Don't bet the farm
Anything can happen in wild and crazy playoffs
By David Boldt
SCISL Weblog
Round and round it goes . . . where it will stop nobody knows. That, in brief, is the story of the varsity soccer and volleyball finals this year. Almost any team can beat any other team on a given day, and predictions are highly dangerous.
Girls Volleyball – Can Griffins be beaten?
On paper, this looks like the easiest race to call, with undefeated International appearing to be the team to beat. In the opening round on Monday the Griffins face the Jaguars, a team that has not given them much trouble this year, on their home court.
International (6-0) owns two straight sets wins over Co-operative (1-5) and the victory margins have gotten bigger for International as the season has gone along. Still, the Co-operative JV girls showed that upsets are always possible in this league, as when the little Jaguars defeated an even more awesome-appearing Griffin JV team last Thursday.
The other bracket has Cambridge playing Christian Learning, also on Monday. Cambridge has come closest to beating International this year, winning a set in each of its two encounters. No otherr team has taken a set against the Griffins.
However, to get another shot at the Griffins the Lady Knights (2-4) have to get past the Eagles (3-3), who have a better won-lost record, and who beat the Knights decisively in the teams’ first meeting. Cambridge did take the second meeting, however, in which it won the deciding third set by a resounding 15-2.
The Cambridge girls have been like the nursery rhyme about the little girl “with the curl in the middle of her forehead” – when they’ve been good, they’ve been, oh, so very good, but when they’ve been bad they’ve been horrid.” Much will depend on which mode the Knights are in for the playoffs – good or horrid.
Boys Volleyball – Breaking the three-way tie
In one bracket Tuesday, Co-operative (4-2) takes on International (4-2) at International in a true toss-up. Each team has defeated the other once this year, with both matches going three sets.
This should be an epic donnybrook between two talented teams that are now well aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
The other match-up could be the only semi-final contest that might be painful to watch. Christian Learning (4-2) is a battle-toughened team with a lot of talent that has gotten better as the season progressed. The Eagles take on Cambridge (0-6), which has skipped a third of its games, forfeiting to both Co-operative and Christian Learning, and hasn’t done much better when it has shown up. The Knights haven’t won a set all year, and in the second half of the season haven’t gotten more than 16 points in a set.
It could be grim, sports fans.
Girls Soccer – Davids vs. Goliaths
Both pairings on Thursday feature underdogs who have nevertheless demonstrated an ability to hold their opponents to scoreless ties. Presumably both will be trying to show they can do that again – and maybe get lucky once or twice at the other end of the field..
International (1-3-2) plays Christian Learning (3-1-2), a team that the Griffins have lost to 7-0, and then tied 0-0. The key to the tie was beefing up the defense to four players who were able to stymie the Eagles clever, but relatively slow-moving forwards. It will be interesting to see whether the Eagles have figured out a way to counter this tactic, which arch-rival Co-operative has also used against it.
And, of course, it will be interesting to see whether the Griffins have come up with a way to put the ball in the net.
The other semi-final finds league-leader Co-operative (4-0-2) facing fourth-place Cambridge (0-4-2). The two tied 0-0 back at mid-season, and then the Jaguars beat the Lady Knights 3-0 in their second meeting.
The Knights’ achievement in shutting out Co-operative’s high-speed, high-octane offense during the 0-0 tie is something no other team has come close to accomplishing this year, and it was accomplished with pure grit. Even taking into account the 3-0 loss, it seems plausible that the Knights could keep the Jaguars on a leash again.
The problem is that the Knights have the weakest offense in the league, having scored only two goals in six games. In one loss to Christian Learning the Eagle goalie only touched the ball once in the entire game. That would have to change dramatically for the Knights to contemplate an upset realistically.
Boys Soccer – Anyone can win
After a topsy-turvy season in which most of the teams have spent time in first place, the four teams go into semi-final games next Friday in which absolutely anything could happen.
International (3-3) confronts Co-operative (3-3) in one semi-final. The Jaguars have beaten International twice, a claim no other team can make. One of those wins was an incredible comeback in which Co-operative scored three goals in the final ten minutes of the game to overcome a 3-1 deficit and win the game.
However, International has scored more goals on the season, and this gave the Griffins second-place, and home team advantage in the semi-finals. Moreover, the Jaguar player who scored the three goals in the famous comeback is now academically ineligible, and the Jaguars looked like a team past its peak as they sleep-walked through a 1-4 shellacking by Christian Learning in the season finale. That same day International was coming from behind to beat Cambridge 4-3.
So momentum might appear to be on the side of the Griffins.
In the other semi-final bracket, league leader Christian Learning (4-2) takes on Cambridge (2-4) on the Eagles home field.
Cambridge won the most recent encounter between the two schools. 1-0. The game might not have been a true test since the Eagles were playing without two key players who had been sidelined by red cards. On the other hand, Cambridge dominated play for much of the game, and with better luck might have won by several goals. Moreover, since that game Cambridge has been able to diversify its scoring attack.
Both teams have a core of highly talented players and will presumably be at full strength for this rematch, which seems likely to be a higher scoring affair than their last encounter.
