Santiago selected to play in Open Division

The Santiago girls soccer program is no stranger to competing against the best of the best come playoff time.

Santiago has been a fixture of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs for several years, and the Sharks are the first Inland teams who have been selected to compete in the section’s inaugural Open Division playoffs.

The Open Division bracket will feature a format different than the section’s other playoff divisions. Teams will play two matches (one at home, one on the road) in the first two rounds with the aggregate of the matches determining who advances. The championship will be a single match at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

Santiago (18-2-2) received the No. 2 seed in the Open Division bracket. The Sharks will travel to No. 2 seed Mater Dei (6-7-3) on Thursday and then host the return match Saturday. Santiago beat Mater Dei 5-2 when the two sides squared off in a nonleague match in December.

Six other Inland girls soccer teams received a Top 4 seeding in their respective playoff divisions.

Montclair (17-1-2) is the No. 1 seed in the Division 3 bracket, and the Cavaliers will open at home Thursday against King (10-12-2) or Redlands East Valley (10-7-2).

Great Oak (11-3-5) is the No. 3 seed in Division 3, but the Wolfpack will travel to Beckman (9-4-5) on Thursday after finishing third in the Southwestern League.

Diamond Ranch (15-3-0) is the No. 1 seed in the Division 6 bracket and also received a first-round bye. The Panthers will open at home Saturday against Trinity Classical Academy (8-4) or Grace (9-5-1).

Rim of the World and Colton received the No. 3 seed and No. 4 seed, respectively, in Division 6. Rim of the World (13-9-1) opens at home Thursday against Bellflower (12-5-3). Colton (15-81) received a first-round bye and will host Gabrielino (78-2) or Samueli Academy (10-4-3) in a second-round match Saturday.

Pacific (8-9-4) is the No. 3 seed in the Division 7 bracket. The Pirates will host Mountain View (8-9-3) in a wild-card match Tuesday.