Taking a peek at playoffs
The trees are changing colors, the temperature is cooling and it’s time for postseason soccer.
The Colonial League and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournaments — both boys and girls — start Saturday with some intriguing quarterfinalround showdowns. Both the CL and EPC will play semifinals Tuesday, with their championships set for Thursday, Oct. 17.
We won’t know the official matchups, seeds, sites and times for the CL/EPC tournaments until Thursday after a morning meeting of athletic directors. But, hey, let’s have some fun and speculate until then.
We’ll preview the four tournaments (CL boys/girls, EPC boys/ girls) and throw out some predictions — in a friendly effort to motivate the troops.
Colonial boys
Qualifiers (in order of expected seed): Moravian Academy, Southern Lehigh, Saucon Valley, Northwestern Lehigh, Wilson, Notre Dame-GP.
What to watch: This is an extremely even group, with the top four seeds all capable of winning a title.
Northwestern Lehigh, which came on strong after a slow start, is the four-time defending champ. The Lions and Tigers could meet in the semifinals, with coach Bob Hartman’s Moravian squad looking for revenge after Northwestern routed the Academy 5-0 on Sept. 19.
Southern Lehigh and Saucon Valley are evenly matched, defensive-oriented rivals that might collide in the semifinals. The Spartans edged the Panthers 2-1 on Sept. 21.
Our pick: Southern Lehigh. Coach Mark Evans’ Spartans suffered their only league loss, a 3-2 setback to Moravian Academy, four days ago. Southern Lehigh senior Kyle Hoff is the league’s top all-around player and the Spartans are experienced and talented at most positions. It won’t be easy, but they’ll find their way.
Colonial girls
Qualifiers (in order of expected seed): Southern Lehigh, Northwestern Lehigh, Salisbury, Saucon Valley, Moravian Academy, Palisades.
What to watch: There doesn’t appear to be the same parity on the girls’ side as there is among the boys.
Southern Lehigh is the fourtime defending league champion, and with a win Wednesday over Moravian, the Spartans will enter with only a tie to Notre Dame-GP on their CL record. A clash with rival Saucon in the semifinals could prove interesting if the Panthers can survive Moravian in the quarters.
Northwestern Lehigh looks to be a clear-cut second-best in the league. Coach Kelly Bleam’s Tigers fell to Southern Lehigh 2-1 on Sept. 17. Salisbury, the No. 3 seed, enjoyed a splendid season after losing two all-stars from last season. The Falcons, though, have dropped two in a row.
Our pick: Southern Lehigh. Coach Andrew Filler’s Spartans remain the class of the Colonial and there is no reason to predict an upset in this tournament. Emma Singley and Bella Touzeau are consistent scoring threats and Southern Lehigh reloaded around them this year. The Spartans should celebrate No. 5.
EPC boys
Qualifiers (in order of expected seed): Liberty, Parkland, Emmaus, Easton, Stroudsburg, Whitehall, Freedom, East Stroudsburg South.
What to watch: There could be an upset (or two or three) along the way, but the eventual champ should come from the top three seeds, unless Easton can pull off a couple of surprises.
Liberty is the tournament’s top seed for a second straight year. Coach Ian Larimer’s Hurricanes lost in the semifinals a season ago, and their playoff struggles are real.
Since 2015, Liberty is 79-11-5 in regular-season play and 5-8 in the postseason (conference and districts) without a title. Larimer’s Canes, assuming they get past East Stroudsburg South, will find resistance against Easton or Stroudsburg.
Rivals Parkland and Emmaus could meet up yet again in a semifinal. Both are very capable of winning the title. Emmaus started 13-0, lost three straight, but is getting healthy again. It righted the ship with two wins to end the season, including coach John Cari’s 250th.
Whitehall has top-tier offensive talent and Freedom, as the defending champ, will play a hard 80.
Our pick: Parkland. Coach Patrick Birns’ teams are always tough and usually play their best at the end of the season. Plus, the Trojans seem to have the upper hand recently against Emmaus. Offense can be an issue for Parkland, but you know what you’ll get as far as effort. Parkland 1, Easton 0.
EPC girls
Qualifiers (in order of expected seed): Parkland, Emmaus, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mountain East, Easton, Freedom, Northampton, Central Catholic.
What to watch: OK, the EPC’s Skyline Division has to be the toughest in the state. The four qualifiers from that division will play each other in the quarterfinals, it appears, and that’s (probably) fortunate for the other teams in the bracket.
Parkland, obviously, is a huge favorite. Coach Al Haddad’s Trojans were easily the conference’s top team during the regular season and are the five-time defending EPC champs. (Emmaus tied Parkland 0-0 on Sept. 30.) Senior Ava Schaller headlines an explosive offense and there is quality and depth all around.
Emmaus is certainly the best of the rest. Coach Sarah Oswald’s Green Hornets, though, got the toughest draw and get a quarterfinal-round date with an excitable Northampton squad, fronted by Abbi Czarnecki.
Of the Nos. 3 through 6 seeds, Easton has the best pedigree. The Mountain Division entries must prove themselves in the playoffs versus Valley teams.
Our pick: Emmaus. Surprise. Surprise. Surprise. The Green Hornets had their chances against Parkland in two earlier matchups — and led in the first meeting back on Sept. 4. Oswald and Emmaus again must devise a plan to stymie Schaller, a dynamic threat, to pull the upset. Emmaus 2, Parkland 1, PKs.
Ranking rumblings
Emmaus’ boys, with last week’s loss to Nazareth, fell from the PSCA “Large School” Top 10, which was updated Sunday. The Green Hornets, who won their first 13 games, were ranked No. 1 in the state for several weeks and were as high as 17th nationally by USA Today Sports.
The Moravian Academy boys moved up three spots to fifth in the “Small School” Top 10.
Pennridge’s girls, at third, and the Parkland girls, in fourth, again earned spots in the PSCA “Large School” rankings.
The Northwestern girls, who lost to Liberty in overtime, fell five spots to No. 8 in the “Small School” poll.