The boys soccer playoffs began last night, and as it's been previously mentioned a few dozen times, many of the area's best players aren't in it because they chose to play club soccer this spring. And we can debate what that means to this year's state playoffs as long as we want, especially whether some of last year's best teams -- for instance, Federal Way -- would be part of the picture with their best players.

But right now, many of those kids are missing out. Take Eastlake's game last night, in which the Wolves beat defending 4A champ Pasco 2-1 in a shootout. The team didn't get back to Sammamish until about 2 a.m. last night, but the players didn't seem to mind. They were celebrating the whole way back.

"That," Eastlake coach Adam Gervis told me this afternoon, "is an experience they will remember for the rest of their life."

That's the hardest part of this whole situation. Sure, maybe high school soccer isn't as competitive as club and it doesn't provide the same college opportunities. But in almost every other sport, kids are given those opportunities in club sports, and yet they still have the chance to play with their classmates. Right now, some of the area's best basketball players are playing on AAU teams, extremely talented teams usually playing in front of scouts. But come next March, they will chase after a state championship at the Tacoma Dome.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear this soccer situation is on the brink of changing anytime soon.

Here's the schedule for this weekend's second-round games:

Class 4A

FRIDAY

Bellarmine vs. Olympia, 7 p.m. at Ingersoll Stadium (Olympia)
Mountain View vs. Puyallup, 7 p.m. at Sparks Stadium (Puyallup)

SATURDAY

Eastlake vs. Mead, 12 p.m. at Albi Stadium (Spokane)
Beamer vs. Shorewood, 7 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium

Class 3A

THURSDAY

Mercer Island vs. Shorecrest, 7 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium

FRIDAY

Capital vs. Lakeside, 5:30 p.m. at Interbay Stadium

SATURDAY

Kennedy at Sunnyside, time TBD
Camas at Mt. Vernon, 1 p.m.

Morning stars

1. Darcie Richmond, Bothell, girls golf. Shot a 69 at the KingCo 4A tournament at Snohomish GC, 5 strokes better than anyone else.

2. Evan Fassler, Cedarcrest, boys soccer. Don't let the 2A school confuse you. This forward, who scored two goals and two assists against Centralia is top notch. So is his teammate R.J. Sorensen, who added a goal and two assists in a 5-2 win.

3. Louis Schott, Lakeside, boys soccer. Scored the only goal in a win against Mount Rainier, and if a certain club team convinces him to play club next spring instead of high school, this might be the last year we see this super-talented freshman.