Just one more week remains of the soccer regular season. Some teams are starting to near peaks while others may stumble into the playoffs or offseason.
Here are some headlines from another wild week of Santa Clarita Valley soccer:
Another year, another Hart Indian boys’ soccer league title.
Hart won its sixth straight Foothill League championship on Tuesday after defeating Castaic, 5-0. The Indians showed they won’t let off the gas just yet and beat West Ranch, 4-1, on Thursday.
Hart is on a 26-game unbeaten streak in league play, dating back to 2021. The Indians will look to push that number to 28 before embarking on another CIF run.
Forward Trenton Rickard will likely have another Foothill League Player of the Year award on his resume after this season. Rickard will look to lead his team through the CIF Division 3 playoffs before continuing his playing career collegiately at The Master’s University.
Hart will have to boost the streak on the road with a trip to Canyon on Tuesday and Valencia on Thursday.
Golden Valley boys catch fire
Grizzlies’ soccer has hit its stride at the perfect time. This week saw Golden Valley take down Saugus, 3-2, and Valencia, 2-0, to push Grizzlies’ win streak to three matches. Forwards Alex Risdon and Jimmy Lozano have each netted a trio of goals in the streak.
Golden Valley will have its league bye, so everything will be on the line on Tuesday against West Ranch.
The Grizzlies and Wildcats drew, 0-0, in their first matchup. Golden Valley has a solid shot of still making the postseason should the team lose or tie again. However, a win would seal it for the Grizzlies and make Thursday a lot less stressful, watching everyone else play for seeding.
Canyon girls win third in a row
The Cowboys are all set to return to the playoffs after a 2-1 win over Castaic. The team defeated Golden Valley and Valencia to hit a three-game streak, but Canyon will look to keep winning to ride high into the postseason.
The Cowboys will face the current top two teams in the Foothill League to close out their 2022-23 regular season. Wins over Saugus or Hart would be statement victories as both opponents are looking to close out the season with a league championship.
Canyon will close out at home, hosting Hart on Tuesday and Saugus on Thursday.
League title still up for grabs between Hart and Saugus girls
One loss for either of these teams will nearly seal a league title in some sort of way.
Castaic shook up the standings on Tuesday after the Coyotes handed Hart its first league draw of the year.
Should the Centurions drop one more game, Hart will take its ninth Foothill League title in the last 10 years. However, if Saugus wins out and gets some help from around the league, the Centurions could be outright or co-champs, for the first time in 13 years.
Both teams will head to playoffs regardless, but a league champ may not be decided until the absolute last game of the season, when the Indians head to Valencia on Thursday night.
The wild finish begins Tuesday when Saugus hosts Castaic and Hart hosts Canyon at 3:15 p.m.
The Centurions return home to host Canyon on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. while the Indians head to Valencia at 6:30 p.m.
