A breakdown of the 2024 high school season for the 4 NorCal sections. I am planning on following up with an early outlook of the 2025 season.
Central
Buchanan defeated Clovis West 12-10 to repeat as D1 section champions and punched their ticket to D1 NorCal’s where they fell 16-9 to the #1 seed De La Salle. Buchanan has a good chunk of talent hanging around for 2025.
Garces Memorial repeated as D2 champs while Cabrillo took home the D3 banner. Garces would eventually fall to Valley Christian 11-7 in the first round of D3 NorCal’s. Cabrillo earned the 8th seed in D3 NorCal’s and fell 20-5 to eventual champion Ripon.
Clovis went on a run in the NorCal D2 playoffs. Entering as the 5th seed, the Cougars defeated 4th seeded Davis 14-6 and the #1 seed Redwood 10-9 before eventually falling to Menlo 12-6 in the title game. Clovis only graduates 1 player from their 2024 squad.
San Joaquin
Rio Americano won D1 SJS for the second year in a row with a 19-11 win over Davis. Rio would eventually fall to SHP in the D1 NorCal quarter final 13-5. Rio’s 2024 squad had only 1 senior on the roster, UCLA bound goalie Harper Gardner.
Rocklin redeemed themselves with a 14-13 overtime win over Ripon to earn the D2 banner after losing to Ripon in the D2 title match last year. Rocklin would go on to beat Clovis West 12-11 in the D2 NorCal quarterfinal before falling to eventual champion Menlo 11-10.
Buhach Colony defeated Nevada Union 9-3 for the D3 SJS title and would go on to the D3 NorCal tournament. BC would fall to Los Altos 14-5 in the opening round.
Although Ripon was the 2024 D2 SJS runner-up, the Indians would rebound and take home a D3 NorCal banner with a 16-10 win over Los Altos. The Ripon 2025 class won a major title every year: D3 SJS in 2021 and 2022, D2 SJS in 2023, and D3 NorCal in 2024.
North Coast (NCS)
De La Salle won the NCS Open division title for the 3rd time in 4 years with a 14-13 overtime win over Miramonte. DLS went on to beat Buchanan 16-9 and Campolindo 14-8 before falling to SHP 9-7 in the D1 NorCal title match.
Redwood repeated as D1 NCS champions, while Marin Academy earned the D2 banner. Redwood would beat Harker 14-13 before falling to Clovis 10-9 in the NorCal D2 tournament. Marin Academy fell to Merced 12-4 in the opening round of D3 NorCal’s.
Miramonte lost in the NCS Open final and was eliminated in the D1 NorCal semi’s. However, Miramonte played several high level games this year and beat teams like Cathedral Catholic and Corona Del Mar. Miramonte might have the most returning talent in NorCal.
Central Coast (CCS)
SHP continued its dominance, securing yet another CCS open division title with a 10-9 win over St. Francis. SHP also won D1 NorCal’s beating Rio Americano 13-5, Miramonte 12-11, and DLS 9-7. SHP’s 2025 class won CCS Open and NorCal D1 titles all four years.
Los Altos took home the D1 title, earning redemption from their CCS final loss to Palo Alto back in 2018. Los Altos took care of Buhach Colony 20-5 and Merced 8-6 before falling to Ripon 16-10 in the NorCal D3 championship game. Los Altos may have an open division squad in 2025.
After a last place finish in league, Valley Christian responded in a big way by securing the CCS D2 title, the first in program history. VC beat Garces Memorial 11-7 but lost to Ripon 11-10 in the NorCal D3 playoffs.
Menlo School fell to SHP 13-9 in the CCS Open semi’s but had still earned a NorCal bid. The Knights took advantage of their #2 seed in D2 NorCal’s, beating Righetti 17-9, Rocklin 11-10, and took down Clovis 12-6 for the title. Hunter Coleman showed out in his freshman debut, exploding for 141 goals on the year. Menlo returns 6 of 7 starters for 2025.