Regional Matchups in Soccer Playoffs

The Southern Section boys’ and girls’ soccer playoffs begin Wednesday with wild-card games and 28 girls’ teams and 19 boys’ teams from the region are involved. Pairings were released Monday.

On the girls’ side, three wild-card games feature matchups between regional teams: Highland at Thousand Oaks and Valencia at Quartz Hill in Division I and Moorpark at Canyon in Division II.

In first-round girls’ games Saturday, Crescenta Valley will host the Valencia-Quartz Hill winner, Ventura plays at Westlake in Division II and Nordhoff visits Harvard-Westlake in Division III.

The Division IV girls’ draw includes four regional meetings in the first round: Oakwood at St. Bonaventure, L.A. Baptist at Thacher, Villanova at La Reina and Cate at Oak Park.

Seeded girls’ teams from the region include No. 4 Hart in Division I, No. 1 Chaminade and No. 3 La Canada in Division III and No. 2 St. Bonaventure in Division IV.

All three girls’ qualifiers from the Mission League--Chaminade, Notre Dame and Harvard-Westlake--are grouped in Region I of Division III. One team from each region advances to the semifinals.

“I hate having to face a team from our league; the rivalry makes things even more intense,” said Chaminade Coach Mike Evans, whose team is the defending division champion.

In the boys’ playoffs, Golden League co-champion Palmdale is at Marmonte League runner-up Royal on Friday in a Division I first-round game. Last season, the same matchup in the same round led to a 5-0 Royal victory.

Other first round games Friday between regional teams include Rio Mesa at Canyon in Division II and Paraclete at Santa Paula in Division IV.

Harvard-Westlake was the only boys’ team from the region to earn a seeded position with its No. 3 slot in Division IV.