MO Soccer Blog

Nov. 3 Update

by Admin on 11/03/21

Tonight, champions get crowned in 11 different districts across the four classes. Several quality matchups on the slate tonight, but first…

Tuesday’s recap:

The last “big” (volume-wise) night of action of the season with 42 matches played. Six seeded upsets on the evening, but last night was more of a tale of “almost upsets” for several #1 teams. While 13 of the 20 #1 seeds took the field last night and advanced comfortably (all by multiple goals and many by the 8 goal margin), seven #1 seeds survived upsets last night, with four of them winning in OT.

Note: the number in ( ) is the final MPR (Missouri Power Ranking) rank of the team. A + MPR score means that team is favored due to a higher in season MPR score.

Class 1
District 4
#4 Fatima (16) had #1 Father Tolton (8) on the ropes with a 1-0 lead late after scoring on a counter attack with just over 13 minutes to play. Tolton rallied with a late goal and then won in OT for the right to play host Borgia (19) tonight on Borgia’s home field. Tolton knocked off Borgia 2-0 earlier in the year. Borgia cruised with a 5-0 win over MMA (23). Tolton has an MPR score of +.69 over Borgia heading into tonight, but Borgia, despite its record has been competitive of late, including a big win over rival Union late in the season. Based on MPR, Fatima would have been the #2 seed.

Class 2
District 7 #1 seed Harrisonville (21) earned the golden goal 1-0 win over host and #4 St. Pius (KC) (33), while #2 seed Barstow (26) held off #3 Center (35) in what must have been a tense night on the Pius pitch. Barstow had dropped four straight coming into the playoffs but now will play for a district title tomorrow night.

Class 3
In District 2 at Clayton, #1 Ladue (6) forced OT with a late penalty and then got the game-winner in OT to escape #5 Parkway Central (27) 2-1. Those two always seem to make instant classics when they get together. Ladue will play #2 Webster Groves (15) who held on to knock out the defending class 2 champ, MICDS (11) 1-0. Webster will be hoping to beat Ladue for the second time this season in Thursday’s final.

District 7
#1 William Chrisman (10) slipped past #5 St. Michael’s (33) 2-1 in Warrensburg and will face #2 Van Horn Thursday after Van Horn (21) eked out a 1-0 win over #3 Grain Valley (22) in a game befitting of the two rankings. Chrisman won the regular season match 2-1.

Class 4
District 1
#1 Jackson (19) topped a determined #4 Northwest (28) team that had one of its stronger seasons (17-8) of record, 1-0. Jackson will travel back to St. Louis Thursday to play #2 Vianney (36). The host Griffins held off #3 (and MPR favored) Oakville (20) 2-1.

District 2
#1 CBC (4) held off a solid #4 Lafayette (35) squad on the road 1-0 for the rights to play #2 Marquette (6), who had one of the bigger statement wins of the night with a 3-0 decision over #3 DeSmet (15). Thursday’s final will have a little bit of the old guard vs. upstart feel to it and should make for some great soccer. Marquette has put together a rebound season after two seasons under .500 while CBC seems to always be in the mix despite last season’s “off” season where the Cadets only played six matches and were without coaching legend Terry Michler.

District 8
#1 Liberty (7) outlasted #4 Staley (34) 2-1 in OT to advance to Thursday’s final against #2 Park Hill (23) who got by upstart #6 North Kansas City (55) 2-0. Liberty will attempt to beat Park Hill for the 3rd time this season - the two previous matches were one goal affairs.

Tuesday notes: The biggest upset of the night was #6 seed Carthage (30) taking out #2 seed Nixa (16) 2-1 in OT in Class 4, District 5. Nixa had steamrolled Carthage 9-1 Oct. 19, but the MPR had the difference between the two teams at only .30, which falls in that 0 to .50 range of possible upsets. Carthage will look to keep the upset trend going against #1 Kickapoo (10 in the finals Thursday. Lee’s Summit West (8) continued the trend of lower seeded city rivals knocking out a higher seed when it eliminated Lee’s Summit (5) 3-1. LSW will get overall #1 Rockhurst in the finals Thursday. Class 4 District #2 Liberty (Wentzville) (13) also had a statement win, 3-0 over #3 Howell (12), 3-0. Liberty and district #1 St. Dominic (11) drew earlier in the season 0-0, so look for that match to be close.

Wednesday’s Preview
16 matches on the slate tonight with 11 of them crowning district champions.

While every championship match is a “big one”, the biggest will likely take place in St. Louis with Class 2, District 3 the site of overall #1 Westminster (2) taking on #2 Whitfield (1) in what could likely decide the eventual state champion. Whitfield had to survive a war against Orchard Farm (4) in the semi to advance and the two teams who have spent most of the season atop the Class 2 MPR. Westminster, while the overall #2MPR team earned the 1 seed with a 3-2 OT win at Whitfield in late September. Always fun to see which teams can adjust or improve from a match that seems like a long time ago. MPR barely favors Whitfield +.02, so this will be a potential dandy.

The closest MPR match of the night is in Class 3, District 8 at Platte Co. #2 Platte Co. (13) is a slight underdog to #3 (12) Guadalupe (+.008), who decisively took out the district 1 seed Pembroke Hill in the semi. Guadalupe is only two years removed from a surprise Class 2 title but have struggled with consistency throughout the year. Platte Co. owns a 3-0 win earlier in the year over Guadalupe.

Staying in the NW part of the state, the Class, District 8 final with #1 Summit Christian Academy (5) and #2 Maryville (4) shows a slight MPR bump to Maryville (.08), but SCA has the advantage of hosting. Look for a tight battle there as the teams meet for the first time this year.

Yet another tight final could be Class 2, District 8 with #1 Bishop LeBlond (6) traveling to #2 Chillicothe (8). LeBlond has a slight (.10) advantage in MPR, but Chillicothe has won 17 in a row and riding high over its 19-win school best year. The last loss? LeBlond knocked the Hornets off 3-1 in early September.

In class 3, District 4 #1 Rockwood Summit (17) will travel to Jeff City to play #2 Capital City (18) in a final that slightly favors Summit (.04). Summit will look to rely on its staunch history, while Capital City looks for a boost from a big home crowd seeing its first district title match in just its third year.

Other finals tonight:
Class 1, District 4
#1 Father Tolton +.69 vs. Borgia

Class 1, District 5
#1 Laquey (24) vs. #2 Dixon (13). Dixon is the MPR favorite with a +.35 and has already beat Laquey twice this season.

Class 2, District 1
#1 Perryville (3) (+.57) vs. #2 Saxony Lutheran (14). Perryville won the first match 2-1.

Class 2, District 5
#1 Logan-Rogersville (5) (+.30) vs. Osage (13). The two didn’t play in the regular season and neither has won a district prior to 2008, so a lot at stake for two teams not used to being in this position.

Class 3, District 5
#1 Glendale (2) (+.56) vs. #3 Springfield Catholic (9). Glendale beat the Irish 1-0 earlier.

Class 4, District 6
#3 Blue Springs (17) (+.20) vs. #4 Rock Bridge (26). Both teams riding high over big wins over rivals in the semis…RB gets a bump by playing at home.

34) playing STEAM (mifinals tonight:
Class 1, District 3 - only one game with the winner of Crossroads (34) and STEAM (17) advancing to play overall #1 Lutheran St. Charles Thursday.

Class 2, District 4 - winners of this semi play the only Friday match of the week.

Class 4, District 3 - Four heavy hitters going at it in STL.

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Nov. 2 Update

by Admin on 11/02/21

Monday Recap:

A 42 game schedule on a cold, damp Monday led to even more upsets as district play rolls on. Tonight will be the last night without a district championship match being played for the rest of the week.

Wednesday - 11 championship games

Thursday - 19 championship games

Friday - 1 championship game

Saturday - 1 championship game

Nine districts (out of the 32) already have the two finalists set, which means tonight is a big semi final night across the state.

On to Monday's recap...

Half the games as Saturday, but 8 more upsets based on seeding.

The biggest upset based on MPR scores was #5 Hancock's 2-1 win over #4 St. Paul Farmington, which was a .83 difference - the biggest of the tournament so far. Hancock's strength of regular season schedule with several class 2 and 3 schools likely bridged the gap.

Two #1 seeds went down last night, as well. In Class 3, district 8, #1 Pembroke Hill (4 overall) got knocked out by #4 Guadalupe (12 overall) 5-3. This district was targeted as one of the more difficult with several quality teams capable of going on a run. Host Platte Co. (13) actually will go into the final against Guadalupe as a slight underdog based on MPR numbers. Platte Co. knocked off Guadalupe 3-0 earlier in the year, but Guadalupe hasn't lost since that match other than a forfeit loss at Rock Bridge.

Speaking of Rock Bridge, the #4 Bruins (26) shocked #1 Hickman (9) in Class 4, District 6 1-0 in 2OT last night on RB's home field. The MPR deficit of .43 definitely qualifies RB's win as a major shocker so far based on the eye test, but whenever two local rivals square off in the playoffs, there is certainly a different factor in play. Hickman had only topped RB 1-0 in the regular season. Another potential inkling of this taking place was RB's 2-1 loss to Gateway Legacy Academy, a team ineligible for MSHSAA playoffs and thus not considered in any MPR polls, the same weekend that Hickman lost 5-1 to Gateway. Gateway (18-3-1) was recently ranked #5 in the MO Max Prep polls.

That wasn't the only upset in Columbia last night. #3 Blue Springs (17) also topped a city rival by slipping past #3 Blue Springs South (14) 1-0. The two had split regular season matches, but a two hour trip east on neutral turf this time favored the lower seed, although there was only a .05 difference in the MPR.

Both Lafayette (35) in class 4 over Kirkwood (32) and Willard (44) in class 3 over Grandview (41) pulled upsets based on MPR scores, but the district had them correctly seeded.

Another (by seed) upset included #3 Springfield Catholic's (9) surprising 5-1 win over #2 Branson (7). Branson had knocked off the Irish in the opening week of the season 1-0, but the Irish had gone 8-1 in October so they are playing well to get that kind of separation on a solid Branson squad that had won 12 of its last 13.

In class 2 #5 Oak Grove (24) rolled past #4 Sacred Heart (20) 3-0. The Gremlins, after playing in a class 3 district final last year, dropped to class 2 this year, but couldn't survive the opening round.

Other notes from Monday...it wasn't an upset by seeding or MPR, but Capital City knocked off last year's Class 4 semifinalist Jeff City 2-0 to reach its first ever district final in year #3. Monett's impressive string of 9 district champions in a row came to an end against #1 seed Logan-Rogersville, 2-1. The Cubs had been in the playoffs 9 consecutive years under coach Cris Villa, but this was the Cubs first losing season since 2011.

Tuesday's preview...we'll look at games with differences of less than .50 as those tend to be where upsets occur.

Class 1 (13 games on the schedule)

Several potential upsets based on MPR numbers as Class 1 has a hefty slate of games. (higher seed listed first with MPR difference after - the lower the score, the closer the teams in MPR).

Borgia-MMA .07

Dixon-Crocker .08

Knob Noster-Lone Jack .19

New Covenant-Fair Grove .34

Bishop DuBourg-Valley Park .36

Laquey-Iberia .44

Brentwood-Metro .47

Class 2 (7 games on the schedule)

District 4 quarters

St. Charles West-Winfield .02 (Winfield is actually slightly favored by MPR and has the benefit of playing at home, but SCW is only a few years removed from playing in the class 2 final)

Christian-Wright City .001. Toss up here. Wright City is finishing up year #3 as a program and looking to top an established Christian team.

The district 7 semifinals in KC should make for some competitive soccer tonight.

#1 Harrisonville (21) -#4 St. Pius (33) .31

Barstow(26) -Center (35) .29.

A competitive district with two schools who would normally be a Class 1 by enrollment (Barstow and Pius) hoping to make the finals.

District 6 semi

Marshall-Odessa .19. Odessa's had its best season in its five year history and a far cry from the initial squad that was forced to travel to St. Louis for its initial playoff game against state champ John Burroughs in 2017.

Class 3 (10 games)

District 1

While not close enough point wise to be considered an upset alert, the #3 seed Cape Central vs. #2 Mehlville match could be interesting. Both teams with solid years.

District 2

Webster Groves-MICDS .05 that barely favors MICDS despite the seeding. Defending Class 2 champ Rams moved up this year.

District 3

#2 Zumwalt East vs. #3 Hannibal .27. The winner likely gets to play overall #1 Zumwalt South.

District 6

Bolivar-Webb City .31. Bolivar won the in season match 4-3.

District 7

Van Horn-Grain Valley .02. Very even match up on paper with both teams winning 14 matches this year.

Class 4 (12 games)

District 1 could be a wild one tonight.

#1 Jackson (19) vs. #4 Northwest (28) .20

#2 Vianney (36) vs. #3 Oakville (20) .35 favors Oakville...one of the biggest discrepancies (number wise) in the seedings this year. Sort it on the field!

District 2

Marquette (6) vs. DeSmet (15) .24. DeSmet a perennial final four team under Coach Klein, but Marquette has had the better overall season. High quality here.

District 4

#1 St. Dominic (11) vs. #5 Howell Central (33) .45. Might be a stretch for Central to get two upsets in a tough district, but the numbers say it's possible.

#2 Liberty (Wentzville) (13) vs. #4 Howell (12) favors Howell slightly .02. Very competitive night ahead.

District 5

#1 Kickapoo (10) -#4 Joplin (27) .42

#2 Nixa (16) vs. #6 Carthage (30) .30

These four know a lot about each other and host Carthage may gain a slight bump as an underdog playing at home. Kickapoo and Joplin didn't play this year, but Kickapoo has been solid most of the year and Joplin has had several games lately get away from them. Nixa is just 2-4 in the past several weeks, but one of those wins was a 9-1 win over Carthage. Who knows what to expect here.

District 7

Overall class 4 #1 Rockhurst plays the lowest ranked class 4 Ray-Pec (38), while two rivals - Lee's Summit (5) and Lee's Summit West (8) - should have the center stage in this district tonight. LS a slight favorite via MPR at .32.

District 8

Overall #7 Liberty leads this group tonight. Neither game is in the upset range, but both games feature teams very familiar with each other. If seeding and MPR hold out, Liberty and Park Hill (23) should advance.

Big night ahead...stay warm and enjoy the competition!

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The first weekend (11-1)

by Admin on 11/01/21

A beautiful fall day in MO kicked off the 2021 postseason with 68 games on the slate.

There were 10 "upsets" (lower seeded teams beating a higher seed) over those 68 games. Eight of the upsets were from 5 seeds knocking off 4 seeds. The other two were 6 seeds over a 3.

For two of the upsets seed-wise, the MPR correctly had them ranked, while the seeding did not: #5 West Plains (38) over #4 Parkview (40) and #5 St. Charles (17) over #4 Duchesne (29). The other upsets:

Ray-Pec (38) over Belton (22) 6-2

Howell Central (33) over Timberland (24) 3-0

Parkway Central (27) over Clayton (24)

Kirksville (47) over Benton (42) 3-0

Windsor (47) over Bayless (23) 1-0

Joplin (27) over Republic (25) 2-1

Hillsboro (46) over Farmington (43) 1-0

The biggest upset of the tournament so far came in Class 4 District 8 with #6 (and Class 4 overall #55) North Kansas City's 2-1 win over #3 (29 overall) Park Hill South. Park Hill South had easily handled NKC twice in the regular season, 6-1 and 7-1 and the difference from the regular season point total of .7604 was easily the biggest of the day and the only one with a difference of over .300.

Another #6 over #3 in class 4 Southwest wasn't really all that much of a stretch. Carthage (30) topped Ozark (18) 3-2 in OT Saturday to pull the upset, but Carthage had just knocked off Ozark 2-0 in the season's final week.

The second biggest upset actually came in Class 3, District 7 where #5 St. Michael's (33) cruised past #4 St. Paul Lutheran (16) 6-2. St. Paul had a stellar 20-1 record entering the postseason, but playing in Class 3 was always going to be a challenge for a school with an enrollment of 114. St. Paul's fate was definitely a result of the new (last year) Success Factor that MSHSAA incorporated. The Saints had finished second in Class 1 in 2019, but the biggest factor was likely the 2016 Class 1 state championship that gave them enough points to be pushed into Class 3.

More on the success factor to come (likely this week in another blog), as it is certainly one of the more raw subjects to discuss within the soccer community.

Finally, one of the "hot spots" with the MPR numbers is when comparing two team's MPR points in a match up. Any two teams within .5000 of each other has a higher potential for an upset, thus making NKC's win the best example of "anything can happen" with soccer and especially soccer tournaments. Seeding is just that - a place to start and what happens after is the beauty of it all. On any given day...you just never know.

And so, just for fun and to see how well the numbers line up, here are some potential "upsets" in the remaining first round games. No second round match ups have been included in this blog - we'll look at those later.

Team listed first is the higher seed.

The number at the end is the difference between the two teams based on the season point total. For example, a ".15" is more chance of an upset happening than ".39" but the ".39" team that wins would have a greater claim to a bigger upset.

If not listed, then the two teams are more than .50 apart, which means the upset is unlikely but even a greater story if it happens (at least for one of the teams...)!

Round 1 Upset Alerts (based on district seeding for games yet to be played in the opening round)

Class 1 (higher seed listed first - the lower the difference, the more chance of upset)

DuBourg vs. Valley Park .36

Metro vs. McKinley .13

Dixon vs. Crocker .08

Stover vs. Cole Camp .11

New Covenant vs. Fair Grove .34

Borgia vs. MMA .07

Knob Noster vs. Lone Jack .19

Class 2

Sacred Heart vs. Oak Grove .14

Odessa vs. Moberly .40

St. Charles West vs. Winfield .28

Christian vs Wright City .001 (almost even)

St. Pius vs. Pleasant Hill .29

Barstow vs. Kauffman .44

Class 3

Willard vs. Grandview .05

Class 4

Lafayette vs. Kirkwood - this is an interesting one in that Kirkwood (seeded 5) actually has a higher point total (+.08) but is seeded lower. Based on MPR a Lafayette win would actually qualify as an "upset" with the MPR, but not with the seeding.

HUGE NOTE: A real chance that a mistake or two regarding numbers were made in analysis here...we are new to this, as well.

AGAIN, THIS IS JUST FOR DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS PURPOSES. A lot of riding along to see how accurate (or inaccurate) the seedings/MPR are this year. This is not intended to slight or throw shade on any program - just analyzing through the numbers!

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Class 3 and 4 Previews (10-29)

by Admin on 11/01/21

Coaches - The last regular season Power Rankings will be posted shortly. While these have proven to be fairly accurate (based on postseason successes) in our short run of using them, there are also the "gotta play the games" and "it's soccer...anything can happen" factors that make the postseason so fun. There has been a lot of talk regarding the way that we seed our districts and if we would be better off with using our Power Rankings. For fun (or maybe more out of curiosity), here's a look at how the districts were seeded and how they would have been seeded if we used the power rankings. One big argument regarding the use of Power Rankings to seed comes from teams within a district not playing each other during the regular season, unlike football, for example.

The rankings used were from the Oct. 25 edition that came out earlier this week - mainly because if we did use these to seed, we would use ones from that time period and not the final ones that will be posted later today. "No change" means that the districts were seeded as teams were ranked in the Power Rankings. As you can see, the class 3 and 4 versions almost all had some changes based on the rankings and the actual seedings.

(Apologies, in advance for any errors...)

Class 3

District 1 - The big one here is #1 Cape ND (6) over #2 Mehlville (2). The two didn't play in the regular season and both had outstanding seasons...should be a fun one! Fun note: this seeding was decided by a coin flip that Cape ND won. #7 Lutheran South (51) a spot below #6 Sikeston (52) isn't much of a difference, but one has to wonder if the smaller sized private schools who move up often deal with a little voting bias from the established teams in the class.

District 2 - #2 Webster Groves (15) nips #3 (and defending Class 2 champs) MICDS (14) for the 2nd spot. The two didn't play BUT Webster does have a late season 2-1 win over #1 Ladue (5). Ladue did get a solid 4-1 win over MICDS earlier. #7 Principia (33) behind #5 Parkway Central (36) and #6 Parkway West (37). Central squeaked by West 1-0, while Principia played a mostly smaller school schedule and no common opponents in that group of 3.

District 3 - The defending champs (Zumwalt South) are in this district, along with the bottom 4 teams in Class 3 that are off by one #6 Warrenton (61) is behind #5 McCluer North (62). The last 4 seeds there likely went by win totals.

District 4 - This district (based on the rankings) is all over the place. #1 Summit (23), who didn't play anyone in the district, is ahead of #2 Capital City, followed by #3 Jeff City (30), #4 Rolla (25), #5 Union (29). Hard to settle this one as Cap City beat JC and Rolla early in the season, while the Jays lose to Rolla but beat Union 3-0. The 6-8 seeds Washington, Pacific and Camdenton are 46, 48, 49, so this district could be a wild one.

District 5 - The only discrepancy here is #4 Parkview (39) over #4 West Plains (38), but Parkview beat the Zizzers 5-1 late in the year. #1 Glendale (1), #2 Branson (8) and #3 Catholic (9) lined up correctly, but each game among the three were one goal games, so next week could be for some fun soccer in the SW.

District 6 - No change. The only class 3 district to align. Neosho (7) is the only top 15 team.

District 7 - The top 4 seeds in this one are all ranked from 10-21 so semifinal action should be close. #4 (and formally a Class 1) St. Paul Lutheran (16) sits behind #2 Van Horn (18) and #3 Grain Valley (21) and didn't play any class 3 or 4 schools all year. #5 St. Michael's (34) and #6 Smith-Cotton (35) make a case for a higher seed based on scheduling, but St. Paul's has a rich tradition at the lower classes and only one loss on the year.

District 8 - Another highly competitive district. #1 Pembroke Hill (4) already has a solid win over overall #1 Glendale and will face challenges from #2 (and host school) Platte Co. (11), #3 Smithville (13) and #4 Guadalupe (12). Smithville did beat Guadalupe 1-0 earlier and took Platte Co. to OT before losing. All three Platte Co. losses came by one goal.

Class 4

District 1 - This one is a bit scattered. #1 Jackson (16), #2 Vianney (37), #3 Oakville (19), #4 Northwest (28), #5 Lindbergh (48) and #6 Seckman (31) are a bit jumbled. Vianney's OT win over Oakville is likely a big factor. Also doubt the Vianney schedule (MCC) didn't hurt, either. Northwesta lost to Oakville but had a big 5-0 win over Seckman. Seckman finished the regular season 17-4, but seeded behind 6-11-3 Lindbergh. District 1 is always a challenge to seed due to the SE teams and STL teams trying to compare.

District 2 - Almost lined up, but lots of equality here.#1 CBC (5) over #2 Marquette (6) and #3 (deSmet (22). Only flip would be #6 Eureka (41) and #7 Parkway South (39) - Parkway South opened the year with an OT win over Eureka.

District 3 - No change. Splitting the MCC schools into three different districts could mean more of the MCC schools get out with #1 SLUH (2) and #2 Chaminade (3) dealing with former Class 2 power #3 John Burroughs (21) in the semis. Despite being much smaller in enrollment, the Bombers have a championship pedigree and play most of the MCC schools. SLUH has been a top team all year, but CCP has already knocked off the Billikens 1-0.

District 4 - This one will be fun...#1 St. Dominic (15) tied #2 Liberty (11) earlier in the season. #3 Howell (14) and #4 Timberland (25) are also highly competitive. Dominic's 2-0 win over Howell was likely the big factor as Liberty and Howell didn't play.

District 5 - The Southwest is always tight and this year is even more so with 5 teams within the top 30. #1 Kickapoo (9) edged out Nixa (7) and #3 Ozark (18). #4 Joplin (27)and #5 Republic (26), along with #6 Carthage (29) make for a top heavy district. Kickapoo gets the 1 based on wins over Nixa and Ozark.

District 6 - This may be the poster child for why rankings would be helpful. Three KC schools, four Mid-Mo schools and one STL area school thrown together. #1 Hickman (8) the top team in Mid-Mo all year and deserving of #1. #2 Blue Springs South (17) behind #3 Blue Springs (13) in rankings but beat Blue Springs two out of three (all close games) to get the 2 seed. #5 Troy (56) leapfrogs #6 Ft. Osage (43), and #8 Helias (54)...likely due to the way their seasons ended. Helias behind #7 Battle (58) due to Battle's 1-0 regular season win.

District 7 - Overall #1 Rockhurst the favorite here, but #2 Lee's Summit (4) and #3 Lee's Summit West (12) pose threats. #5 Belton (23) behind #4 Ray-Pec (36) despite beating Ray-Pec 1-0. Uniform choice is the only difference in the long run.

District 8 - Only slight change would be #6 North KC (57) and #7 St. Joe Central (55). St. Joe Central also beat North KC...big difference between playing a 2 and 3 seed sometimes. In this case, playing the two seed (Park Hill 20) and three (Park Hill South 30) are mainly a new foe. St. Joe lost to Park Hill South twice already and has yet to play Park Hill.

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Class 1 and 2 Previews (10-29)

by Admin on 11/01/21

Class 1

District 1 - No change

District 2 - Gateway (9) would have been the 1 seed over Brentwood (10). The two did not play in the regular season. Metro (16) would have been the 3 seed and Maplewood (20) 4; HOWEVER...MRH beat Maplewood in the regular season. This is one of the many instances where playing head to head paid off for a team. Unfortunately, since teams don't know district assignments until after schedules are made, this is always going to be an issue and perhaps a reason to use the Power Rankings as a tool for seeding.

District 3 - STEAM (15) should have been the 2 seed and Canton (24) the 3 seed over Crossroads (31), who did get the 2 seed. This is likely a case where a school considerably far away from the others (Canton) likely gets pushed down in the seeding due to no (or few) common opponents. Crossroads did beat STEAM in the regular season.

District 4 - Fatima (17) is the 4 seed, behind #2 Borgia (21) and #3 MMA (22). Fatima lost to MMA 5-4 in the regular season. Borgia at 3-18 likely gets the 2nd seed due to a difficult non-conference schedule.

District 5 - Laquey (26) is the 1 seed over Dixon 2 (12) and Crocker 3 (18). Laquey lost to Dixon TWICE in the regular season and defeated Crocker 7-0. The complication comes with Crocker defeating Dixon 5-2 in the regular season.

District 6 - Stover (32) is a 4 seed and Cole Camp (30) a 5. While this really only matters as to what uniform they wear for the game, Cole Camp should be the 4 seed by virtue of a win over Stover in the regular season.

District 7 - #2 Knob Noster (27), #3 Lone Jack (29) and #4 Green Ridge (28) are the 2-4 seeds, so there is not much discrepancy there. Knob Noster defeated both teams in the regular season.

District 8 - Summit Christian (6) is the 1 seed over Maryville (3). The two teams did not play in the regular season.

Class 2

District 1 - No Change

District 2 - No Change

District 3 - This district features 3 of the top 4 teams in the state. Westminster (2) gets the 1 seed over #2 Whitfield (1) and #3 Orchard Farm (4) likely due to Westminster's OT win over Whitfield. Whitfield also knocked off Orchard Farm in the regular season. To further complicate this district, Duchesne (30) is the 4 seed over St. Charles (18) due to Duchesne's 2-1 win over St. Charles.

District 4 - Wright City (22) is the 6 seed behind #3 Christian (25) and #4 St. Charles West (34) AND #5 Winfield (32). This is the biggest drop of any team via the rankings based on seeding; however Wright City went 0-2 in district play, losing to both SCW and Winfield.

District 5 - The only issues here are down at the bottom of the seedings where #5 Cassville (45) is ahead of #6 Greenwood (43) and #7 Aurora (44). Cassville beat Greenwood but split two games with Aurora. Aurora also beat Greenwood 9-1 at the end of the season.

District 6 - No Change.

District 7 - Four teams lumped together in the middle in the 30's. #3 Center (36) is ahead of #4 St. Pius (33), #5 Pleasant Hill (39) and #6 Ewing Kauffman (37). Center lost to Pius and beat Pleasant Hill. The big difference here is that Pius likely should have had a semi match up with #2 Barstow instead of #1 Harrisonville who beat Pius 2-0 earlier.

District 8 - No Change

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