Breakers, Trojans in key battle tonight

It comes down to this, the final night of Pacific Coast League

play, to determine which team will get the third and final automatic

playoff berth out of the Pacific Coast League.

Laguna Beach High has an outside chance to reach next week’s

Division IX postseason party. The only way the Breakers can remain in

the hunt for a possible playoff berth is by beating University.

The teams will meet tonight at 7 p.m. in the regular season finale

at Guyer Field.

University is tied with Calvary Chapel for third place in the PCL

standings at 2-2. Laguna Beach, which last week picked up its first

league win by beating Tesoro, is 1-3.

A University win would give the Trojans the league’s No. 3 playoff

entry, by virtue of head-to-head competition.

The Trojans (4-5 overall) last week took the edge over Calvary

Chapel as they routed the Eagles, 42-0.

Heading into tonight’s clash, the Breakers and Trojans will have a

better feeling for where they stand, as Calvary Chapel battled league

champion Northwood on Thursday night.

An upset there would give the Eagles no worse than a share of

third place.

Then there’s Laguna Beach. A win over University, coupled with a

Northwood win over Calvary Chapel, would create a three-way tie for

third place.

In that scenario, head-to-head competition would result in each

team beating the other. A coin flip would determine which of the

three schools would get the league’s third playoff berth.

In the league’s other game tonight, second place Corona del Mar

hosts winless Tesoro.

A win tonight would also give Laguna Beach its sixth of the

season, tying last year’s overall record of 6-4, which was the

school’s best mark since the 1987 team went 10-2.

Two league wins would also be the most in PCL play by a Laguna

Beach team since the 1998 squad finished 2-3.

The Laguna Beach-

University Series

’71 Trojans 13, Artists 7

’72 Trojans 25, Artists 13

’73 Trojans 14, Artists 0

’74 Trojans 9, Artists 6

’75 Trojans 20, Artists 0

’76 Artists 20, Trojans 9

’77 Artists 12, Trojans 7

’80 Trojans 14, Artists 6

’84 Trojans 21, Artists 7

’85 Artists 20, Trojans 13

’94 Trojans 21, Artists 14

’95 Trojans 35, Artists 0

’96 Trojans 28, Artists 0

’97 Trojans 19, Artists 0

’98 Trojans 31, Artists 7

’99 Trojans 12, Artists 10

’00 Trojans 34, Artists 20

’01 Trojans 19, Artists 7