Effects of Regionalization Still Felt in Orange County

Southern Section officials claim that regionalization in the playoffs is over, however looking at the Southern Section Division I bracket there are some coaches who beg to differ.

There are eight county teams in the Division I bracket, four of those teams have wild-card games, all against one another, thereby immediately eliminating two county teams. The winners of those two games will meet county teams, meaning two more teams will be eliminated, including at least one county top-10 team. Four county teams will remain after the first round.

“Regionalization ended two or three years ago,” said Karen Hellyer, Southern Section Assistant Commissioner. “But we still are supposed to keep the teams in close proximity for the first few rounds since they will have to travel greater distances in the final rounds.”

Fourth-seeded Aliso Niguel (15-1-3) has what several county coaches confirm is the worst first-round draw. The third-ranked Wolverines will most likely host face No. 7 Marina on Saturday. The Vikings (17-7-3), the second-place team in the Sunset League, have a wild-card game against Westminster on Wednesday, a game they should win.

Aliso Niguel’s only loss this season is to Huntington Beach; Marina beat the Oilers twice. To make matters worse for the Sea View League champions, they will have to play without Coach Randy Dodge, who received a red card in the team’s final game, and may also be without leading scorer Stacy Lindstrom (13 goals, eight assists) and Kim Devine (six goals, seven assists), who will be in Arizona at the Olympic Development Championships.

“They might fly home for the game,” Dodge said. “But we were missing them when we beat Capistrano Valley, so we’ll be fine. We may be missing me and some players, but we’re a seasoned team and they’ll be jacked and primed to play.”

In Division II: Santa Margarita (17-3) received the second seeding and Sunny Hills (21-4-2) is in the fourth spot. Pacifica (20-1-3) took the top-seed in Division III, Corona del Mar is second in Division IV, and Brethren Christian is fourth in Division V.

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

WILD-CARD ROUND

Wednesday

All games at 3 p.m.

Division I--Irvine at Santa Ana, Westminster at Marina; Division II--Loara at Mission Viejo; Division III--Magnolia at Canyon, Santiago at West Covina South Hills, Palm Desert at Valencia, La Puente at Garden Grove, Elsinore at Sonora.

FIRST ROUND

Saturday

All games 3 p.m.

Division I--Irvine/Santa Ana winner at Capistrano Valley, Marina/Westminster winner at Aliso Niguel, San Clemente at Alhambra, Lakewood/Diamond Bar winner at Esperanza. Division II--Foothill at Woodbridge, Jurupa Valley at El Dorado, Mission Viejo/Loara winner at La Mirada, Troy at Cypress, Edison at Whittier La Serna, University at Santa Margarita. Division III--Canyon/Magnolia winner at Pacifica, Whittier/Los Altos winner at Brea Olinda, Placentia/Palm Desert winner at Ocean View, Garden Grove/La Puente winner at El Modena, Sonora Elsinore winner at Glendora St. Lucy’s. Division IV--Cerritos Valley Christian at Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa at Torrance Bishop Montgomery, Orange Lutheran at Corona del Mar. Division V--Linfield at St. Margaret’s, Brethren Christian (BYE), Capistrano Valley Christian at Aquinas.