By Ray Hamill — Get ready for a busy and hopefully exciting two weeks of North Coast Section soccer playoffs.
The 2026 section brackets and seeds were announced on Sunday with 11 of the 16 league teams included among five different brackets.
The Eureka, Del Norte and Ferndale girls are best positioned to make a deep run, with all three of those programs receiving top-two seeds.
And all three have a first-round bye.
The Pacific League champion Eureka girls are seeded No. 2 in Division 1 behind top seed Kelseyville and will play either No. 3 Fortuna or No. 6 Clear Lake in the weekend semifinals.
The Huskies will host their game against Clear Lake on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Redwood League champion St. Bernard’s also is included in the Division-1 field and received the No. 5 seed.
The Crusaders will open on the road at No. 4 Technology on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30.
The Del Norte and Ferndale girls are in the six-team Division-3 bracket.
The No. 1 Warriors are well positioned to win a first-ever NCS title and will play either No. 4 Lower Lake or No. 5 Cloverdale in the weekend semifinals.
The No. 2 Wildcats will play either No. 3 Credo or No. 6 Tomales in their weekend semifinal.
Six of the eight local boys teams also have qualified for the postseason, including three in the Division-1 bracket.
H-DNL champion Arcata is seeded No. 4 in the 12-school tournament and has an opening-round bye, before hosting either No. 5 Calistoga or No. 12 Fortuna in the weekend quarterfinals.
The Huskies will travel for their opening game on Wednesday night, with kickoff set for 7.
The McKinleyville Panthers are also included in the Division-1 field and are seeded No. 7.
The Panthers will open at home against No. 10 College Prep on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30.
The Eureka and Del Norte boys are included in the Division-2 field.
The No. 6 Loggers will host their opening game against No. 11 Trinity Prep on Wednesday night at 7, while the No. 7 Warriors will open at home against No. 10 Kelseyville on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30.
Rounding out the local contingent of teams to qualify for this year’s playoffs, the South Fork boys are seeded No. 10 in Division 3 and will open on the road at No. 7 Brave Christian on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30.
