Most leagues have been decided with less than a week to go before the seeding meeting for the CCS playoffs happens on Thursday. However, some CCS spots and seeding are still up in the air.
St. Ignatius has officially wrapped up its third WCAL championship in a row after defeating Bellarmine 2-1 and St. Francis, 3-1. St. Ignatius is led offensively by senior Cormac Gallagher up front, as one of the top forwards in CCS. Bellarmine led early in the game in which they could have taken over first place, but despite the loss the Bells should comfortably have enough points to qualify for the Open Division. The Bells are led by Mario Barocio in the attack and Casey Jaeb defensively.
St. Francis, sitting comfortably in third has easily qualified for the playoffs, but due to its lack of a competitive non-league schedule finds itself on the outside of both the Open and Division 1 playoffs. Demetrios Giannopoulos leads the Lancers in scoring with nine goals, including the game winner against Bellarmine on Jan. 26. Mitty has officially qualified for the playoffs with its tie against Sacred Heart Cathedral and looks to be in the Division 1 field, though if Branham beats Prospect this week, it would cost Mitty four points and could drop them lower into the Division 2 field. The Monarchs have played two league champions in their non-league schedule, including Fresno power Bullard, and were the only team to defeat WCAL Champ St. Ignatius in the CCS. The Monarchs are young in attack with sophomore Noah Robertson and freshman Thomas Pellino, with senior Matt Espinoza and junior captain Tyler Stevenson leading a strong defense.
Despite the tie, Sacred Heart Cathedral should find its way into the playoffs in one of the lower divisions, where they could be favorites under first-year head coach Mike McNeill. Valley Christian needs to avoid defeat against Mitty on Tuesday to avoid going under .500 and becoming ineligible for the tournament and depending upon other results may need to win. Valley Christian and San Jose State commit keeper Eric Waltz make the Warriors a dangerous team if they can make the tournament field.
It will go down to the final game of the year in the BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division as Prospect, clinging to a one point lead, will travel to second place Branham. Earlier in the season Prospect defeated Branham 4-1 behind two goals from sophomore Josue Meija. Going forward, the Panthers and Bruins will be in the playoffs, with Pioneer and Leland, with Mt. Pleasant still having some work to do. Santa Teresa is heavily favored to win the BVAL Santa Teresa Division as they hold a two point lead over Leigh, as they play their final game of the season at home against Del Mar. Santa Teresa and Leigh will be the only teams from the Santa Teresa division to make the CCS tournament. Junior Brandon Alper is one of the leaders in CCS with 13 goals.
Piedmont Hills had a great week with two big road wins over Oak Grove and Sobrato to keep a one point lead over Yerba Buena. A win over James Lick will give the Pirates the BVAL West Valley Division championship and the only CCS berth from that league. The Pirates have two dangerous attackers in sophomore Josh Lucas and senior JP Mendoza.
Burlingame defeated Menlo-Atherton 1-0 to open up a four-point lead with two games left for both teams in the PAL Bay Division. The Bay Division looks to be well represented in the playoffs with South San Francisco, Carlmont and Sequoia all hoping to join Burlingame and Menlo-Atherton in the field. Menlo-Atherton will need sophomore Mathias Giomi to continue his scoring run if the Bears will make a deep CCS run. The PAL Ocean division will come down Hillsdale or Capuchino, with Terra Nova on the outside looking in. Only the league champion looks set to make the CCS field.
Soquel has wrapped up the SCCAL, and Harbor looks to be a strong bet to grab that league's second auto berth. Sacred Heart Prep holds a one game lead over Menlo in the WBAL with games to go against Harker and Crystal Springs, however both are on the road. Depending upon results Sacred Heart Prep could find its way into the Open Division, if the Gators choose to opt up. Harker, led by coach and former MLS star Jeff Baicher, still has some work to do to make the playoff field.
Despite its loss against Alisal last week, behind Trojan goals from Alan Cardenas and Sergio Meija, Watsonville still looks to win the PCAL-Gabilan crown. With the win, however, Alisal should have enough points to make the CCS Open tournament field. Alvarez and Soledad are locks for the playoffs with high point totals. The Gabilan division could be the first league ever to have three teams qualify for the Open playoffs if results go their way the final couple of games. Monterey and North Salinas are tied atop the final standings PCAL Mission Bay division with the teams splitting the season series, both winning at home 1-0.
Homestead lost its final two games of the regular season, to Santa Clara and Los Altos, which opened the door for Los Gatos to repeat as league champs in the SCVAL-De Anza Division under first year head coach Alex Saunders. Palo Alto, Los Gatos and Homestead will all make the CCS tournament, with Mountain View and Santa Clara currently both also qualified with records at .500. The two teams play on the final game of the year at Santa Clara. Despite a loss to Wilcox, Cupertino will still win the SCVAL-El Camino Division. Wilcox and Lynbrook look likely to join Cupertino in the playoffs, though Lynbrook could also lose four points if Prospect loses to Branham, and that would force the Vikings out. Chris Ortiz, with 23 goals is one of the top scorers in the section with fellow senior Ryan Washington adding another 13 as Cupertino averages around 2.5 goals per game.