If Mira Costa and Redondo’s boys soccer teams reach the CIF Southern Section/Ford Division 1 title game, they will take the long road to get there.
Both teams were forced to battle their way out of the wild card bracket on Wednesday. Mira Costa (5-3-2, 14-7-3) finished third in the Bay League and held off Laguna Hills for a 2-1 victory.
Alex de la Espriella and Charlie Pitts scored on assists from each other to lead the Mustangs who advance to play at second-seeded Millikan (25-1-3) on Friday.
All games prior to the finals are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. unless another time is mutually agreed upon. Second round action will be held Wednesday, Feb. 23, the quarterfinals on Friday, Feb. 25, the semifinals on Tuesday, Mar. 1 and the finals Friday-Saturday, Mar. 4-5.
Redondo (3-5-2, 11-10-5) earned an at-large berth and traveled to Moorpark (10-5-6) where the Sea Hawks eliminated the Musketeers 1-0 in their wild-card match.
Nasaya Kawauchi broke the defensive struggle, scoring the game’s lone goal in the eighth minute of sudden-death overtime.
Redondo will now travel to No. 8 St. John Bosco for a first-round game on Friday.
Bay League champion Palos Verdes (7-1-2, 19-3-4) earned the fifth seed and will host Santa Margarita (10-8-5) on Friday. Bay runner-up West (7-3, 13-6-5) plays at Servite (15-7-2) in its first-round contest.
In Division 4, Pioneer champion North Torrance (12-4-7) earned a No. 10 seed and hosts La Mirada (10-6-7). El Segundo (8-10-3) hosted a wild-card game Wednesday and defeated Pioneer 6-1, advancing to play at top-seeded Santa Monica (17-2-3) on Friday.
In a first round battle between local schools, South Torrance (10-6-6) hosts Bishop Montgomery (8-10-2). Ocean League runner-up Hawthorne (11-9) hosts St. Genevieve in its first round game.
Prep League champion Chadwick (9-3-4) hosts Avalon Friday in the first round of the Division 6 playoffs and Vistamar (8-11) will host Santa Clarita Christian (9-7-2) in Division 7.
Girls Soccer
After finishing third in the Bay League, Mira Costa (5-5, 14-7-1) traveled to Dos Pueblos Thursday for its first-round game of the CIF Southern Section/Ford Division 2 championships.
Mira Costa scored four unanswered goals in the second half and held on to beat Dos Pueblos 5-3. Goalkeeper Dana Eisenhauer recorded five saves, Kimby Keever scored two goals and Megan Hong, Mandy McKeegan and Taylor Foland added one each for the Mustangs who will host third-seeded Long Beach Wilson (15-5-5) in the second round Tuesday.
Mira Costa entered the playoffs on a high note after handing Bay champion Palos Verdes its only loss in league play with a 4-1 victory in the regular season finale. Nevertheless, Palos Verdes (8-1-1, 22-3-2) earned the top seed in Division 2 and held off a tough Rancho Cucamonga team 2-1. Rancho Cucamonga was a 2-1 winner over Pasadena in a wild-card game held Tuesday.
Palos Verdes will play at Troy (11-8-4) in the second round.
All games with the exception of the finals are scheduled for 3 p.m. Second-round games will be played Tuesday, followed by the quarterfinals on Thursday, Feb. 25, the semifinals on Tuesday, Mar. 1 and the finals on Friday or Saturday, Mar. 4-5.
Bay League runner-up Peninsula (7-3, 15-4-3) shutout Burroughs/Burbank 4-0 in the opening round and must face second-seeded Los Osos (20-3-1) on Tuesday.
In Division 4, Pioneer champion Torrance (15-5-1) earned a No. 4 seed and defeated Moreno Valley 4-1, advancing to play Don Lugo (18-4-1).
Seventh-seeded South Torrance (17-5-4) squeeked by visiting Bloomington 1-0 and will play No. 10 Beverly Hills (17-6-2) in the second round.
El Segundo (14-6-3) saw its season end with a 1-0 loss to No. 8 Marymount.
In Division 7, Coastal League champion Vistamar (16-4-1) lost to visiting Marshall 2-0. Marshall was a 4-0 winner over Providence in Tuesday’s wild-card game.
Playoff brackets are available at www.cifss.org. ER
