The CIF Southern Section released its playoff pairings for girls’ soccer last week and Temecula Valley, the area’s top-ranked girls’ soccer team, opened with a home match Saturday, Feb. 12, against Sunny Hills (17-6-2). The Lady Golden Bears (17-1-1) are the No. 2 seed in the Division 1 bracket. Santiago (18-1-3) is the No. 1 seed and opened the playoffs at home Saturday against Huntington Beach (14-6-3). The Sharks are seeking the program’s second Division 1 championship in three seasons.
Orange Vista (7-6-6) defeated Citrus Hill (5-12-3) to face Arrowhead Christian (17-1) in a first-round matchup after the wildcard round. The Lady Eagles finished strong to earn the No. 1 seed in the Division 5 girls playoff bracket. San Gorgonio (16-2-1) is the No. 2 seed and hosted Linfield Christian (11-6-1) in the first round. The Lady Lions beat Firebaugh 5-0 in the wildcard round to get there. Unfortunately, that is where Linfield would end their run, in the first round after losing a 1-1 tie to penalty kicks, 4-3.
In a crazy turn of events, two Southwestern League teams went to overtime penalty kicks to finalize their first-round games as well. Murrieta Valley tied Oak Hills 1-1 but lost 5-4 on PKs. Murrieta Mesa, who went into the playoffs as an at-large bid, beat No. 1 seeded San Dimas 4-3 in overtime kicks after a 3-3 tie.
Hemet (11-6-5) is the No. 3 seed in Division 5 and opened at home in the first round against Glendale (7-5-2), who they beat 3-0. North is the No. 4 seed in the division and hosted Oxford Academy (7-10) in Saturday’s opening round. Oxford Academy beat Elsinore 3-0 in the wildcard round to get to that game. Hemet will now face Katella in the second round. Katella beat Jurupa Valley 3-2 in the opening round.
Here are the CIF-SS girls soccer playoff pairings that include matchups for the wildcard matches as well as Saturday’s first-round games.
CIF-SS GIRLS SOCCER PLAYOFFS
(All games 3 p.m. or 5 p.m.)
DIVISION 1 – First round, Saturday, Feb. 12
Sunny Hills – 1, Temecula Valley – 8
Second round, Wednesday, Feb. 16
Temecula Valley – 4, Mira Costa – 1
DIVISION 2 – First round, Saturday, Feb. 12
Eastvale Roosevelt – 0, Vista Murrieta – 1
Second round, Wednesday, Feb. 16
Westlake – 3, Vista Murrieta – 2
DIVISION 3 – First round, Saturday, Feb. 12
Murrieta Valley – 1, Oak Hills – 1
*Oak Hills won on penalty kicks, 5-4
Murrieta Mesa – 3 San Dimas – 3
*Murrieta Mesa won on penalty kicks, 4-3
Second round, Wednesday, Feb. 16
El Segundo – 1, Murrieta Mesa – 0
DIVISION 4 – First round, Saturday, Feb. 12
No Local Teams
DIVISION 5 – Wildcard matches, Thursday, Feb. 10
Linfield Christian – 5, Firebaugh – 0
First round, Saturday, Feb. 12
Glendale – 0, Hemet – 3
Walnut – 1, Tahquitz – 0
Heritage – 0, Archer – 4
Linfield – 1, San Gorgonio – 1
*San Gorgonio won on penalty kicks, 4-3
Second round, Wednesday, Feb. 16
Hemet – 3, Katella – 0
DIVISION 6 – Wildcard matches, Thursday, Feb. 10
Citrus Hill – 2, Orange Vista – 4
Oxford Academy – 3, Elsinore – 0
Ontario – 1, San Jacinto – 0
First round, Saturday, Feb. 12
Orange Vista – 1, Arrowhead Christian – 4
DIVISION 7 – First round, Saturday, Feb. 12
Le Lycee – 0, Santa Rosa Academy – 7
California Military – 10, Academy of Careers & Exploration – 0
Second round, Wednesday, Feb. 16
Santa Rosa Academy – 1, Bishop Conaty-Loretto – 1
*Santa Rosa Academy won on penalty kicks, 4-2
Upcoming schedule:
Quarterfinals, Feb. 19
Semifinals, Feb. 23
Championships, Feb. 26.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
