PV girls, Chico boys seeded 4th

PREP SOCCER

Draw home openers for regionals; PV boys, Chico girls on the road Tuesday; boys open at home

Chico High’s Fleet Irvine boots the ball during the Chico vs. Pleasant Valley soccer game on Jan. 20, at Panther Stadium. The Panthers are seeded fourth in the NorCal Regional Division II playoffs, which kick off Tuesday night.

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By Rick Silva

rsilva@paradisepost.com

In the NorCal Regional brackets for soccer released Sunday afternoon, the Chico High boys and Pleasant Valley girls teams each received a No. 4 seed and a home opener in the Division II playoffs. The Gridley boys earned the No. 3 seed in Division V and also will open at home.

Girls

The Northern Section Division I champion Pleasant Valley Vikings (20-2-2) will open the playoffs at home Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the Division II Northern California regional playoffs against Santa Rosa-based Maria Carrillo (12-5-7).

The Vikings have 21 shutouts in 24 games on the year, allowing only Foothill, West Park and Chico High to ruffle the netting against them. A Vikings win sends them to top-seeded Franklin in Elk Grove or gives them a home game against No. 8 Marin Academy on March 2.

Marin eliminated the Vikings last year in the first round of the NorCal Regional Division III playoffs, 2-0. Marin would later lose to Chico High in the NorCal Regional Final in penalty kicks.

There will not be a rematch this year between those two schools because the Panthers are in Division III and will be on the road to Christian Brothers (17-4-3) as a No. 7 seed. If the Panthers (17-4-1) defeat Christian Brothers, they will be on the road on Thursday to face either Windsor or Presentation.

The other Northern Section teams in the regionals, UPrep is the third seed in Division IV and will host Placer, while Live Oak (No. 6), Winters (No. 7), and Hamilton (No. 8) are all on the road in Division V.Boys

Chico High (19-1-1) hosts Sacred Heart Prep (16-1-2) on Tuesday. The Panthers haven’t lost at home all year, and Sacred Heart has yet to lose on the road this season.

A Panthers win would either send them to Sacramento-based Rio Americano, the No. 1 seed, or give them a home game against No. 8 Richmond.

Pleasant Valley (17-6-1) got the eighth seed and will play at Golden Valley in Division III. PV would go to No. 4 Terra Linda or No. 5 Overfelt if the Vikings upset top-seeded Golden Valley.

The other Northern Section teams in the regionals, Live Oak is the eighth seed in Division IV and at Marin Academy, while Gridley (No. 3 seed), Winters (No. 4) and Williams (No. 8) are all in Division V.

Gridley (12-6-2) will host Venture Academy (23-1-1), and Winters (13-1-4) hosts Marshall (13-2-3). Williams (14-3-6) will travel to play Leadership (12-3) at McClymonds High School. The Bulldogs, if they win, will get the winner of Bakersfield Christian and Denair, while Winters would get the Williams-Leadership winner.