Men's soccer team seeded second for playoffs
Nov 14, 2006
The Irvine Valley men's soccer team won't have to play in the first round of the Southern California regional playoffs on Saturday.
That is because the Lasers earned a bye after being seeded second at the coaches' meeting to decide the pairings on Tuesday in Fullerton.
Mt. San Antonio College is the top-seeded team in the draw. IVC is seeded second, Long Beach City is seeded third and Santa Ana is the fourth seed.
The top four seeds all receive byes in the first round of the playoffs.
"It is a great draw for us," Irvine Valley Coach Martin McGrogan said. "We are very pleased to be the No. 2 seed. I don't think we have been ranked that high going into the playoffs in a long time."
Irvine Valley will play the winner of Saturday's match between Rio Hondo and San Diego City on Tuesday in the second round at home.
Kick-off time has yet to be determined.
Irvine Valley lost to Rio Hondo, 3-1, in the final game before the start of Orange Empire Conference play. The Lasers were missing several starters due to injury in that contest.
Since losing to Rio Hondo, Irvine Valley has a record of 10-1-3. The Lasers actually finished the season not losing in their final seven matches (5-0-2).
The Lasers, who are also ranked third in the state in the latest poll, have a record of 14-3-4 overall and were 10-1-3 in the Orange Empire Conference to finish in second place, two points behind Santa Ana.
Irvine Valley moved up in the playoff draw past the Dons because of its power-point ranking (wins, strength of schedule, etc.)
Freshman Luis Miguel leads the team with 10 goals and three assists. Freshman Dillon McEwin has added nine goals and one assist and freshman Roberto Linck has six goals and seven assists.
Irvine Valley was seeded third in the playoffs last year. It fell in the second round to East L.A. at home on penalty kicks.