Los Alamitos, with a young squad that features five freshmen in starting roles, was awarded the No. 1 seed in the Division 1 field — along with a first-round bye — when the CIF-Southern Section girls soccer pairings were released Monday morning.
“That’s cool to hear (that other coaches think we’re the favorite), but at this point, everyone’s good and anything can happen,” said Coach Pat Rossi, who guided the Griffins to the quarterfinals last season. “We need to be relaxed and focused on our game.
“When we focus on playing good soccer, rather than on winning, that’s when we look our best. When we’re our best version, that’s when we play, that’s when we look our best.”
The Griffins (24-3-2) will face Northwood (10-5-3) or Rancho Cucamonga (12-8-3) in a second-round game Feb. 20.
One other county girls team received a No. 1 seed – Pacifica (17-3-3) in Division 3. The Mariners won the Empire League title for the first time in six years.
The boys soccer playoff pairings, which also were released Monday, featured three Orange County teams receiving a No. 1 seed: Servite (17-2-2) in Division 1, Valencia ( 22-1-3) in Division 2 and University (15-1-3) in Division 3.
Garden Grove (15-2-2), co-champion in the Garden Grove League, received the No. 2 seed in boys Division 4.
In the girls Division 1 bracket, Santa Margarita (14-1-3), the Trinity League champs, received the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye. JSerra (17-1-1), the defending division champs, opens the playoffs at Dana Hills (5-8-3) on Thursday.
Two county girls teams received No. 2 seeds – Villa Park (18-4-2) in Division 2, and Garden Grove (21-0-1) in Division 6.
In the girls playoffs, wild-card games will be played Tuesday, Feb. 13, first-round games on Thursday, Feb. 15, second-round games on Tuesday, Feb. 20, quarterfinals on Friday, Feb. 23, semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 27 and the championship games on Friday-Saturday, March 2-3.
In the boys playoffs, wild-card games will be played Wednesday, Feb. 14, first-round games on Friday, Feb. 16, second-round games on Wednesday, Feb. 21, quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 24, semifinals on Tuesday, Feb. 27 and the finals on Friday-Saturday, March 2-3.
-Correspondent Scott French contributed to this report.