No. 1 Mater Dei Goes for Hat Trick

Top-ranked Mater Dei will begin its quest for a third tournament title in three weeks when the undefeated Monarchs play Beverly Hills today in the Marina High boys’ soccer tournament.

Mater Dei (13-0-2), which returned home from Tampa, Fla., Saturday with the Puma International trophy, could meet the county’s seventh-ranked team, Fountain Valley (4-1-3), at 1:30 today in the second round.

The Monarchs won the championship Saturday, 6-1, over Bloomingdale (Fla.). Nick Miller and Ruben Rosales each scored twice, and Matt Fennell had two assists and a goal.

In addition to Mater Dei and Fountain Valley, three more top-10 county teams are entered in the Marina tournament: fifth-ranked Huntington Beach (6-0-1), eighth-ranked Dana Hills (7-1-2) and ninth-ranked Esperanza (8-1-1).

Huntington Beach defeated Mater Dei for the Marina tournament last year, but the Oilers then faltered in the Sunset League and failed to make the playoffs.

“You definitely don’t want to make the Marina tournament the highlight of your season,” Fountain Valley Coach Jason Smith said. “But you want to play the best teams so you can to get ready for league.”

Smith doesn’t want to look past his first-round game against Anaheim at 9 a.m. today, but he is excited about the chance to play Mater Dei.

“It’s a benchmark to see where we’re at,” said Smith, whose team knocked off fourth-ranked Santa Margarita, 1-0, two weeks ago.

Junior Kyle Polak has come up big for the Barons in goal with three shutouts. Junior forwards Ryan Lancaster and Muluwa Manda lead Fountain Valley with four goals each and juniors Drew Tolman and Sean Iliff each have three goals.

Marina (7-1-2) and Long Beach Millikan, the top-rated team in Division I, are also entered in the 32-team field. The tournament concludes Friday with the championship game scheduled at 1 p.m.

MUSTANG INVITATIONAL

The Mustang Invitational Cup boys’ tournament begins this morning at Trabuco Hills High.

Second-ranked Woodbridge (8-1-2), Santa Margarita (9-1), sixth-ranked Capistrano Valley (10-1-2) and 10th-ranked Edison (2-0-3) head the 18-team field.

The round-robin tournament ends at 7 p.m. Friday with the championship game.

TOURNAMENT TIDBITS

Last season, Estancia came out of nowhere to win a Southern Section Division IV boys’ title. Could Costa Mesa do the same this season?

Trini Hernandez scored three goals to lead the Mustangs to a 4-2 victory over Long Beach Poly in the title game of the Magnolia tournament Saturday. The Mustangs (6-3-1) beat Pacific Coast League rival Laguna Beach in the semifinals.

EXCALIBUR BEGINS

The premier girls’ tournament in Southern California begins today, when 32 of the best teams from California converge on Foothill High for the Excalibur tournament.

Seven of the county’s top-10 teams will compete in the three-day tournament, which is in its 11th year. The out-of-county competition should give the locals a good run for the title.

San Jose Archbishop Mitty, the two-time defending Central Coast Section champion, and considered one of the best teams in the nation, will open against Los Alamitos at 11 a.m. today. West Hills Chaminade the four-time Southern Section Division IV defending champion plays Edison, the county’s No. 10 team, at 3:30 p.m.

The day begins with four games at 8 a.m., including one between Irvine and Claremont, which reached the Division I finals last season, and Rosary’s meeting with Torrance Bishop Montgomery, which reached the Division IV finals.

Capistrano Valley, the county’s second-ranked team, is looking to win its third-consecutive Excalibur title. The Cougars, the defending Division I champions, open against Newport Harbor today at 3.

The county’s top-ranked team, Aliso Niguel, is competing in its first Excalibur tournament. The Wolverines appear headed for a second-round matchup against No. 8 Mission Viejo.

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Staff writer Melanie Neff contributed to this story.

If you have an item or idea for the boys’ or girls’ soccer report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at dave.mckibben@latimes.com or melanie.neff@latimes.com