10-31-23 Boys Postseason #2 Halloween edition
by Admin on 10/31/23
October 31, Boys Postseason #2
Happy Halloween everyone!?
There are 32 #1 seeds each year in the soccer playoffs - eight in each class. Teams spend the season striving to get a top seed with the idea of getting the #1 seed and perhaps getting an "easier" path to the state playoffs.
It doesn’t always go as planned.
The heaviest night of games schedule for the postseason saw 15 of the #1 seeds take the field on a brisk Missouri Monday evening and it didn’t take long for the #1 seeds to start dropping.
Four #1 seeds saw postseason dreams dashed in district semifinal play with two of them bowing out in central MO in early games.
In C2 D4, #4 School of the Osage’s convincing 3-0 win over #1 Moberly kicked off the first of two district upsets in Ashland. Osage (7-16-1) started the year with 10 straight losses, but have recovered to win six of its last nine. Moberly’s (14-9) late season swoon continued as the Spartans lost three of its four matches. Osage will play #3 seed Fulton, who edged #2 host team Southern Boone 4-3. SBC had topped Fulton 3-2 just two weeks ago and had won 14 straight against Fulton. SBC won the C1 state title in 2020 in its 11th consecutive playoff appearance but hasn’t won a district since.
Just down the road in Jefferson City, C3 D5 host and #4 seed Capital City shocked #1 Camdenton 3-1 with three goals in the final 22 minutes. The Lakers played the second half a man down and even went up a goal down a player, but CC converted two free kick opportunities and a late strike to win a wild one. The second semi in that game may have been even crazier. #2 seed Springfield Catholic punched in a game-tying goal with just 16 seconds left in regulation, before getting the game-winner the second OT to oust #3 Rolla 3-2.
C3 D7 host #4 Van Horn ended #1 seed St. Michael’s season with a 2-1 win, making SMA the highest ranked MPR team to go home early. The Guardians entered the playoffs as the overall #2 team in C3, but fell to Van Horn (4th in 2021) for the second time in a week after also losing 4-1 the previous Tuesday. SMA had knocked off VH 1-0 prior to the seed meeting in mid October.
There will not be a repeat champ in C3. C3 D3 #1 (and 2022 winner) Webster Groves became the fourth #1 to fall after #4 seed Ladue earned a 1-0 win off a corner kick rebound. Ladue’s 9-14 mark is a bit misleading after having to forfeit four games earlier in the season and the Rams are only two years removed from a C3 runner-up finish. This district is always a fun one and the final should be quality as well, with perennial title-chaser Whitfield meeting Ladue in the finals Thursday.
By the numbers, the two biggest upsets according to the MPR weren’t actually #1 seeds. In C2 D1, #6 Saxony-Lutheran took out #3 Perryville 2-1 in penalties. Perryville, C2 runner ups in 2021 and champs in 2014, entered with a +1.07 in the MPR and ranked #9 in C2, while Saxony was 38th. This is the classic case of postseason meets local rivalry equals not expected result. Perryville's in-season mark against common opponents heavily favored the Pirates, but the two local schools don't play in the regular season, so a one-off game means anything can happen and for the second consecutive year Saxony advances 2-1.
However, the biggest upset of this year’s tournament so far goes to C2 D3 #6 St. Charles West (3-18-1) after routing #3 University City (13-4) 5-2. UCity (#15) entered with a +1.18 advantage over SCW (#42), which had lost 11 in a row entering district play.
In other non-upset news, C4 overall #1 Rockhurst rolled along to another final with a 3-0 win over Lee’s Summit West. The Hawklets will play #3 seed Ray-Pec, 2-1 OT winners over #2 Carthage Monday.
The other 10 #1 seeds won matches last night by an average of 6.1 goals.
Tonight (Tuesday) features 22 matches, with C2 D7 and C3 D6 getting their districts started and eight others playing semifinals. Wednesday will see our first district champions crowned as five title matches kick off among the 18 scheduled games.
