The CIF Southern Section has taken a page from football’s playbook and will use a ratings system to determine seeds and divisions for the boys and girls lacrosse playoffs.
To begin the season, there are 40 schools grouped in Division 1/2. At the end of the regular season, the computer-based rating system will rank the teams based on several factors, including record and strength of schedule. Those ratings will be used to form the playoff brackets for the three divisions (Division 1, Division 2, Division 3).
Some lacrosse coaches don’t like the new system, mainly because they won’t know where their team stands during the season.
The weekly CIF-SS polls, which are voted on by a coaches committee, won’t be used to determine playoff seeds and whether a team is placed in Division 1 or Division 2 for the playoffs.
The playoffs for boys and girls begin May 1.
BOYS LACROSSE NOTES
Foothill, the only Southern Section boys team to appear in the first two CIF-SS Division 1 championship games, has a 5-2 record and is undefeated against California teams. The Knight have lost to Brophy Prep of Arizona and Valor Christian of Cololorado.
Luke Fox leads the Knights with 37 points and Jackson Hines has 33 points with 25 goals. …
St. Margaret’s (6-0) has the potential to be the best boys team in CIF-SS this season.
Junior attackman Austin Hicks is the only five-star recruit in the section and is committed to Penn. Hicks leads the county in points per game with 6.16 and Owen Binder has 31 points. …
Mater Dei (5-1) is ranked No. 1 in the CIF-SS Division 1/2 poll and is also undefeated against California teams.
The Monarchs might have the best senior class in the county, led by Johns Hopkins signee Triston Jewell and face-off specialist Lucas de la Paz. …
Santa Margarita probably has the best chance to compete with Mater Dei for the Trinity League championship. Ethan Messer is averaging nearly four goals per game for the Eagles and the defensive duo of Cole Peters and Ryan Winters have nine takeaways. …
Junior Jack Almy scored seven goals for JSerra in a 15-3 win over Yorba Linda on Tuesday. …
Woodbridge recently beat Beckman for the first time in school history and is a contender for its first Pacific Coast League championship. Henry Clayton and Elliot Kim each had four points in the 8-7 win over Beckman and Hamza Ajaz was excellent at goalie. …
Crean Lutheran (7-1) is the county’s top boys team in Division 3. Trey Kelly is among the county leaders in points with 34 and AJ Bevacqua is second on the team in points and ground balls.
GIRLS LACROSSE NOTES
The Foothill girls have won back-to-back CIF-SS championships and are probably the team to beat in the Southern Section.
Seniors Tatum Walshe and Mya Weaver are returning scorers and freshman Kayla Agarie leads the team in goals per game. Mikayla Yang might be the best goalie in Orange County and has a save percentage of 75. …
Edison appears to be the clear No. 2 team in the county this season. Sofia Chock and Madison Kruis are two of the better offensive players in the county and Brooklynn Peters is a well-rounded player. …
San Clemente and Newport Harbor are two girls teams to keep an eye on. Sophomore sisters Charlotte and Sophia Yeskulsky lead the Tritons along with senior Emma Massamiri. The Tritons gave Foothill its biggest challenge of the season in an 11-7 loss. …
Newport Harbor is 4-0 behind the strong play of midfielder Lucy Toohey. Lucy Valdes’ save percentage (71%) is near the best in the county.
