Marshall Fundamental girls' soccer garners No. 2 seed

Fresh off winning its first-ever Delphic League title, the Marshall Fundamental girls’ soccer team finds itself in a prime position to win its first-ever CIF Southern Section championship.

Upon the unveiling on Monday of the CIF girls’ soccer playoff pairings, Marshall earned the No. 2 seed in the Division VII pairings and the top seed among Pasadena-area girls’ squads, as Pasadena Poly, La Salle, Mayfield, San Marino, South Pasadena and Maranatha will also open up first-round play on Thursday.

Marshall (13-4-2) awaits the result of Tuesday’s wild-card match between Rosemead (9-7-2), the Mission Valley League third-place representative, and High Desert League No. 3 Kern Valley (13-9-1) on Tuesday.

Up in Division III, after winning the Prep League title, Pasadena Poly (16-1-1) will host Placentia Valencia, a fourth-place squad out of the Empire League with an 11-9-3 record.  Elsewhere in the division, La Salle (10-6-6), after a third-place finish in the Del Rey League, faces host Santa Paula (16-6), the Tri-Valley League’s second-place squad. Mayfield (9-5-2) took third in the Prep League and, at least on paper, would seem to have a good shot at some first-round fortune as it will travel to face Desert Sky League No. 2 Victor Valley, which has a 5-11-3 record.

Three locals are in Division VI, led by Rio Hondo League champion San Marino (14-3-3). The Titans will play Mountain Pass League No. 2 San Jacinto (18-5-3) or Los Padres League No. 4 Lompoc (6-9-1). South Pasadena (9-8-5), which took second in the Rio Hondo despite going unbeaten in league, travels to face Crean Lutheran, the Academy League’s second-place squad with a 16-7-1 record. Maranatha (6-14-2) took second in the Olympic League and will take to the road to face Summit (7-9-3), the second-place finisher in the Sunkist League.

All matches are scheduled for a 5 p.m. start time unless a change is agreed upon.