Three varsity races still undecided
By David Boldt
SCISL Weblog
Entering the final weekof the regular season the races for the top spots in boys varsity soccer, boys varsity volleyball, and girls varsity soccer are still wide open.
The final determination of who gets the first and second places may have to wait for the completion of the games between Christian Learning and Cambridge that were postponed twice last week, first because of a power failure at Christian Learning, and then because of schedule conflicts involving Cambridge. The games have been tentatively set for Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Besides the honor of finishing first, the teams that finish first and second get home field advantage in the semi-finals of the championship playoffs, as well as an easier first-round match-up. (The team that finishes first plays the team that finishes fourth: the second-place team faces the third-place team.)
Historically, no team has ever won a playoff championship that did not finish first or second during the regular season.
Here is the rundown on this week's crucial contests:
Varsity Girls Soccer -- Co-operative is leading the league, but could be toppled by Christian Learning, if the Lady Eagles defeat Co-operative Tuesday at the Jaguar field, and defeat Cambridge in the make-up game.
Varsity Boys Volleyball -- Christian Learning, International, and Co-operative are all basically tied. The winner of Monday's crucial clash between the Eagles and Jaguars at Co-operative would remain tied with International, if International beats winless Cambridge Tuesday, and the order of finish would be determined by a tie-brwaking formula involving points scored. (Are you following this, readers?)
If Christian Learning ends up tied for one of the top two places this week, then its make-up game with Cambridge becomes very important. Cambridge, for its part, has a great opportunity to play the role of spoiler to both International and Christian Learning.
Varsity Boys Soccer -- This is the race where all season long anything could happen and often did. Nathing has changed for the final week. Barring a tie, the winner of the Christian Learning-Co-operative game Thursday should come out on top. The losing team would presumably end up tied for second place with the winner of the game between Cambridge and International at International, who also play Thursday, at International.
If the Eagles and Jaguars should tie they would remain at the top of the standings, with the order to be decided by number of goals scored. If they were still tied, the tie-breaker would be the number of goals scored against each team. The same tie-breaking formula would be used to determine second place.
Varsity Girls Volleyball -- International has already locked up first-place, but the Lady Griffens will be going for an additional distinction -- an undefeated season -- when they play Cambridge Thursday at the International gym. Cambridge is the only team that has taken a set from them this year, and has been playing well recently.
In short, the final week shapes up as all action, all the time. Don't miss it! And note that the girls soccer and boys volleyball games between Christian Learning and Co-operative will be played Monday instead of Tuesday, as would normally be the case. The results will be posted here Monday night.
