This is the final weekend of the PDL regular season and there are several playoff spots still being contested. Ten teams have clinched a playoff spot; 11 teams are going for the final six spots. CENTRAL CONFERENCE Great Lakes Division (3 teams, 2 spots) IN: none Indiana – 15 games, 33 points 7/17 – Ft. Wayne Michigan – 15 games, 32 points 7/17 @Toledo Ft. Wayne – 15 games, 31 points @Indiana Heartland Division (2 teams, 1 spot) In: Chicago Boulder – 16 games, 37 points 7/16 – Des Moines 7/17 – Utah Thunder Bay - 16 games, 33 points 7/16 – Chicago 7/17 – Chicago EASTERN CONFERENCE Mid Atlantic Division (2 teams, 1 spot) In: Carolina Williamsburg – 16 games, 27 points 7/17 – Carolina 7/18 - @Northern Virginia Richmond – 16 games, 25 points 7/16 - @West Virginia 7/18 – Carolina Northeast Division (2 teams, 1 spot) In: South Jersey Cape Cod – 17 games, 36 points 7/17 @ Vermont Albany - 17 games, 36 points @ Jersey SOUTHERN CONFERENCE Mid South Division (no spots left) In: Dallas-Ft. Worth, El Paso Southeast Division (2 teams, 1 spot) In: Central Florida Cocoa – 16 games, 32 points 7/16 – Bradenton 7/18 - @Central Florida Orlando – 17 games, 31 points 7/16 - @Palm Beach WESTERN CONFERENCE Northwest Division (no spots left) In: Cascade, Spokane Southwest Division (no spots left) In: Orange County, Fresno There could be several ties. Indiana-Michigan can tie at 33 points. Thunder Bay-Boulder can tie at 37 points. Williamsburg-Richmond could tie at 27, 29 or 31 points. Cape Cod-Albany could tie at 36, 37 or 39 points. Cocoa-Orlando could tie at 32 or 34 points. I have no idea what the tie-breakers are so I won't list who leads in what (head-to-head, wins, goal differential). Anybody know what the tie-breakers are?
I've asked this same question in the Great Lakes thread. I have tried to figure out some common tie breakers (hea to head, goal differential) and state who would win in each case, between Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Michigan, any of these two teams can go into the playoffs in certain scenarios. This is only for the GLC of course. I have looked on the USL website and found nothing.
Tie-breakers are listed here http://www.uslsoccer.com/aboutusl/rules/index_E.html In the Great Lakes Division standings: A tie with Fort Wayne and Michigan (at 32 points) favors Michigan. (1) Head-to-head is a 1-1-1 split. (2) Wins are tied at 10. (3) Goal difference: Michigan is +30, Fort Wayne is +14, so Michigan would have to lose by at least 16 goals (he says sarcastically) to give this to FTW. [In this scenario, Indiana wins the division with 34.] A tie with Indiana and Michigan (at 33 points) favors Michigan, winning both games from Indiana. [Fort Wayne wins the division with 34.] In the Heartland division: A tie with Boulder and Thunder Bay (at 37 points) favors Boulder. (1) Head-to-head doesn't apply [teams didn't play each other!]. (2) Wins are tied at 12. (3) Goal differential is Boulder +23, Thunder Bay +3.
OK, Cocoa won Friday night so they are in and eliminating Orlando. Also, Boulder clinched a playoff spot despite losing Friday night because Thunder Bay fell to Chicago. So, 12 of the 16 playoff spots have been clinched. Also Friday night, Richmond won Friday night to move a point (28-27) ahead of Williamsburg for the final spot in the Mid Atlantic. But Richmond only has one game left while Williamsburg has two. The teams could still tie if Richmond loses its final game and Williamsburg gets a tie and a loss OR if Williamsburg gets a win and a tie and Richmond ties its final game. Thanks for listing the tie-breakers, btw.
Updated after Friday night's games. Twelve teams have clinched a playoff spot; seven teams are going for the final four spots. Teams in italics have clinched their division and will play the runner-up of the OTHER division in their conference next week in the conferenc semi-finals. CENTRAL CONFERENCE Great Lakes Division (3 teams, 2 spots) IN: none Indiana – 15 games, 33 points 7/17 – Ft. Wayne Michigan – 15 games, 32 points 7/17 - @Toledo Ft. Wayne – 15 games, 31 points 7/17 - @Indiana Heartland Division (no spots left) In: Chicago, Boulder EASTERN CON]FERENCE Mid Atlantic Division (2 teams, 1 spot) In: Carolina Richmond – 17 games, 28 points 7/18 – Carolina Williamsburg – 16 games, 27 points 7/17 – Carolina 7/18 - @Northern Virginia Northeast Division (2 teams, 1 spot) In: South Jersey Cape Cod – 17 games, 36 points 7/17 @ Vermont Albany - 17 games, 36 points @ Jersey SOUTHERN CONFERENCE Mid South Division (no spots left) In: El Paso, Dallas-Ft. Worth Southeast Division (no spots left) In: Central Florida, Cocoa WESTERN CONFERENCE Northwest Division (no spots left) In: Cascade, Spokane Southwest Division (no spots left) In: Orange County, Fresno There could still be some ties. Indiana-Michigan can tie at 33 points. Or... Ft. Wayne-Michigan can tie at 32 points. Williamsburg-Richmond could tie at 28 or 31 points. Cape Cod-Albany could tie at 36, 37 or 39 points. Tie-breakers are, in order, (1) Head-to-head games, (2) Wins, (3) Goal difference. SJJ already handled the Great Lakes Division tie breakers. Richmond won two out of three against Williamsburg so they win that-tie breaker. Albany-Cape Cod split their regular season games but Cape Cod has one more win (12-11) than Albany so they win that tie-breaker. Also, in the Northwest Division, Cascade and Spokane are tied at 31 points with a game remaining. Spokane hosts Yakima Saturday while Cascade hosts Abbotsford Sunday. If both teams are still tied in points after this weekend, the division title goes to Cascade, which won the head-to-head matchup three games to one. I think I've covered all the scenarios.
On Saturday... Ft. Wayne beat Indiana and Michigan beat Toledo so Michigan wins the Great Lakes and Ft. Wayne gets the second playoff spot. Cape Cod won its last game and clinched the second spot in the Northeast. Williamsburg beat Carolina to leapfrog Richmond into second place in the Mid Atlantic. Both teams have a game today (Sunday) and Richmond trails by 2, so they need to win and for Williamsburg to lose to get the final PDL playoff spot.
Williamsburg and Richmond both won their final games Saturday but the final playoffspot goes to Williamsburg, which finished with two more points. Also, in the Northwest Division, Spokane and Cascade both won their final games and finished tied in points so Cascade gets the division title based on head-to-head match-ups (the first tie breaker) which they won 3-1. Here are the playoff matchups for this weekend. I don't have dates and locations but one of the teams participating in each conference's playoffs hosts all that conference's games. WESTERN CONFERENCE Cascade (1) vs. Fresno (2) Orange County (1) vs. Spokane (2) SOUTHERN CONFERENCE El Paso (1) vs. Cocoa (2) Central Florida (1) vs. Dallas-Ft. Worth EASTERN CONFERENCE Jersey Shore (1) vs. Williamsburg (2) Carolina (1) vs. Cape Cod (2) CENTRAL CONFERENCE Michigan (1) vs. Boulder (2) Chicago (1) vs. Fort Wayne (2)
I would be willing to come in for this game. Are any other Bucks - Fort Wayne fans/ Bigsoccer posters going to be there? Tailgate? (I know it's PDL but if I am going drive 6 hours, I want an experience!)
USL makes it official with Fresno, Carolina, Central Florida and Fort Wayne hosting the regional playoff games this weekend. http://pdl.uslsoccer.com/home/79275.html