Carondelet, De La Salle, Clayton Valley standouts among local soccer teams
CONCORD, CA (Jan. 23, 2025) — Concord school’s Clayton Valley Charter, De La Salle and Carondelet have been among the best soccer teams in North Coast Section over the years and this season is no different.
With league schedules now in full force leading up the start of NCS playoffs on Feb. 18, De La Salle and CVCHS are first and third in boys rankings and Carondelet is top ranked on the girls side.
Carondelet has three section championships (2019-22-23) in recent seasons and is playing exclusively against East Bay Athletic League teams in a round-robin schedule for the rest of the regular season.
That is no easy task since an EBAL team has won all but three NCS soccer championships since they began in 1982. The Cougars are six-time champions.
This season, the all-girls school is 8-2 overall, leading to its top section ranking.
Northgate is 5-2-1 and the Broncos are fourth in NCS Division 2 rankings. They are part of the nine-team Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division. It also includes College Park and Clayton Valley Charter locally. Foothill schedule is a single round-robin concluding Feb. 13.
CVCHS (5-2-2) has the section’s top girls scorer in junior co-captain Ava Jara. She netted eight goals and set up three assists in seven games.
DLS-CVCHS rivalry
De La Salle (6-2-1 this season) has ruled the local boys soccer scene for most of the 21st century. This includes winning 11 NCS championships since 2001.
Last year, Clayton Valley Charter made history when they upset top seeded DLS 4-2 in the quarterfinals. The afterglow for the Ugly Eagles was extinguished in the next round when they lost in the semi-finals to Dougherty Valley.
CVCHS has returned with a strong team. It is 6-1-1 with the DAL Foothill double round-robin schedule filling the balance of its regular-season. Mt. Diablo and Northgate are other local schools in the six team-division.
The Broncos (5-2-1) are fourth in NCS D-2 boys rankings.
North Coast Section playoffs run Feb. 18-Mar. 1 with NorCal playoffs to follow Mar. 4-8.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.