’24-25 soccer season kicks into high gear

Let’s start there, as Serra is off to a 1-1 start after a league-opening loss to St. Francis, followed by a win over Sacred Heart Cathedral. The Padres feature one of the Central Coast Section’s most prolific goal scorers in Nate Coughlin, who has 10 through eight games.

But it has yet to translate into a WCAL title. Over the last 10 seasons, four teams have won league titles – Bellarmine won in 2015 and 2016; St. Ignatius won three straight from 2017 to 2019, Sacred Heart Cathedral slipped into the top spot in 2020, while St. Francis has won the last three WCAL crowns.

Serra, meanwhile, hasn’t finished better than third, having done that three times since 2015. Like all other sports, the WCAL soccer league is among the best in Northern California, so every week is a gauntlet. The Padres (1-1 WCAL, 5-2-1 overall) hosts Bellarmine (2-0, 6-1-1) Tuesday before taking on Mitty (1-0-1, 5-0-3) at noon Saturday in San Mateo.

Like the WCAL, WBAL play got started last week and so far, the race for the league title is wide open. Six of the eight teams started league play with winning records, led by a Crystal team that went 5-1-0 in non-league play and are off to a 1-0-1 start after opening with a win over King’s Academy and a tie with Sacred Heart Prep.

Menlo School (2-0 WBAL, 4-2-2 overall), which beat Priory and Eastside College Prep by a combined score of 9-0, is the defending league champ. Sacred Heart Prep is the only team in the league that does not have a loss and the Gators are always in the title mix.

In the PAL boys’ Bay Division, an unbeaten Menlo-Atherton squad is the odds-on favorite to return to the top of the standings, but Aragon will have something to say about that. The Bears (7-0-2) are 3-0-1 against teams from the WCAL, with wins over St. Ignatius, Serra and St. Francis.

Aragon (5-1-2) is the only other side in the five-team Bay Division to have a winning record. The Dons haven’t played the toughest schedule, so it will be interesting to see what the Dons do in Bay play. South City (2-5-1), the reigning Ocean Division champion, knows what it takes to compete for a division title, so expect the Warriors to have a say.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is Burlingame, the defending Bay and Northern California Division II champion. The Panthers (2-6) enter league play on a four-game losing streak — including a 2-0 loss to San Mateo for the first time since the 2013 season.

In the Ocean Division, Hillsdale (7-1-1) is looking to make its claim as the best team on the Peninsula. The Knights have won four games in a row and have secured wins over Bay teams Sequoia and Burlingame.

Hillsdale is the only team in the division that heads into league play with a winning record. Half Moon Bay (3-6-1) and Woodside (3-7) have struggled in non-league play, but both have been involved in title races the last several years, so they won’t let Hillsdale go without a fight.

In the Ocean, El Camino (8-2-1) is the team to beat and it’s not really close. The Colts loaded up on a tough non-league schedule and have posted some quality wins — and losses. After a 1-1 tie with Aragon to open the season, the Colts fell to Bay Division squads Sequoia (1-0) and South City (2-0), but beat Ocean Division teams Woodside (1-0), San Mateo (5-1) and Mills (6-0).

Terra Nova (5-3) appears to be the only team that will challenge El Camino as they are the only two teams to enter league play with winning records. The other three teams in the division — Capuchino, Oceana and Westmoor — are a combined 1-8.

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On the girls’ side, the PAL Bay Division is as wide open as its been in several years, with two heavyweights, Sequoia and Menlo-Atherton, going through reloading modes this season. But both are still good enough to have a say in who ends up as division champ.

Sequoia (3-4-2), in particular, had played a brutal non-league schedule with losses to Mitty, Los Gatos, St. Ignatius and Menlo School. The big question for the Ravens is finding someone, or multiple someones, to pick up the scoring slack left by the graduated Adi Hawes.

M-A (3-4-1) is in a similar situation. The Bears may be young, but they have plenty of talent and it may take a while for that talent to gel. Burlingame (3-5-2), which was in the mix for the Bay title until the last week of the season in 2024, has also scuffled to start the season.

Meanwhile, Aragon (5-1), the defending Ocean Division champ which got a promotion to the Bay this season, Hillsdale (6-3) and Woodside (4-2-1) are the only three with winning non-league records. Woodside has arguably the best striker in the league in Mariam Yusuf, but the Dons, led by midfielder Emi Lo, have scoring all over the field.

Much like the Bay, the PAL Ocean Division looks to be a free-for-all. San Mateo and Terra Nova each come into league play with just one loss each, while Carlmont and South City are around the .500 mark.

Of those four, Carlmont might be the favorite, despite going winless in the Bay Division last season. The Scots played a rugged non-league schedule and the prevailing thought is that they are in the mix for the division title.

In the Lake Division, Mills is a heavy favorite. The Vikings were 4-4 in non-league play, but the rest of the division is a combined 1-13-1.

In the WBAL’s Foothill Division, Menlo School and Harker appear to be the teams to beat, with Sacred Heart Prep always in the mix, as well. After a bit of a slow start, Menlo is starting to heat up, having won it last four games, including wins over Sequoia and Menlo-Atherton.

In the WBAL’s Skyline Division, defending division and Central Coast Section Division V winner Crystal is off to a 5-2 start. Along with 3-1-1 Castilleja, they are the only two teams with winning non-league records.

Nathan Mollat is in his 24th year covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.