Soccer playoffs featuring 7 local teams underway this week
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (Feb. 16, 2024) — De La Salle enters the North Coast Section boys soccer playoffs as the top seed in Division I coming off a loss in the East Bay Athletic League playoff semi-finals last week 3-0 to Dougherty Valley.
The Spartans had six straight shutout victories before that defeat and nine of their last 10 games were victories while holding their opponents scoreless. The only blemish on that record was a 1-1 draw with Doughtery Valley, marring an otherwise all-winning EBAL regular season.
A rundown of playoff seeding for seven local teams:
Girls
- Division I: Second seed Carondelet (14-4-4) hosts No. 15 Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa (4-4-8) Wednesday at the Carondelet Athletic Complex in Walnut Creek.
- Clayton Valley Charter (13-2-3) is seeded eighth and travels to Fremont Wednesday to meet No. 9 Mission Valley League champion American (14-2-4).
- Division II: No. 11 Northgate (11-4-3) makes the long trek to fifth seed Ukiah (14-5-4) Tuesday.
Boys
- Division I: Top seed De La Salle (12-3-2) hosts No. 16 Heritage-Brentwood (7-10-2) on Wednesday in Owen Owens Field.
- Clayton Valley Charter (14-2-3) is eighth seed and hosts San Ramon Valley (11-8-4) Wednesday evening in Gonsalves Stadium. If the Concord schools both win, they will meet in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
- Division II: 12th seed Northgate (7-7-3) travels to No. 5 Maria Carrillo (10-4-5) in Santa Rosa Tuesday.
- Division IV: Third seed Mt. Diablo (13-2-2) hosts No. 14 Kennedy-Richmond (9-7-3) at Hart Fairclough Stadium Wednesday night.
DAL finishes with tri-champions
Mt. Diablo, Clayton Valley Charter and Las Lomas all finished with 10-1-1 records to share the Diablo Athletic League boys championship.
Seeded third in Division IV, Mt. Diablo is hosting Kennedy-Richmond in the opening of the playoffs Wednesday. Records indicate this is the first-ever home boys soccer playoff game for the Red Devils, who are making their third straight NCS appearance after three away games in past two years.
CVCHS gets a home game Wednesday against San Ramon Valley in Division I with a chance to meet Concord rivals De La Salle in the quarterfinals this Saturday in a rematch of their 2022 semi-finals matchup won by eventual champions DLS 1-0.
De La Salle is seeded No. 1 in D-I hoping to make up for a disappointing quarter-finals playoff exit last year as defending champs. The Spartans are seeking a 15th Section title.
Carondelet looks to threepeat
Two-time defending NCS Division I champion Carondelet is seeded second to EBAL rival Amador Valley. The Dons have five NCS championships but none since 2002, while the Cougars have seven Section titles including three of the past four.
EBAL teams have won the top division in all but three NCS playoffs since the girls competition began in 1982.
Clayton Valley Charter had not had a winning season since 2019-20 but the Ugly Eagles posted a 13-2-3 record and a second-place finish in the DAL to earn their eighth seed in Division I and a home game against perennial EBAL power San Ramon Valley.
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.