Boys’ Soccer: Five locals ready for CIF
Getting out of the first round of the CIF Southern Section boys’ soccer playoffs isn’t all Corona del Mar High Coach George Larsen is worried about on Friday.
Getting in the match at CdM might be a problem.
It might rain Thursday night, and with CdM being one of the few schools in the area to play on grass, the wet conditions might force the Sea Kings (13-3-5) to play Friday’s Division 2 first-round match with Capistrano Valley (11-8-4) elsewhere.
“I think the biggest thing will be the weather,” said Larsen, adding that the school might move the contest to Jim Scott Stadium at Estancia High or Mustangs Field at Costa Mesa High. “We feel pretty good. We’re pretty healthy right now. We feel like on our end that we’re ready to go. The boys are excited. They’re feeling good coming off a [Pacific Coast League] championship.”
The Sea Kings also expect midfielder Will O’Connor to be available to face Capistrano Valley, the third-place team from the Sea View League.
Larsen said the senior, who broke his wrist, got his hard cast taken off on Tuesday. He added that CdM would be without center back Andrew Pregoni, who is in Italy.
The Sea Kings are one of five local programs in the playoffs. The others are Edison, Estancia, Newport Harbor and Laguna Beach.
Laguna Beach is the area’s lone school playing in a wild-card match on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Breakers (6-9-4), who finished third in the Orange Coast League, are in Division 5 and at Temecula Valley (9-7-7), the third-place team from the Southwestern League.
Edison (18-4-1) is in Division 1, and it plays host to Downey Warren (9-9-5) on Friday at 5 p.m. The Chargers won the Sunset League title and Warren finished third in the San Gabriel Valley League.
Newport Harbor and Estancia are in Division 3.
Newport Harbor (6-10-4) travels to Long Beach Wilson (15-9-4) for Wednesday’s 3 p.m. contest. The Sailors, the third-place team from the Sunset League, made the playoffs after going winless in league last season.
Instead of playing on Friday, Newport Harbor has to face the runner-up finisher from the Moore League earlier because the forecast calls for rain.
“Wilson has [a] grass field,” Newport Harbor Coach Ali Khosroshahin said in a text message. “[We] couldn’t play Thursday as [the Wilson] girls play [at home in the first round]. We’re used to this type of thing happening.”
The Eagles (12-8-1) have a home date with Paso Robles (17-6-1) on Friday at 5 p.m. Estancia took second in the Orange Coast League, while Paso Robles came in third in the PAC-8 League.
“We’re pretty confident,” said Estancia Coach Robert Castellano, whose team has faced a robust schedule, playing six league champions, Godinez (Orange Coast), the top seed in Division 2, Santiago (Garden Grove), the top seed in Division 3, Sunny Hills (Freeway), Tesoro (Sea View), CdM (Pacific Coast) and Glendora (Palomares). “We’ve seen the best teams. I think we’re more than ready for the playoffs. There’s not going to be anything we’ve never seen before.”
Twitter: @ByDCP
