CCCAA announces men's soccer regional field; 48 teams begin quest to state championship

CCCAA Regional Championship brackets: NorCal l SoCal 

SAN BERNARDINO - With the California Community College Athletic Association men’s soccer playoff field being expanded to 24 teams per region, there was some uncertainty as to which teams would make the field in the 2022 season.

Where there was no uncertainty, however, was which team was going to receive the top seed in the South.

Undefeated Cerritos College (19-0-2) sits atop the brackets, which were announced Monday. The Falcons will open their playoff run Saturday, as they will host the winner of Wednesday’s first round matchup of No. 17 San Bernardino Valley (9-8-3) at No. 16 Bakersfield (8-6-6).

The top eight seeds in each region received a first-round bye in the new playoff format, with each team opening play Saturday after teams seeded No. 9 through No. 24 will open play Wednesday. The brackets are available here.

In the North, the Central Valley Conference snagged the top two seeds, with Fresno City (15-2-4) sitting in the No. 1 spot, while Taft takes No. 2 after finishing the season with a 13-3-3 record. Coast Conference, South Division foes took the next spots in the field, as Hartnell (13-2-3) is No. 3 and DeAnza (11-4-3) is No. 4.

Rounding out the top eight in the North are: No. 5 Merced (14-3-3), No. 6 Cosumnes River (12-4-4), No. 7 City College of San Francisco (13-4-1), and No. 8 Butte (15-2-4).

Back down South, there is a level of parity in the field, with two five-team conferences sending four teams apiece into the field, while the Orange Empire Conference sent five, including No. 3 Fullerton (13-4-4). Oxnard College, which finished 17-1-1, took the No. 2 seed, leading a contingent of three teams from the Western State-North Conference.

The rest of the top seeds in the South are: No. 4 El Camino (16-2-2), No. 5 Mt. San Antonio (14-6-1), No. 6 Long Beach City (8-5-8), No. 7 Golden West (10-5-5), and No. 8 Santa Monica (14-3-5).

The final four teams will gather Dec. 2-4 at American River College for the State Championships.

(Bill Norris, CCCSIA)