Park (7-5-3) will also visit Newhall-Hart in another Division 2 matchup Saturday.
Coastal Canyon League champion Moorpark High (11-5-1) will host Garden Grove-Pacifica Saturday in the Division 1 first round Saturday.
In Division 3 first-round matches Saturday, Newbury Park (4-4-4) will visit No. 1 seed West Torrance, Thousand Oaks (10-7-1) will travel to unbeaten Lancaster-Quartz Hill, and Pacifica (8-8-4) is on the road at Sherman Oaks-Notre Dame.
Santa Paula (14-4-2) has won postseason games the past three seasons, including a sectional semifinal run in 2020. The Citrus Coast League champion Cardinals will host Lompoc-Cabrillo in the Division 4 first round Saturday. Ventura (11-6-2) travels to Beverly Hills in another Division 4 opener.
Tri-Valley League champion Grace Brethren is the No. 3 seed in Division 6.
The Lancers (9-2-2) will host the winner of Thursday’s wild-card matchup between Fillmore (7-5-4) and El Segundo-Vistamar on Saturday.
Foothill Tech (5-5-3) will host Nordhoff (5-8-2) on Thursday in another Division 6 wild-card match.
Santa Clara (10-2-1) will visit second-seeded Los Angeles-Milken Community in the first round on Friday at 3 p.m.
Frontier League champion Thacher is the No. 1 seed in the Division 7 playoffs. The high-scoring Toads (10-1-1) have outscored opponents 84-8. They will host La Puente in Saturday's first round.
La Reina (5-5-1) will visit No. 3 seed Los Angeles-Geffen Academy.
Boys
Moorpark High (16-1) is the No. 1 seed in the CIF-SS Division 2 boys soccer playoffs.
“It means a lot,” Moorpark head coach Manny Galvez said. “It’s a culmination of almost two years of hard work. … It’s kind of well deserved for these guys.”
Despite a first-round bye, the Coastal Canyon League champion will not be kicking its feet up and resting this week. Last year 3-0 loss at Valencia still stings the Musketeers.
“They gained some valuable experience going to play an away game with different conditions against a different type of team,” Galvez said. “I think they know the importance of each moment and how a game can turn around. As long as we play our game and stay focused, we should be OK.”
Moorpark will play the winner of Friday's first-round match between La Mirada or Paramount in the second round next Tuesday.
Division 2 is packed with six local teams, including three of the four Pacific View League teams which made the field.
Pacific View League co-champion Channel Islands (9-4-7) will host Dos Pueblos, Oxnard (8-5-7) will visit Newhall-Hart, and Pacifica (11-6-6) plays at Costa Mesa-Estancia in Friday’s first round. Calabasas (8-4-3) will host Camarillo (12-9-2) in an all-local first-round matchup.
In Division 3, unbeaten Marmonte League champion Agoura (12-0-5) will host Baldwin Park, Pacific View League co-champion Buena (10-8-5) will host Valencia, Oak Park (12-3-2) will host Alemany, and Thousand Oaks (8-7-4) will travel to Palmdale on Friday.
Newbury Park (11-6-2) will host Fillmore (8-10-2) on Wednesday in an all-local wild card matchup in Division 4.
Citrus Coast League champion Hueneme (13-4-1) will host Claremont and Santa Paula (10-11-2) will visit Alta Loma in Friday’s Division 4 first round.
Frontier League champion St. Bonaventure (6-3-2) will host either Pioneer or Sierra Canyon in the Division 6 first round on Friday.
Ojai Valley School (9-1-1) is the No. 2 seed in Division 7 boys soccer playoffs.
The Omega League champion will host the California Academy of Math and Science in the first round Friday.
Newbury Park Adventist Academy (5-2) will host Yeshiva University of Los Angeles and Grace Brethren (6-4-1) will host Sun Valley-Village Christian in the Division 7 first round.
Joe Curley is a staff reporter for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. Follow him @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Local teams flood CIF-Southern Section Division 2 soccer playoffs
