Sectional soccer playoffs open Wednesday; Lower Lake, Middletown boys open on the road
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LAKE COUNTY >> Five of Lake County’s eight high school fall soccer teams are headed to the North Coast Section Division 1 playoffs.
The Clear Lake, Middletown and Upper Lake girls join the Middletown and Lower Lake boys in the postseason field. First-round games for both girls and boys take place Wednesday.
Girls
Upper Lake (8-7-2), the No. 9 seed, plays at No. 8 Middletown (7-8-1) in the only first-round girls game Wednesday. Action starts at 2:30 p.m. at Middletown High School.
The top seven teams in the girls field, including No. 7 Clear Lake (11-11-2), have first-round byes because there weren’t enough teams to fill the 16-team bracket. They automatically advance to the quarterfinals where Clear Lake will travel to No. 2 seed Fortuna (15-3-1) on either Friday or Saturday.
The Upper Lake-Middletown winner advances to the quarterfinals on Friday or Saturday at No. 1 seed Eureka (10-2-1). Middletown beat Upper Lake twice during North Central League I play, winning 2-1 at Upper Lake on Oct. 3 and 3-2 at Middletown on Oct. 22.
Semifinals are Nov. 13 and the championship game Nov. 15 or Nov. 16.
Boys
Only No. 1 seed Head-Royce (16-0-1) of Oakland has a bye in the first round of the Division 1 boys playoffs where 15 of the available 16 spots are taken.
Lower Lake (12-3-1), the North Central League I runner-up this season, hits the road Wednesday to play No. 5 Del Norte (15-3-2) at 3:30 p.m. in Crescent City. Middletown (9-5-1), third in the NCL I standings, is the No. 14 seed and hits the road Wednesday to play No. 3 seed Making Waves Academy (9-3-6) of Richmond at MLK Field in Richmond beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Lower Lake and Middletown would both advance to the quarterfinals Friday or Saturday if they can score an upset in Wednesday’s opening round.
Semifinals are Nov. 13 and the championship game Nov. 15 or Nov. 16.
