The timeline for Season 1 sports admittedly wasn’t the greatest. Regular season play was limited once teams were given the go-ahead from state, county and local health authorities to resume competition in the waning stages of the winter months.
Then there was a long list of safety protocols to adhere to.
As a result, postseason competition proved to be even more limited.
Cross country wrapped up after the final league dual meet took place. It was the same for football, which abrupted ended after a handful of games.
Only swimming and diving, which started after cross country stepped off its season, was able to complete a full league championship and section championship schedule.
That timeline doesn’t appear to be the same for Season 2 sports.
Teams are playing much more robust schedules than Season 1 sports and section playoffs are being planned for most, if not all, spring sports currently in competition.
Boys and girls soccer teams kick off divisional playoffs this week. A sizable contingent of 22 South County teams (11 girls and 11 boys sides) are involved, including five girls teams and two boys teams that have received either No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in their respective divisions.
Playoffs are being held at the site of the higher-seeded team through the semifinal round.
Semifinals in all girls divisions are scheduled for Tuesday, May 25, while all boys semifinal matches are scheduled for Wednesday, May 26.
Championship games are scheduled May 28-29 at Mission Bay and Eastlake high schools. Limited spectator seating is planned for the finals.
“We were determined to make this happen as we did not want teams to miss another year after we had to cancel the spring season last March,” San Diego Section Commissioner Joe Heinz said.
Getting their kicks
Top seeds include Mesa League co-champion Bonita Vista (Division II girls), South Bay League champion Olympian (Division IV boys) and Southwest (Division IV girls).
Teams seeded second in their respective divisions included Mesa League co-champion Eastlake (Open Division girls), Mater Dei Catholic (Division 1 girls), Mesa League champion Eastlake (Division II boys) and San Ysidro (Division IV girls).
Additionally, Mater Dei Catholic (Division III boys) and San Ysidro (Division IV boys) received No. 3 seeds while Southwest (Division I boys) and Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (Division V girls) were seeded fourth.
The top four-seeded teams receive byes to the quarterfinals.
Joining the 11 local teams byed to this weekend’s quarterfinals were four other teams seeded in their respective brackets: Hilltop (fifth in Division III girls), Castle Park (ninth in Division IV girls), Sweetwater (10th in Division II boys) and Chula Vista (10th in Division III boys).
There were seven more teams involved in play-in games: Otay Ranch (Division II girls), Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (Division IV boys), Victory Christian Academy (Division V boys), High Tech High Chula Vista (Division V boys and girls) and Bayfront Charter (Division V boys and girls).
Winners in play-in games on Monday included Bayfront Charter’s boys (16-1 over River Valley), Bayfront Charter’s girls (12-0 over Palo Verde Valley), Victory Christian Academy (forfeit over HTH Chula Vista) and Chula Vista Learning Community Charter’s boys (2-1 over Madison).
Otay Ranch (8-7-1) missed advancing to bracket play following a 1-0 loss to Rancho Bernardo (6-9-1). The Mustang ladies won last year’s Division III championship.
The first-round of elimination games in the girls bracket took place on Tuesday, followed by the first round of elimination game in the boys brackets on Wednesday.
None of the teams playing in Tuesday’s opening round advanced in the girls brackets. Hilltop (4-10-2) lost 2-1 to 12th-seeded Santa Fe Christian (5-6-2), while Castle Park (6-8) ended its season with a 3-1 loss to eighth-seeded Clairemont (11-3-1).
In Friday’s quarterfinals, Eastlake (13-1-1) will host third-seeded La Costa Canyon (11-2-4), Mater Dei Catholic (8-7) will host 10th-seeded Steele Canyon (7-7-4), Bonita Vista (12-1) will host ninth-seeded Francis Parker (6-3-4), San Ysidro (11-2-2) will host 10th-seeded Hoover (9-10-1), Southwest (8-5-1) will host Clairemont and CVLCC (5-2-1) will host fifth-seeded Calvin Christian (8-4-2).
Chula Vista Learning Community Charter was the lone boys team to advance from Wednesday’s opening round with a 2-1 win over sixth-seeded Mira Mesa.
Sweetwater (11-4-2) lost, 2-1, to seventh-seeded Calexico (13-3-1) while Chula Vista (5-5-3) lost, 1-0, to seventh-seeded Rancho Buena Vista (6-6-3).
Sweetwater had finished runner-up in the South Bay League standings with a 7-3-2 league record.
In Saturday’s quarterfinals, Southwest (8-3-4) will host fifth-seeded Coronado (8-4), Eastlake will host Calexico, Mater Dei Catholic (9-4) will host 11th-seeded Crawford (7-8), Olympian will host eighth-seeded Brawley (5-10-1) and San Ysidro will host CVLCC (8-1-2).
Mater Dei Catholic won last year’s Division IV title.
For updates, visit the website at www.cifsds.org.
Titans log 15-0-1 undefeated boys soccer season, Raiders next up
Mesa League boys soccer play wrapped up May 13 with the Southwest Raiders defeating the host Bonita Vista Barons, 2-0, while the Eastlake Titans edged visiting Hilltop 2-1.
With the results, Eastlake completed an undefeated season with a 15-0-1 overall record, 11-0-1 in league play, to claim the league championship while Southwest (8-3-4) finished second in the league standings with a 7-2-3 record.
Titan head coach Giovanni Medina noted it’s only the team’s third league championship in 29 years since the school opened.
“Our success is due to great chemistry, discipline, sacrifice, individual talent and a good understanding of tactics,” said Medina, who joined Eastlake this season after last coaching Southwest.
Top players on this year’s Mesa League champions include seniors Gael Ayala, Preston Fleming and goalkeeper Anree Bogart, and junior forward Cole Friesen.
“But everyone is good and they all have a big role in our success,” Medina said.
Friesen topped the Titan juggernaut with 17 goals and 10 assists in 16 games to pace league scorers with 44 points. Southwest senior Xavier Monge followed with 18 goals and 36 points in second place.
Eastlake outscored its opponents 50-8 this season, recording 10 defensive shutouts.
Senior Mizeal Gonzalez and junior Alex Rovira finished in a tie for second place on the team with five goals scored and 12 total points.
Bogart and senior Cristian Medina, along with junior Eduardo Gurrola, shared goalkeeping duties this season. The trio combined to yield just eight goals in 16 matches for a 0.50 goals-against average.
The Titans kicked off the season with five consecutive shutout wins.
Eastlake recorded 29 shots in its final regular season game against the Lancers (1-9-2 in South Bay League play, 1-10-3 overall). Friesen scored both goals while Bogart and Medina split time in the net.
“Our goal is to win CIF and then regional championships, but we will take it game by game,” the Eastlake coach said.
Raider Nation
Monge scored both goals in the victory against Bonita Vista, which finished regular season play 6-11-3 overall, 3-8-1 in league play.
The Raiders ended the regular season riding the crest of a wave that includes a 10-match unbeaten streak (six wins and four ties). Southwest last lost on the pitch, 4-2 to Eastlake, on April 6. The Raiders’ resurgence was displayed in a 0-0 draw against the Titans on April 29.
“It’s pretty crazy because what’s taking place this season,” first-year Southwest coach Victor Andrade said. “We have a lot of sophomores; the talent is there. We keep going. I’m super proud of the boys.”
San Ysidro (6-4-2 overall) finished third in Mesa League play with a 5-3-1 league record, followed by Montgomery (4-6-3 overall) at 4-5-3 in league. Castle Park (2-9-2 overall) finished sixth in the league standings at 2-8-2.
