Last season Chandler and Sandra Day O'Connor stole the Division I boys soccer spotlight in a highly-entertaining final won by Chandler. Left out of the final were teams familiar with centerstage -- Brophy Prep and Hamilton. Are they primed to regain their footing over the next two weeks?

Possibly. Brophy is the D-I tournament's No. 1 seed and Hamilton is No. 3 as competition opens Wednesday (Feb. 3) at the sites of the high seeds. The Broncos and Huskies are two of only three teams among the top-10 seeds with winning records against  other top-10 tourney seeds. Brophy was 3-0 during the season and Hamilton 5-1 in such matchups. No. 7 seed Highland is the other with a 4-1-1 mark. Hamilton and Brophy have met in the D-I final three of the last five years.

Six of the top-10 seeds (Pinnacle, Mesa High, Corona del Sol, Campo Verde, Chaparral and Ironwood) have one win or no wins vs. a top-10 seed. Overall there hasn't been a lot of cross play among the top 10 seeds in power-ranking matches or invitationals. Five of the first-round matches are first meetings this season. Matchups to date and past prowess seem to point to Brophy and Hamilton as the favorites to reach the finals on Feb. 13, but last year's final between a No. 7 seed and a No. 9 seed shows nothing is a sure thing.

First-round matches are Wednesday (Feb. 3) at 7 p.m. They are: #16 Desert Vista at  #1 Brophy; #9 Chaparral at #8 Campo Verde; #12 Tolleson at #5 Mesa; #13 Liberty at #4 Gilbert; #14 Desert Mountain at #3 Hamilton; #11 Chandler at #6 Corona del Sol; #10 Ironwood at #7 Highland; #15 Sandra Day O'Connor at #2 Pinnacle. Quarterfinals are Saturday Feb. 6 at high seed, times TBD. Semifinals are Wednesday Feb. 10 at 5 and 7 p.m. at Campo Verde HS. Championship is Saturday Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at Campo Verde HS.

Here's a brief look at the top-10 seeds -- highest to lowest:

No. 1 Brophy (12-5-3): The Broncos did not lose a power-ranking match (11-0-1) and their blemish was a season-ending tie with Liberty. That followed a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 2 Pinnacle two days earlier. Brophy bowed in the semifinals last year to Chandler and graduated 15 seniors. Coach Noah Lewkowitz has seen a core of young players meld to contender status. Leading the way is sophomore Carter Clemmensen with 27 goals, including four hat tricks. Sam Fletcher is next with six goals and six assists and Sam Tolson has five goals and five assists. The defense is led by seniors Ethan Shacknai, Garret Anson and keeper Nick Bruguglio and junior Brandon Theodorou. Marquee wins are over Pinnacle, Mesa and Ironwood.

No. 2 Pinnacle (20-2):  Coach Brock Heykoop saw the good and bad of closing the Pioneers' regular season facing Brophy. Though Pinnacle lost, 3-2, Heykoop said his team needed a match against a high-powered foe to be ready for the level of competition ahead at state. Pinnacle's attack is led by senior Dan Malki with 31 goals and 11 assists.  Sophomore Dylan Stevenson has 11 goals and seven assists and Matt Grimes is next with nine goals. The team's assists leader is Matt Bertocchi with 14. Captains Grimes and Gus Sevchik lead the defense and keepers Robby Kalna and Joaquin Rodriguez have combined for five shutouts. Pinnacle's only losses are to Brophy and Hamilton -- the Hamilton loss in the finals of the Arizona Soccer Showcase in late December. Pinnacle played only three matches against top-10 seeds at state.

No. 3 Hamilton (13-2-4): The Huskies have faced a lot of the top competition in the division with wins over Pinnacle, Corona del Sol, Highland, Campo Verde and Chaparral. Hamilton got an offensive lift this season with the arrival of Josh Drack, who has contributed mightlly with 24 goals. The Huskies defense is led by junior Beto Vidana and keeper Alex Deahr, who has eight shutouts. Hamilton's game relies on technique and speed of play. It has played four teams in its half of the bracket -- Pinnacle, Corona, Chandler and Highland.

No. 5 Mesa (11-3-1): The Jackrabbits have enjoyed a nice year despite returning only three starters. Defense and ball control are the staples. Mesa's three captains are defenders -- senior Issac Garcia and Brian Gomez and junior Josh Lagunas. Three keepers have split time this year after last year's only keeper graduated. Omar Callejas have done the bulk of the goal-tending and have five shutouts.  Moises Durazo and Alex Salgado are the top scorers with six goals each. Jose Reyes leads in assists with five.

No. 6 Corona del Sol (14-4-1): The Aztecs 1-2 punch is arguably the best in D-I with John Rea (26 goals) and Ryan Flood (20 goals). Corona is a dangerous playoff team and thought by many to have a good chance at reaching the finals. Its defense will have to play better. The Aztecs open with defending champ Chandler, who defeated Corona 1-0 nearly two weeks ago. A quarterfinal rematch with Hamilton could loom if the Aztecs topple Chandler. The Aztecs have split two games with Hamilton, winning 3-2 and losing 4-2. Corona is 1-2-1 vs. top-10 tournament seeds (loss and tie with Camp Verde besides spilt with Hamilton).

No. 7 Highland (12-3-2): The Hawks have allowed the fewest goals of any D-I team (13). Keeper Jacob Faircloth has eight shutouts and defenders Chris Boyd, Peysen Webster, Hunter Peterson and Nathan Miller have been staunch in the back. Offensively the Hawks are led by Hunter Figueroa (14 goals) and Raphalello Colasito (8 goals). Highland's 4-1-1 record vs. top-10 tournament seeds reveals wins over Gilbert, Mesa, Campo Verde (2), a tie with Chaparral anda  loss to Hamilton.

No. 8 Campo Verde (16-4-2): Climbing the ladder to D-I with its girls program hasn't been easy, but quite successful. Led by captains Luke Gleadle, Jonathan Zimmerman and Gary Taylor, the Coyotes were in the hunt for the section title down to the final week. Gleadle leads the attack with 18 goals and has five assists. The defense is the Coyotes' strength led by Jonathan Zimmerman, Trevor Devlin, Nathon Smith and keeper Justin Zimmerman. Justin Zimmerman has a .688 goals-against average). Campo Verde is on the short end of beating top-10 tournament seeds (1-4-1). The Coyotes lost to Highland twice, Gilbert and Hamilton (2-0). They own a win and tie with Corona del Sol.

No. 9 Chaparral (13-4-3): The Firebirds bolted from the gate with a 9-0-1 record that included winning the Bulldog Invitational hosted by Goldwater. Since then Chaparral is an even .500 (4-4-2) with the toughest part of its schedule coming from late December forward. Chaparral is 0-2-2 against top-10 tournament seeds. The ties are with Highland and Mesa and losses to Hamllton and Gilbert.  

No. 10 Ironwood (10-4-1): The Eagles are in the playoffs for a third year in row, having bowed out last year to eventual champ Chandler and to eventual champ Brophy in 2014. Ironwood possesses good team speed that's explosive at times. James Holmes tops the goal-scoring chart with 19 and Carlos Avechuco has six goals and 18 assists. The defense is led by senior center back Rogelio Guerrero and junior center back Gerardo Rodriguez.