The Manteca area just may be soccer central in this half of the Sac-Joaquin Section.

Need proof? Just take a gander at the postseason brackets unveiled by the SJS on Friday.

All four Valley Oak League qualifiers are seeded in the top five in Division III, headlined by reigning Division IV champion East Union (17-0). Ripon (16-1-1), meanwhile, is the top seed in Division V, a distinction also held by neighboring Ripon Christian (16-6-1) in Division VII.

“To be honest, I really wasn’t surprised at all,” Manteca coach Justin Coenenberg said of the respect shown to the VOL. His Buffaloes (19-4-1) are seeded third for a second straight year and sit on the opposite side of East Union, No. 4 Oakdale (14-7-4) and No. 5 Kimball (12-2-5) in the 16-team Division III bracket.

“I’ve coached long enough in the VOL to know that it’s by far the best league around here from top to bottom, and that goes for any sport,” Coenenberg added.

Manteca is looking to return to the Division III championship game after losing to Christian Brothers in last year’s final, 1-0. It starts next Tuesday with a home game against No. 14 Vallejo (6-4-1).

“We’re really excited to be in the 3 spot,” Coenenberg said. “The VOL is such a grind that the playoffs seem like a fresh start. I like the way we’re playing right now. I think last year going into the playoffs we were definitely a team that was peaking and I feel the same way now.”

East Union takes on No. 16 Central Valley (9-6-2). There are possible all-VOL matchups in the upper half of the bracket, with Oakdale and Kimball set up to play in the second round and the winner taking on the Lancers in the semifinals.

Ripon coach Jamie DeBruyn is pleased with his team’s position in the playoffs. He figured going in that the school’s enrollment had the Indians, whose lone loss of the season was to Manteca, on the bubble for Division IV.

They face a familiar foe in eighth-seeded Linden (10-7-7). Ripon beat the perennial powerhouse of the Mother Lode League 2-0 in a nonleague match but warns his players of overconfidence. DeBruyn also coaches Ripon’s boys team, which lost a thrilling first-round match to Linden after beating the same squad earlier in the season.

“We’ve seen them and they’ve seen us. It’ll be an interesting game,” DeBruyn said. “But I’ve reminded the girls of our boys season when we won at Linden 3-1, and they came to our place and beat us 3-2. That first game means nothing. This is playoff time.

Ripon Christian begins its defense of the SJS Division VII championship against Hughes Academy (5-3) of Stockton. Both Division V and VII playoffs begin next Thursday.