The PSAL girls soccer regular season is complete. The league brass and coaches will meet Wednesday night to work out the team’s seedings and brackets for the playoffs, which begin Saturday. So I locked myself in my own one-man war room late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning to do my own selections.
Here is how I see them shaking out:
1. Beacon
2. Bronx Science
3. MSIT
4. Tottenville
5. Cardozo
6. Bayside
7. Fort Hamilton
8. Brooklyn Tech
9. Petrides
10. Francis Lewis
11. LaGuardia
12. Long Island City
13. Grand Street Campus
14. Forest Hills
15. Riverdale/Kingsbridge
16. Susan Wagner
17. Canarsie
18. Bard
19. Leon M. Goldstein
20. Arts & Business
21. Hunter
22. Lincoln
23. DeWitt Clinton
24. Edison
25. Bryant
26. Truman
27. Prospect Heights
28. Banneker
You can seed Beacon and Bronx Science No. 1 and No. 2 in any order and not go wrong. The two are the clear favorites to reach the final and the only squads without a loss. The Wolverines did beat Beacon in a non-league game this season, but one game isn’t enough for me to overlook a team’s body of work during the regular season.
The Blue Demons were in the finals a year ago and had to navigate through a much tougher division dealing with the likes of a talented LaGuardia team, a pesky Bard squad and a tough bunch from Hunter. The Wolverines, though outside of their control, had to play in a weak Bronx A division whose second place team is seeded No. 15. You can debate the merits of both teams, but I’m going with Beacon.
Defending city champion MSIT and Tottenville tied for their division title, but the Sea Gulls won the regular-season series with a win Sunday so they get the slight nod. Cardozo is in the fifth spot fresh off their first division title since 2003. Bayside is the only team to beat the Judges so they fill in right behind.
Some people will say Brooklyn Tech should be ahead of Fort Hamilton. The teams shared the Brooklyn A-III title and split their regular-season meetings, but Fort Hamilton finished strong. The Tigers won their last four games including a 1-0 win over Brooklyn Tech on Columbus Day without star forward Jasmine Cardona. Tech went 2-1-1 to end the season.
Petrides is an easy choice for No. 9. The Panthers placed third in one of the deepest and most talented divisions and could pull some upsets this postseason. The Patriots fall to No. 10 following their loss to Cardozo and a third-place finish in the division. They lost just once all season, but don’t have a win in four tries against the Judges and Bayside.
Second-place LaGuardia gets an edge over unbeaten Long Island City and first-place Grand Street because of the strength of its division. The Athletics lost just twice, both to Beacon, and fell just 2-1 to the Blue Demons late in the season.
Forest Hills and Riverdale/Kingsbridge, at Nos. 14 and 15, respectively, were both clearly the second best teams in their divisions. Susan Wagner gets the No. 16 spot over Canarsie because of its division strength and the fact that it handed MSIT, though short-handed, its first league loss since 2006.
Bard at No. 18 had a tremendous turnaround this season and are making its first ‘A’ playoff appearance. The Raptors will be a tough out along with No. 19 Leon Goldstein, which beat Fort Hamilton, 4-0, this season. Art & Business lost all three of its games to Forest Hills and Long Island City, all by scores of 1-0. You don’t want to see the Bulls on the side of the field in the early rounds.
Let’s see if the PSAL agrees.