Here is a look for the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division championships, which begin with first-round contests Tuesday.
Top seeds: 1. Foothill (16-1) 2. Corona del Mar (13-1) 3. JSerra (14-4) 4. San Clemente (14-4)
Outlook: The season has been entertaining with most of the big-time programs facing off with each other. The top two teams — Foothill and Corona del Mar — have yet to play, though. It feels like the two schools have been on a collision course to meet each other all season, but they have plenty of work to do before we get there.
Best first-round game: No. 7 Beckman vs. No. 10 Tesoro. These two teams have already played this year, and the contest went down to the wire. The Patriots escaped with a 10-9 victory in double overtime. That game came during Beckman’s 15-game winning streak. The winner of this game will be dealt the daunting task of possibly facing Corona del Mar in the second round.
Matchup I’d like to see: Everybody wants to see Foothill face off with Corona del Mar in the finals, but a matchup with the Knights and San Clemente would be pretty entertaining in the semifinals. Foothill beat the Tritons, 17-16, in a wild shootout earlier this season. With the stakes even higher in the semis, a rematch wouldn’t disappoint.
Dark horse: It’s hard to imagine a scenario with the top four seeds not making it to the semifinals, but here are two dark horse candidates. St. Margaret’s won the county and section titles last season, but limps into the playoffs as losers of five of its past six games. The Tartans (8-7) don’t have the same team as last year, but they do own championship experience with the likes of Hunter Edington, Ryan Harnisch, and Josh Davis. St. Margaret’s, who was seeded sixth, faces a Yorba Linda team it already defeated this season in the first round. That championship pedigree could be valuable in the second round in a possible matchup with JSerra, who is still looking for a marquee win against one of the county’s elite programs. Beckman is the other dark horse, because they may face the Sea Kings in the second round, and the Patriots will have confidence going into that game since they handed Corona del Mar its only loss this season.
Prediction: The semifinals will be held at Laguna Hills on Saturday. Corona del Mar will face off with St. Margaret’s in one matchup, while Foothill will face San Clemente in the other. The Sea Kings defense will be too much for the Tartans, and the Knights will prevail in a rematch with the Tritons, setting up a final between the county’s two best programs.
