Sea Kings awarded top seed

The Corona del Mar High boys’ soccer team enters the CIF Southern Section playoffs hot, healthy and heralded.

The Sea Kings (19-1-1), ranked No. 16 nationally by ESPN RISE, are the No. 1 seed in Division IV and will play host to either Wilson of Hacienda Heights or Centennial of Compton in Thursday’s first round.

Orange Coast League champion Estancia (13-8-3) also has a Division IV home contest Thursday against the winner of today’s wild-card game between Hoover of Glendale and Malibu.

Sage Hill (11-5-3) rounds out the Newport-Mesa contingent in the boys’ brackets. The Lightning visit Cornerstone Christian of Wildomar in a Division VII first-round clash Thursday.

Estancia, CdM and Sage are also the local representatives in the girls’ playoffs, for which pairings were announced Monday.

The Eagles (10-7-5) visit Flintridge Prep on Friday in Division III.

CdM (12-8-4) received a gift home game, when it takes on Montclair on Friday. Montclair, champion of the Mt. Baldy League, is the designated host, but forfeited its home game as a penalty for using balls not endorsed by the Southern Section.

Sage Hill (18-8-2) is on the road Friday against Viewpoint of Calabasas.

All matches are scheduled for 3 p.m.

Coach George Larsen’s CdM boys are on a significant roll, having won seven straight. During that stretch, they outscored opponents, 22-1, enabling them to tie University for the Pacific Coast League title. CdM’s only loss was a 1-0 setback to University on Jan. 15.

In that game, as well as the Sea Kings’ scoreless tie against league foe Laguna Hills on Jan. 8, CdM was without senior UCLA-bound forward Reed Williams (hamstring injury). Williams has 27 goals and nine assists this season, for a total of 63 points (two points for a goal and one for an assist). Williams had three goals and three assists in the regular-season finale Wednesday, an 8-0 romp over Beckman.

CdM’s second-leading scorer is junior Brian Ford, who has eight goals and four assists.

The Estancia boys, who claimed the program’s fourth straight league crown, are paced by senior midfielder J.J. Rodriguez (eight goals and five assists) and senior forward Ricky Gomez (six goals and nine assists).

The Sage Hill boys finished third in the Academy League. They posted a 23-3 scoring advantage in their last five wins.

Junior Taylor Ross has 16 goals, which matches a school-single-season record shared by his older brother Braden.

The Estancia girls finished second in the Orange Coast League behind Calvary Chapel, while the Sage girls tied for second in the Academy League. The Lightning, however, are the No. 3 representative from the league.

The boys’ second round is scheduled Tuesday, with the quarterfinals on Thursday.

The girls play second-round matches Wednesday and their quarterfinals are Friday.