NPSL Playoffs Update 7/14/21

After a relatively drama-free final weekend of regular season in most conferences, of the NPSL it is time for the playoffs to begin in said conferences. A total of 40 teams will participate in the league playoffs in which 38 matches will be played before the championship match on August 7. Let’s dive right into the brackets.

South Region

Jacksonville Armada U-23 vs New Orleans Jesters: Jacksonville has won both meetings this season (1-3 on May 29 and 3-2 on June 30). The hosts played in the 2019 Sunshine Conference semifinals; its fore-runner Jacksonville United won the league in 2011. New Orleans was on hiatus in 2019 and was in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals; the furthest it has gone in the playoffs was the Southeast Conference final in 2014 and 2017.

Pensacola FC vs Southern States: After losing to Jacksonville 3-1 on June 26, Pensacola won its last five matches to overtake Southern States for the two seed. They are the only club in the conference to sweep the Hattiesburg, MS club (1-0 May 29 and 0-2 on June 23). Partly due to having a later start than the other clubs and partly due to postponements, Pensacola has had the busiest July with four matches already played this month. This is Pensacola’s first appearance in the NPSL playoffs as it did not make the playoffs (as Gulf Coast Texans) in its only other NPSL season, 2013. 2021 marked the first season of NPSL play for Southern States.

Miami United vs Boca Raton FC: Miami United swept the series (1-0 on May 20, 2-4 on June 22). The hosts reached the Sunshine Conference final in 2019. Their deepest playoff run was in 2016 when they lost to Chatanooga FC via penalties in the 2016 South Region final. This is Boca Raton’s first appearance in the league playoffs after having failed to qualify in 2017 and 2018 before playing in the UPSL in 2019.

Miami Dutch Lions vs Naples United: The two played to a 3-3 draw on June 6 and Naples won 0-3 on June 23. This is the hosts debut as Miami; as Houston Dutch Lions the club was in the playoffs in each of the seasons from 2016 to 2018 with a 2016 South Region semifinal (loss to Chattanooga FC) being its deepest run. Naples United was in the 2019 Sunshine Conference semifinals (where they lost to Miami United), which was its playoffs debut after having failed to qualify in its two previous seasons of NPSL play.

Demize vs Arkansas Wolves SC: Demize was victorious in the two previous fixtures: 4-1 on May and 2-3 on June 23. After five seasons of missing out; the Springfield, Missouri club reached the playoffs in 2019 (lost to Tulsa Athletic in the Conference Final). Their opponents in this match are from Little Rock and in their first season of NPSL play.

Tulsa Athletic vs OKC 1889: This series favored the visitors as OKC won 1-3 on May 16 while Tulsa was on top 0-2 on June 26. Tulsa reached the South Region final in 2019 where it was defeated by eventual champion Miami FC (it also reached the region final in 2014 before losing to Chatanooga FC). This is OKC’s first season in the NPSL.

The conference champion with the best regular season points per game (PPG) average advances to the South Region final. The remaining two conference champions play each other with the winner advancing to the final. The clubs in the playoffs are ranked as follows (NPSL ranking) :

Jacksonville Armada FC U-23 (7) – Demize (10) – Miami United (14) – Tulsa Athletic (17) – Pensacola FC (18) – Southern States (19) – Miami Dutch Lions (23) – Naples United (27) – OKC 1889 (29) – New Orleans Jesters (35) – Boca Raton (37) – Arkansas Wolves (44)

As such, if the favorites were to win in each of the conference playoff matches the South Region playoff would take the following form

East Region

West Chester United vs FC Monmouth: The Pennsylvania club won the sole meeting between the two clubs; 2-0 on June 26. Last year it lost to FC Motown in the conference semifinal and lost to the same club in the 2018 conference final. Monmouth missed the 2019 playoffs; the New Jersey club’s only playoff appearance came in its 2018 debut season where it lost to Motown in the conference semifinal.

Atlantic City FC vs FC Motown: The clubs drew 2-2 on May 15 while Atlantic City beat the Morristown, New Jersey Club 3-0 on June 5. Atlantic City made the playoffs in its second season (2019) but fell to Philadelphia Lone Star in the conference semifinals. In 2019, Motown reached the Northeast Region semifinal where it fell to FC Baltimore-Christos. In 2018 the club reached the championship match where it was defeated by Miami FC.

Northern Virginia United vs Philadelphia Lone Star FC: Northern Virginia were victorious in both matches; 1-2 on May 23 and 5-1 on June 27, It missed the playoffs last season and lost to FC Frederick in the conference semifinal in 2018. 2019 marked Philadelphia’s second playoff appearance (after missing out in each of its first five seasons); they lost to Motown in the Keystone Conference final.

Hartford City FC vs Valeo FC: Hartford was the 1-0 on June 5 in the sole meeting between the two this season. They missed the playoffs in 2019; they lost to Kingston in the 2018 Atlantic White Conference final. Their opponents are in their debut season.

New York Shockers vs Kingston Stockade: The two clubs finished the season level on points and Kinston won the only meeting 2-0 (on June 8), but per Kingston’s twitter account Albany based Shockers get the home match due to having more in-conference wins (6 vs 5). This is the host’s first season in the league. Kingston has four previous seasons under its belt. Its only playoffs appearance came in 2017, which ended with a loss to Clarkstown SC in the Northeast Region semifinals.

Georgia Revolution FC vs Georgia Storm SA: McDonough based Revolution beat Carrollton-based Storm 0-1 on May 1 but the two clubs played to a 1-1 draw on June 5. They missed the playoffs in 2019; winning the Southeast Conference-East in 2012 advanced them to the South Region final where they lost to Chattanooga FC. Storm is in its first season of NPSL play.

Appalachian FC vs LSA Athletico Lanier: The two clubs were in a 1-1 draw on May 22 while Boone, North Carolina based Appalachian won 3-1 on June 26. Both are in the midst of their first season in the NPSL.

In order of PPG the East Region Playoff teams are: West Chester United (3) – FC Baltimore Christos (5) – Atlantic City FC (6) – Georgia Revolution (9) – FC Motown (13) – Hartford City (21) – Kingston Stockade (24) – New York Shockers (25) – Georgia Storm (30) – Northern Virginia United (32) – Appalachian FC (34) – LSA Athletico Lanier (40) – FC Monmouth (42) – Philadelphia Lone Star (45). FC Baltimore drew Philadelphia 1-1 in its July 10 regular-season finale, which hurt its PPG and cost it the inside line to the top seed in the region playoff. If the conference playoffs “go chalk”, the Region playoff would take the following form

West Region

Denton Diablos FC vs Katy 1895 FC: Denton won 2-0 on May 15 in the only meeting of the two clubs. In its 2019 debut season, they lost to Fort Worth Vaqueros in the conference semifinals. This is Katy’s first playoff appearance, which comes in the club’s third season of NPSL play.

Laredo Heat vs Midland-Odessa Sockers FC: The two clubs played to a 1-1 draw on June 17. Laredo missed the 2019 playoffs; in its first NPSL season, it lost to Little Rock Rangers in the 2018 South Region semifinals. Midland-Odessa lost to Fort Worth in the 2019 conference final. The club joined the NPSL from the USL PDL in 2017 and reached the league championship where it lost to Elm City Express.

FC Golden State vs FC Arizona: The two clubs played to a 1-1 draw on June 5. Golden State plays in Rose Hills (Los Angeles County) The club lost to ASC San Diego in the 2019 West Region quarterfinals and lost to Orange County FC in the 2018 region semifinals in its debut season. (Gilbert) Arizona lost to San Diego in the 2019 region final. Counting a 2018 play-in game, it made the playoffs in both of its two previous seasons in the NPSL.

The West Region’s PPG rankings are: Denton Diablos (8) – Laredo Heat (12) – Las Vegas Legends (20) – FC Golden State (22) – Midland-Odessa Sockers (28) – FC Arizona (33) – Katy 1895 FC (39). As such, if the higher seeds win each match, the West Region playoof would be Denton vs Las Vegas as shown below.

Midwest Region

Unlike the other regions, there are no conference playoffs and the regular season for the teams in the region ends on Saturday (when the other regions have conference finals, except for the East Region’s Keystone Conference, which is scheduled to have its final on Sunday.

The top two teams from the region’s three conferences qualify for the region playoff. The two conference champions with the higher PPG than the third receive a bye to the region semifinal. The other conference champion plays the geographically closest team among the runner-ups (regardless of seeding) in a quarterfinal match.

FC Milwaukee Torrent is the Great Lakes Champion with Carpathia FC the runner-up. Cleveland SC has won the Rust Belt and Pittsburgh Hotspurs finished second. Minneapolis City SC has won the Great Lakes Conference, but second-place is yet to be determined (Med City FC and Duluth FC are in the running; the two are level on points with Duluth holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. The seeding of the conference champions (which in turn affects the matchups will be as described above) will not be settled until Saturday. Minneapolis City had been cruising with a perfect PPG, but lost to Joy St Louis 2-3, last weekend. The loss put Cleveland as the NPSL club with the best PPG and dropped Minneapolis to second. Based on the current standings (and assuming favorites win) the Midwest Region playoff would look like this:

The four region champions advance to the national semifinals with seeding based on regular-season PPG. If we once again assume the favorites winning, final four would look like this:

The next update will be on Thursday morning, after the bulk of the conference semifinals. Your correspondent has created a Twitter list that contains accounts of the clubs that have qualified for the playoffs so that you may follow along if you so desire. All clubs are represented and most, but not all, are accounts that have been active recently.