CCS playoffs

Central Coast Section championships, Sat Nov 7 to Sat Nov 14. This page tracks each CCS league’s share of the field and, once CCS seeds it, the bracket itself. Not seeded yet: CCS sets the bracket at its seeding meeting on Mon Nov 2, and it appears here that evening.

Central Coast Section · 16 teams · SCVAL 7, BVAL 4, PCAL 2, 3 at-large

Following an MCAL team? The North Coast Section holds no field hockey championship. MCAL tournament →

Following an EAL team? The Northern Section’s field hockey postseason is the Super Regional, Oct 30–31: the top six schools qualify. The coaches set its format and seeding, its site is to be announced, and no bracket is published yet. There is no NorCal or State path.

CIF Northern Section Field Hockey Guidelines 2026-28 §III.E.1 and §IV (the top six EAL/SRL schools compete; varsity only). Northern Section Field Hockey Guidelines (PDF) (opens in a new tab)

Jump to SCVAL ↓Jump to BVAL ↓Jump to PCAL ↓Jump to MCAL →Jump to EAL ↑

The field

16 teams

7/ 16

SCVAL holds 7 of 16 berths

4/ 16

BVAL holds 4 of 16 berths

2/ 16

PCAL holds 2 of 16 berths

3 at-large berths, chosen by the CCS committee

Key dates

all times PT

Fri Oct 30SCVALSCVAL crossover and 4th-place play-inCrossover (helps CCS ordering). Play-in for the SCVAL 7th automatic qualifier.
Sat Oct 31CCS end of league seasonThe last day a league game or league postseason game may be played.
Sat Oct 3111 AM PTBVALBVAL play-inMt. Hamilton #4 at Santa Teresa #1 — play-in for BVAL’s 4th automatic CCS berth.
Mon Nov 212:00 PM PTCCS entries dueLeagues submit their qualifiers and at-large candidates.
Mon Nov 21:00 PM PTCCS seeding meetingThe committee seeds both CCS divisions. This page fills in that evening.
Sat Nov 7QuarterfinalsHigher seed hosts.
Wed Nov 11SemifinalsHigher seed hosts.
Sat Nov 14FinalsSite set by CCS.
Thu Nov 194:00 PM PTCCS evaluation meetingThe season review that closes the tournament.

The higher seed hosts through the semifinals. Dates from the CIF-CCS playoff-dates release and the official league schedules. All times Pacific.

SCVAL — Santa Clara Valley Athletic League

SCVAL holds 7 of the 16 CCS berths. Ordered by league points; every status below is a written word, and nothing here is official until Mon Nov 2.

De Anza

through Sep 30 · unofficial

Full table

3/ 7

3 of De Anza’s 7 teams are in automatic-qualifier position today. 3 per division qualify automatically.

De Anza projected CCS qualification, from league points through Sep 30. Unofficial.
#	Team	Status
1	Your team. St. Ignatius College Preparatory, 1st in De Anza, 5-0-0, 15 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
2	Your team. Saint Francis, 2nd in De Anza, 5-1-0, 15 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
3	Your team. Valley Christian, 3rd in De Anza, 3-2-1, 10 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
AQ line
4	Your team. Los Altos, 4th in De Anza, 2-2-1, 7 pointsPlay-in game Oct 30	Play-in game Oct 30
5	Your team. Fremont, 5th in De Anza, 1-3-2, 5 pointsAt-large consideration	At-large consideration
6	Your team. Homestead, 6th in De Anza, 1-4-0, 3 pointsNo automatic path	No automatic path
7	Your team. Cupertino, 7th in De Anza, 0-5-0, 0 pointsNo automatic path	No automatic path

El Camino

through Oct 1 · unofficial

Full table

3/ 8

3 of El Camino’s 8 teams are in automatic-qualifier position today. 3 per division qualify automatically.

El Camino projected CCS qualification, from league points through Oct 1. Unofficial.
#	Team	Status
1	Your team. Archbishop Mitty, 1st in El Camino, 7-0-0, 21 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
2	Your team. Los Gatos, 2nd in El Camino, 6-1-0, 18 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
3	Your team. Palo Alto, 3rd in El Camino, 5-2-0, 15 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
AQ line
4	Your team. Santa Clara, 4th in El Camino, 3-3-1, 10 pointsPlay-in game Oct 30	Play-in game Oct 30
5	Your team. Saratoga, 5th in El Camino, 3-4-0, 9 pointsAt-large consideration	At-large consideration
6	Your team. Presentation, 6th in El Camino, 2-4-1, 7 pointsNo automatic path	No automatic path
7	Your team. Lynbrook, 7th in El Camino, 1-6-0, 3 pointsNo automatic path	No automatic path
8	Your team. Monta Vista, 8th in El Camino, 0-7-0, 0 pointsNo automatic path	No automatic path

Crossover and play-in

Fri Oct 30

Crossover · #1 v #1, Fri Oct 30: St. Ignatius College Preparatory (De Anza #1) versus Archbishop Mitty (El Camino #1).
Crossover · #2 v #2, Fri Oct 30: Saint Francis (De Anza #2) versus Los Gatos (El Camino #2).
Crossover · #3 v #3, Fri Oct 30: Valley Christian (De Anza #3) versus Palo Alto (El Camino #3).
Play-in, Fri Oct 30: Los Altos (De Anza #4) versus Santa Clara (El Camino #4).

Pairings follow the current league tables, so they move with every result.

How to read the projection

The labelled 2px rule marks the end of the division’s automatic or play-in places. How SCVAL qualifies — Article VII §2 (first three in each division are automatic qualifiers; fourth place plays in for the SCVAL 7th AQ; the play-in loser and both fifth-place teams go to CCS for at-large consideration).

Every status in the tables is a written word. There are no probabilities on this page, because there is no model behind it — only the league points played so far.

How these places are computed

BVAL — Blossom Valley Athletic League

BVAL holds 4 of the 16 CCS berths. Ordered by league points; every status below is a written word, and nothing here is official until Mon Nov 2.

Mt. Hamilton

through Oct 1 · unofficial

Full table

Mt. Hamilton projected CCS qualification, from league points through Oct 1. Unofficial.
#	Team	Status
1	Your team. Christopher, 1st in Mt. Hamilton, 2-0-0, 6 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
2	Your team. Gilroy, 2nd in Mt. Hamilton, 2-1-0, 6 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
3	Your team. Leigh, 3rd in Mt. Hamilton, 1-2-0, 3 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
AQ line
tied for 4th	Your team. Branham, tied for 4th in Mt. Hamilton, 1-1-0, 3 pointsPlay-in game Oct 31 or no automatic-berth routeBVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip	Play-in game Oct 31 or no automatic-berth routeBVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip
tied for 4th	Your team. Willow Glen, tied for 4th in Mt. Hamilton, 1-1-0, 3 pointsPlay-in game Oct 31 or no automatic-berth routeBVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip	Play-in game Oct 31 or no automatic-berth routeBVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip
6	Your team. Leland, 6th in Mt. Hamilton, 0-2-0, 0 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route

Branham: Tied on 3 points with Willow Glen and unresolved by every criterion — BVAL Field Hockey By-Laws (rev. 8/13/24) §6f (coin flip — we cannot compute it, so the teams stay tied). We show them level.
Branham and Willow Glen are level across fourth, so which of them plays in on Oct 31 is not settled — BVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip.

Santa Teresa

through Sep 29 · unofficial

Full table

Santa Teresa projected CCS qualification, from league points through Sep 29. Unofficial.
#	Team	Status
tied for 1st	Your team. Prospect, tied for 1st in Santa Teresa, 2-0-0, 6 pointsHosts the play-in Oct 31 or no automatic-berth routeBVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip	Hosts the play-in Oct 31 or no automatic-berth routeBVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip
tied for 1st	Your team. Westmont, tied for 1st in Santa Teresa, 2-0-0, 6 pointsHosts the play-in Oct 31 or no automatic-berth routeBVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip	Hosts the play-in Oct 31 or no automatic-berth routeBVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip
Play-in host
3	Your team. Del Mar, 3rd in Santa Teresa, 1-0-0, 3 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route
4	Your team. Ann Sobrato, 4th in Santa Teresa, 0-1-0, 0 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route
5	Your team. Live Oak, 5th in Santa Teresa, 0-1-0, 0 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route
6	Your team. Silver Creek, 6th in Santa Teresa, 0-3-0, 0 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route

Prospect: Tied on 6 points with Westmont and unresolved by every criterion — BVAL Field Hockey By-Laws (rev. 8/13/24) §6f (coin flip — we cannot compute it, so the teams stay tied). We show them level.
Prospect and Westmont are level across first, so which of them plays in on Oct 31 is not settled — BVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip.

Play-in

Sat Oct 31

Play-in, Sat Oct 31, 11 AM PT: Branham or Willow Glen (Mt. Hamilton #4) at Prospect or Westmont (Santa Teresa #1, host).
Santa Teresa co-champions: BVAL By-Laws §6b-f decide who hosts.
Not settled yet: teams are level across a seat, and BVAL By-Laws §6f decides it with a coin flip. The pairing follows the table, so it moves with every result.

Pairings follow the current league tables, so they move with every result.

How to read the projection

The labelled 2px rule marks the end of the division’s automatic or play-in places. How BVAL qualifies — BVAL Field Hockey By-Laws (rev. 8/13/24) §7a (Mt. Hamilton 1st-3rd are BVAL #1-#3; Mt. Hamilton 4th plays at the Santa Teresa champion for BVAL #4).

Every status in the tables is a written word. There are no probabilities on this page, because there is no model behind it — only the league points played so far.

How these places are computed

PCAL — Pacific Coast Athletic League

PCAL holds 2 of the 16 CCS berths. Ordered by league points; every status below is a written word, and nothing here is official until Mon Nov 2.

League table

through Oct 1 · unofficial

Full table

PCAL projected CCS qualification, from league points through Oct 1. Unofficial.
#	Team	Status
1	Your team. Stevenson, 1st in PCAL, 6-0-0, 18 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
2	Your team. Hollister, 2nd in PCAL, 5-1-0, 15 pointsAutomatic qualifier	Automatic qualifier
AQ line
3	Your team. Carmel, 3rd in PCAL, 4-2-0, 12 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route
4	Your team. Monterey, 4th in PCAL, 3-3-0, 9 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route
5	Your team. Salinas, 5th in PCAL, 2-4-0, 6 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route
6	Your team. Santa Catalina, 6th in PCAL, 1-5-0, 3 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route
7	Your team. Greenfield, 7th in PCAL, 0-6-0, 0 pointsNo automatic-berth route	No automatic-berth route

How to read the projection

The labelled 2px rule marks the end of the division’s automatic or play-in places. How PCAL qualifies — PCAL Sports Rules — Field Hockey (Jan 2022) §1.8.1 (the top two of the final round-robin standings are automatic CCS qualifiers).

Every status in the tables is a written word. There are no probabilities on this page, because there is no model behind it — only the league points played so far.

How these places are computed

Bracket

CCS seeds CCS Division 1 (seeds 1-8) and CCS Division 2 (seeds 9-16) at the Mon Nov 2 meeting; the bracket appears here that evening. Official CCS bracket (opens in a new tab) — not yet posted.

At-large berths

Three at-large berths are the CCS committee’s call. SCVAL submits its play-in loser and both fifth-place teams (Article VII §2); PCAL teams placed 3rd or lower may apply (PCAL By-laws §23.4); BVAL’s by-laws do not say whom it submits.