There are high postseason expectations for the Monrovia High School boys soccer team yet again after the Wildcats turned in a strong showing by winning the powerful Rio Hondo League this winter.
Monrovia (19-3-5) received the No. 2 seed when the CIF-Southern Section office released its boys playoffs pairings on Monday morning. The Wildcats drew a nice local match-up with a home against Flintridge Prep in Friday’s first round.
Monrovia is the division’s defending champion after an epic run last winter, which saw the Wildcats be one of three Rio Hondo League teams, along with La Canada and South Pasadena, to reach the semifinals.
Monrovia eventually beat South Pasadena, which missed the playoffs this year, 1-0 for the division title. And that was after a big 3-0 win over La Canada in the semifinals.
La Canada, which gave Monrovia a nice run in league this season, isn’t seeded, but the Spartans (11-5-5) drew a home game on Friday against Hawthorne MSA. San Marino, the Rio Hondo’s third-place team, will visit St. Margaret’s Episcopal. Elsewhere in Division 6, Pasadena Poly visits Nogales and Maranatha hosts Vistamar.
Pasadena made a dream to the Division 3 semifinals last season after and is back looking for an even better finish. The Bulldogs are 16-1-2 and fresh off a Pacific League championship. The strong record wasn’t enough to land Pasadena a top-four seed in the loaded division, though.
However, Pasadena will have a first-round home game and play either St. Joseph or Bishop Amat in Friday’s first round. The Bulldogs are led by freshman phenom Vicente Tinoco, who has scored nine goals this season.
Muir got into the postseason after being the No. 3 team out of the Pacific League. The Mustangs are going to have get out of the wildcard round, though, but do get the game at home against Highland on Wednesday.
