The face of soccer is rapidly changing in San Diego County. For the first time in history the region will be represented by Major League Soccer and National Women’s Soccer League professional franchises.
The San Diego Wave FC returns for their fourth season in the NWSL. The Wave wowed the soccer world with huge crowds during its inaugural season in 2022 in reaching the championship semifinals following a third-place finish in the regular season standings at 10-6-6.
The team, which lost 2-1 to Portland to end its star-studded season, reaped a lion’s share of post-season awards: Alex Morgan (Golden Boot), Kallen Sheridan (Goalkeeper of the Year), Casey Stoney (Coach of the Year) and Naomi Grima (Defender of the Year/Rookie of the Year).
The team received a warm welcome from fans by averaging, 8,729 per home match with a largest single-game home attendance of 32,000.
Large crowds greeted the team in its second season in 2023 as the team captured the regular season NWSL Shield with a 11-7-4 record and once again reached the NWSL semifinals.
The Wave averaged 20,681 fans in its first full season at Snapdragon Stadium, drawing a single-game season high of 30,854. The team lost 1-0 to the OL Reign in the semifinals in front of 32,262 fans.
Last season was not as successful as the Wave failed to qualify for the playoffs with a 6-13-7 record in 10th place out of 12 teams.
However, the Wave led the NWSL for the second consecutive season in average attendance at 19,575 per game. The figure was good for a prestigious No. 2 global ranking.
The Wave’s 2025 schedule kicks off March 16 at Angel City with its home opener at Snapdragon Stadium scheduled March 22 against the Utah Royals.
Regular season play extends through Nov. 2.
San Diego FC will make its history-making debut as the 30th MLS franchise on Feb. 23 when it kicks off league play against the LA Galaxy at Dignity health Sports Park at 4 p.m. SDFC’s first MLS home match is March 1 against St. Louis CITY SC at Snapdragon Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
It will be the first of three home matches at Snapdragon Stadium in March to help kick off the team’s inaugural season. SDFC will host the Columbus Crew on March 15 at 7:30 p.m. and LAFC on March 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Road matches include March 8 at Real Salt Lake and March 23 at Austin FC.
The MLS regular season extends through October, culminating with playoffs that can stretch into December. The Galaxy is the defending MLS Cup champion.
SDFC will host Club Tijuana in a friendly on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. at Snapdragon Stadium.
Prep parade
Youth teams will now have something tangible to strive for with professional teams in place in both gender fields as viable role models.
Many of the stars of tomorrow, in fact, will be on display as the San Diego Section boys and girls soccer playoffs kick off mid-month.
Postseason competition will embrace seven divisions, including the elite eight-team Open Division that will change format this season to include home and away matches against the same opponent in a revised bracket format.
The opening leg will pit the No. 1 seed at the No. 8 seed. There will be no overtime or kicks-from-the-mark tiebreaker. However, a tiebreaker will be used, if needed, in the return leg when the No. 8 seed visits the No. 1 seed. Advancement will be based on aggregate scoring.
Division I qualifiers will include 12 teams while 16 teams will qualify in each of the Division II through Division IV brackets. Division V and Division V-AA will include 12 teams each both boys and eight teams each for girls.
First-round play in the Open Division kicks Feb. 18-19 with first-round opening matches and continues Feb. 20-21 with opening round return legs. Semifinal-round matches in both gender fields are scheduled Feb. 26.
Open Division championship games are slated for March 1 at a site to be determined.
The Division I playoffs kicks off Feb. 18 (girls) and Feb. 19 (boys), followed by quarterfinals Feb. 20-21 and semifinals on Feb. 26. Both gender finals are scheduled March 1 at TBD.
The Division II and Division III playoffs kick off Feb. 18-19, followed by quarterfinals Feb. 20-21 and semifinals on Feb. 26. The Division II finals are scheduled March 1 at TBD while the Division III finals are scheduled Feb. 28 at Monte Vista High School.
The Division IV, Division V and Division V-AA playoffs kick off Feb. 18, followed by quarterfinals on Feb. 20 and semifinals on Feb. 25. All three division finals are scheduled Feb. 27: Division IV at Bonita Vista High School, the Division V final at Orange Glen High School and the Division V-AA final at Patrick Henry High School.
Pairings will be posted by 1 p.m. on the section website at www.cifsds.org.
Power rankings
Boys teams to watch:
Hilltop (7-5-4) is ranked eighth among Division I teams while Bonita Vista (6-5-2) is ranked 14th, Southwest (7-4-8) is ranked 16th and Eastlake (6-3-4) is ranked 17th,
San Ysidro (7-6-4) is ranked ninth among Division III teams while Sweetwater (13-3-4) is ranked 10th and Olympian (3-16-2) is ranked 18th.
Mater Dei Catholic (10-1-3) is ranked fifth in Division III, followed by No. 10 Otay Ranch (7-6-7), No. 13 Chula Vista (4-7-4) and No. 20 Montgomery (2-9-2).
Castle Park (3-5-4) is ranked 13th among Division IV schools while High Tech High Chula Vista (2-4-0) is ranked fifth among Division V schools, followed by No. 9 Mar Vista (1-6-2) and No. 10 Bayfront Charter (6-9-2).
Division V-AA rankings include No. 2 Ocean View Christian Academy (8-3-1), No, 3 Victory Christian Academy (8-4-1) and No. 3 Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (6-8-3).
Castle Park won last year’s Division V title while Olympian finished runner-up in Division III and Mater Dei Catholic second in Division IV.
Girls teams to watch:
Eastlake (12-2-3) is ranked third among Division I teams while Bonita Vista (6-5-0) is ranked 12th.
Olympian (7-8-1) is ranked ninth among Division II teams while Otay Ranch (7-5-3) is ranked 12th.
Hilltop (10-5-1) is ranked third in Division III, followed by No. 7 Montgomery (11-7-1), No. 14 Sweetwater (4-3-0) and No, 15 CVLCC (9-5-0).
Southwest (8-8-0) is ranked fourth among Division IV schools while San Ysidro (7-6-1) is 15th, Mar Vista (6-10-0) is 16th and Chula Vista (1-12-0) is 20th.
Division V rankings include No. 2 High Tech CV (5-2-1), No. 6 Castle Park (6-7-1) and No. 11 Bayfront Charter (3-7-1).
Bonita Vista defeated Mater Dei Catholic to win last year’s Division I title. Mar Vista won last year’s Division V team title while Eastlake finished runner-up in the Open Division final.
San Diego Section Power Rankings
Boys soccer
Division I
1. Del Norte (10-0-4), 2. San Pasqual (13-3-2), 3. Oceanside (14-0-1), 4. St. Augustine (11-3-1), 5. Rancho Buena Vista (11-4-4), 6. San Diego Cavers (7-5-2), 7. Calexico (14-4-4), 8. Hilltop (7-5-4), 9. La Costa Canyon (8-5-4), 10. Westview (6-5-3), 11. Cathedral Catholic (3-7-3), 12. Pt. Loma (4-6-3), 13. Scripps Ranch (7-4-5), 14. Bonita Vista (6-5-2), 15. Torrey Pines (5-11-1), 16. Southwest (7-4-8), 17. Eastlake (6-3-4), 18. Carlsbad (2-9-2), 19. Steele Canyon (3-8-1), 20. San Dieguito Academy (3-13-5)
Division II
1. Mission Hills (12-4-2), 2. Poway (10-5-3), 3. Rancho Bernardo (7-4-4), 4. Helix (9-3-2), 5. Pacific Ridge (11-2-3), 6. University City (9-2-5), 7. Monte Vista (10-6-4), 8. Coronado (8-4-3), 9. San Ysidro (7-6-4), 10. Sweetwater (13-3-4), 11. Vista (7-5-3), 12. Mt. Carmel (5-7-4), 13. Santana (5-8-3), 14. San Marcos (3-6-8), 15. Kearny (4-3-4), 16. Hoover (7-10-6), 17. La Jolla Country Day (5-7-2), 18. Olympian (3-16-2), 19. Fallbrook (4-5-5)
Division III
1. Orange Glen (10-2-0), 2. Patrick Henry (12-2-1), 3. Mission Bay (9-3-2), 4. Central Union (17-2-3), 5. Mater Dei Catholic (10-1-3), 6. Escondido (14-2-2), 7. Canyon Crest Academy (8-3-2), 8. Escondido Charter (5-4-2), 9. Brawley (13-7-2), 10. Otay Ranch (7-6-7), 11. Preuss UCSD (9-6-2), 12. Grossmont (8-6-2), 13. Chula Vista (4-7-4), 14. Granite Hills (9-8-2), 15. Gompers Prep (7-6-0), 16. Francis Parker (7-7-2), 17. Crawford (5-11-4), 18. El Camino (2-8-3), 19. Mission Vista (5-8-5), 20. Montgomery (2-9-2), 21. Bishop’s (5-7-1)
Division IV
1. Classical Academy (6-1-2), 2. Canyon Hills (13-3-2), 3. Santa Fe Christian (3-1-2), 4. Del Lago Academy (8-6-2), 5. Imperial (12-5-7), 6. West Hills (9-2-3), 7. San Diego Jewish Academy (6-5-1), 8. Southwest El Centro (6-9-3), 9. Valley Center (2-8-4), 10. La Jolla (2-4-7), 11. Madison (7-7-2), 12. Sage Creek (3-8-4), 13. Castle Park (3-5-4), 14. Guajome Park (4-4-7), 15. Holtville (6-9-1), 16. Vincent Memorial (6-5-1), 17. Mira Mesa (4-3-4), 18. El Cajon Valley (7-9-5), 19. Maranatha Christian (4-10-1), 20. Morse (4-11-0), 21. Foothills Christian (1-12-1)
Division V
1. Christian (7-2-3), 2. Lincoln (10-4-1), 3. Ramona (7-7-4), 4. High Tech High Mesa (6-1-0), 5. High Tech High Chula Vista (2-4-0), 6. High Tech High North Cunty (2-1-1), 7. El Capitan (6-8-5), 8. O’Farrell Charter (6-3-2), 9. Mar Vista (1-6-2), 10. Bayfront Charter (6-9-2), 11. Coastal Academy (3-6-3), 12. Mountain Empire (8-4-1), 13. Army-navy Academy (2-9-0), 14. Mt. Miguel (3-12-2), 15. Palo Verde Valley (4-9-0), 16. High Tech High San Diego (1-11-1)
Division V-AA
1. St. Joseph Academy (7-1-2), 2. Ocean View Christian Academy (8-3-1), 3. Victory Christian Academy (8-4-1), 4. CVLCC (6-8-3), 5. Calvin Christian (5-5-5), 6. Logan Memorial (7-7-4), 7. Bostonia Global (5-4-0), 8. Borrego Springs (4-7-1), 9. Bonsall (3-9-0), 10. West Shores (4-7-1), 11. Calipatria (2-10-0), 12. King Chavez (1-8-1), 13. River Valley (1-8-1), 14. Cristo Rey (0-7-0), 15. Liberty Charter (3-12-1)
Girls soccer
Division I
1. San Marcos (13-3-1), 2, Our Lady of Peace (12-1-3), 3. Eastlake (12-2-3), 4. Patrick Henry (9-7-2), 5. Westview (7-4-3), 6. Torrey Pines (9-4-0), 7. Mission Hills (12-0-3), 8. Granite Hills (11-3-0), 9. Cathedral Catholic (12-5-2), 10. Mt. Carmel (10-7-2), 11. Mater Dei Catholic (7-4-1), 12. Bonita Vista (6-5-0), 13. Francis Parker (9-6-3), 14/ Pt. Loma (8-6-1), 15. Carlsbad (7-8-5), 16. Coronado (2-10-1), 17. Canyon Crest Academy (2-11-0), 18. Classical Academy (6-4-3), 19. West Hills (8-5-2), 20. La Jolla N/A
Division II
1. Poway (9-4-1), 2. Scripps Ranch (10-3-4), 3. La Costa Canyon (6-5-3), 4. San Dieguito Academy (15-3-0), 5. Mission Bay (11-1-1), 6. Del Norte (4-7-4), 7. Rancho Bernardo (8-3-3), 8. Rancho Buena Vista (8-1-3), 9. Olympian (7-8-1), 10. El Capitan (7-7-1), 11. Santa Fe Christian (8-4-4), 12. Otay Ranch (7-5-3), 13. El Camino (8-5-1), 14. Steele Canyon (7-5-4), 15. Fallbrook (9-5-2), 16. Pacific Ridge (5-6-2), 17. Valhalla (7-8-2), 18. Central Union (5-4-1), 19. Grossmont (3-7-1), 20. Santana (1-10-1), 21. Sage Creek (3-12-0)
Division III
1. Mira Mesa (13-1-2), 2. Helix (9-3-3), 3. Hilltop (10-5-1), 4. Calexico (16-5-1), 5. Escondido Charter (11-5-1), 6. Bishop’s (4-5-2), 7. Montgomery (11-7-1), 8. Foothills Christian (9-4-2), 9. Christian (6-5-3), 10. San Diego Cavers (6-7-1), 11. Monte Vista (5-5-2), 12. Valley Center (8-4-1), 13. Ramona (6-9-2), 14. Sweetwater (4-3-0), 15. CVLCC (9-5-0), 16. University City (5-7-3), 17. La Jolla Country Day (2-6-1), 18. San Pasqual (5-11-3), 19. Mission Vista (2-10-1), 20. Oceanside (1-10-3), 21. Clairemont )1-8-0)
Division IV
1. Canyon Hills (14-1-2), 2. Brawley (16-6-2), 3. Tri-City Christian (11-3-1), 4. Southwest (8-8-0), 5. Maranatha Christian (13-3-2), 6. Madison (8-9-0), 7. Morse (8-7-1), 8. High Tech High San Diego (3-10-1), 9. Hoover (11-11-2), 10. Orange Glen (2-5-1), 11. Mt. Miguel (7-8-0), 12. O’Farrell Charter (7-6-1), 13. Escondido (4-7-2), 14. Imperial (7-12-0). 15. San Ysidro (7-6-1), 16. Mar Vista (6-10-0), 17. Southwest El Centro (6-13-2), 18. Kearny (4-6-2), 19. Del Lago Academy (1-5-0), 20. Chula Vista (1-12-0), 21. Vista (1-5-3)
Division V
1. Lincoln (10-3-1), 2. High Tech High Chula Vista (5-2-1), 3. Holtville (6-10-1), 4. Coastal Academy (9-3-1), 5. Preuss UCSD ((7-7-0), 6. Castle Park (6-7-1), 7. Palo Verde Valley (4-5-1), 8. Gompers Prep (3-8-1), 9. Guajome Park (7-5-2), 10. Crawford (3-9-0), 11. Bayfront Charter (3-7-1), 12. El Cajon Valley (0-9-0)
Division V-AA
1. Logan Memorial (6-12-2), 2. Mountain Empire (7-3-1), 3. Calvin Christian (6-7-0), 4. High Tech High Mesa (4-5-0), 5. Liberty Charter (7-4-2), 6. Vincent Memorial (4-3-2), 7. Julian (1-2-0), 8. King Chavez (2-3-0), 9. High Tech High North County (1-5-0), 10. River Valley (0-5-1), 11. West Shores (3-9-0), 12. Bostonia Global (0-8-0), 13. Borrego Springs (0-5-0), 14. San Diego Jewish Academy (0-6-0)
Girls Water Polo
SAN DIEGO SECTION POWER RANKINGS:
Division I: 13. Bonita Vista (15-9)
Division II: 4. Eastlake (15-8), 9. Mater Dei Catholic (12-9), 11. Mar Vista (10-10), 14. Olympian (11-13)
Division III: 3. Otay Ranch (8-11), 5. CVLCC (14-8), 8. Chula Vista (10-6), 9. Southwest (6-6), 14. San Ysidro (7-9), 15. Hilltop (3-6), 16. Castle Park (0-2), 17. Montgomery (5-10), 20. Sweetwater (2-9)
