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Four Orange County girls soccer teams — two in Division 1 and a pair in Division 3 — are headed to the semifinal round of the CIF-SS playoffs on Wednesday.
In Division 1, fourth-seeded Villa Park (19-3-2) plays at No. 1 Santiago Corona (20-1-3) while unseeded Los Alamitos (18-4-5) plays host to No. 2 Temecula Valley (20-1-1). Both matches are set for 6 p.m.
The Los Alamitos-Temecula Valley match is a pairing of the finalists from the Best in the West tournament on Dec. 18. Temecula Valley defeated the Griffins 2-1 at University High in Irvine.
“We are looking forward to facing them because we have acquired our identity, which we were still trying to establish during the preseason,” said Los Alamitos coach Pat Rossi, whose team was ranked sixth in the final Division 1 poll.
The Griffins also are coming off a major victory in the quarterfinals. Senior Mimi Abusham scored twice in a 2-0 victory at Harvard-Westlake on Saturday as the Surf League champion dethroned the reigning Division 1 champion.
Abusham helps lead Los Alamitos with 20 goals and 11 assists.
Temecula Valley also impressed by defeating San Clemente 4-0 in the quarterfinals. High-scoring forward Natalie Mitchell scored once, raising her total to 33, but junior Kate Jacobsen led the way with a hat-trick.
In Division 3, fourth-seeded Portola (16-3-6) plays host to No. 2 West Torrance (18-3-2) while Sonora (17-3-3) travels to El Segundo (14-4-1) in a clash of unseeded squads. Both semifinals are scheduled for 5 p.m.
Sonora and El Segundo were ranked sixth and 10th, respectively, in the final Division 3 poll.
Portola is highly-seeded but also carries an underdog story. The school has reached the semifinals in its first postseason appearance.
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