Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The St. Bernard’s and South Fork girls teams are expected to be included in the NCS playoff brackets, which will be announced on Sunday.

By Ray Hamill — The North Coast Section will announce this year’s playoff brackets and seeds in boys and girls fall soccer on Sunday.

And as always there is expected to be a large contingent of H-DNL teams included, as the local league looks to continue its recent strong playoff presence.

Particularly for the H-DNL girls, who have dominated the section playoffs for the past six years, albeit among a limited field of NCS fall programs.

The Big 4 champion Eureka girls clinched their third straight conference championship this week and will now look to win a fourth straight NCS Division-1 title and a fifth in six postseasons.

The Fortuna, Ferndale and St. Bernard’s girls teams each also have enjoyed success in the section playoffs recently.

Fortuna became the first-ever Big 4 team to win an NCS championship in 2017 and barely lost last year’s final against Eureka.

St. Bernard’s won three straight Division-3 titles before losing last year’s final to Ferndale.

In total, the H-DNL girls teams have collected an impressive nine of the last 12 NCS championships dating back to 2017. 

Can they continue that success this year?

Well, the MaxPreps rankings would appear to suggest they can.

Heading into Sunday’s seedings meeting, four H-DNL teams are ranked in the top six in Division 1 and three are ranked in the top five in Division 3.

There is no Division 2 bracket in girls fall soccer.

The Fortuna girls are the top-ranked team in Division 1, despite being edged for the Big 4 title by rival Eureka.

The Loggers are currently No. 2, followed by No. 3 Arcata, No. 4 Credo, No. 5 Willits and No. 6 Del Norte.

Last year, six teams in total were included in the Division-1 playoff bracket.

In Division 3, meanwhile, a good Mendocino team is ranked No. 1 and is likely to receive the top seed, with St. Bernard’s occupying the No. 2 spot after a strong finish to the season.

Ferndale is No. 4 but is not playoff eligible and South Fork is No. 5.

Last year, four teams total were included in the Division-3 playoff field.

The H-DNL boys, as usual, will face more competition in the section playoffs with a far larger pool of NCS fall teams and three divisions.

According to MaxPreps, No. 3 Del Norte is the highest ranked local team in Division 1 and trails No. 1 Head-Royce (Oakland) and No. 2 International (San Francisco).

H-DNL champion Fortuna is No. 4, followed by No. 5 Arcata, No. 8 McKinleyville and No. 10 Eureka, with the five local teams all expected to make the field.

The Huskies are the only local team to have ever won an NCS title in boys soccer, with longtime head coach Daniel Holmes guiding them to section crowns in 2016, 2018 and 2019.

A total of 14 teams were included in last year’s Division-1 bracket, with Fortuna the only H-DNL school to reach the semifinals, where the Huskies fell to Making Waves Academy.

The NCS playoffs get under way on Wednesday.