NPSL Playoffs Update 7/17/21
July 17, 2021
(Updated for South Region/Gulf Coast Conference)
We saw more upsets in the playoffs last night as the Keystone Conference was turned upside down. We will review those before proceeding to take a look at the conference championships that will be contested tonight.
East Region
The top club in the East Region (on the basis of regular season Points Per Game), West Chester United were defeated by FC Monmouth. In the 60th minute, Walter Calderon opened the scoring for Monmouth. Calderon is from El Salvador and has experience with a number of teams including New York Red Bulls U-18 (2015), FC Motown (2018, the season they went to the championship), Atlantic City FC (2019), and most recently Jackson Lions of the Garden State Soccer League Super Division). He added another goal 60 minute. He scored again for the hat trick in stoppage time. West Chester converted a penalty kick after that, but there was no time left to start a rally and FC Monmouth achieved the upset.
They will face Morristown, New Jersey’s FC Motown in the conference final. German Niklas Laenger (Central Court University) scored for Atlantic City in the sixth minute. Bermudan-born defender Marcus Hackett answered for Motown in the 23rd minute. Ghanian Roy Boteng, who has played for USL PDL sides Portland Timbers U23s and San Francisco Glens before joining USL Championship side New York Red Bulls II prior to joining Motown this season, scored five minutes later. Club captain, Australian Ryan Peterson who had been in the youth system of A-League side Central Coast Mariners, added another goal five minutes after that. Atlantic City did not have a response until the 90th minute when Jacob Campbell put the ball into the back of the net. That would be all for the hosts, though, and FC Motown is back in the Keystone Conference final for the third consecutive season.
Motown and Monmouth will face each other at 7:00 PM on Sunday at Montclair State University. The winner of that match will advance to face one of the winners of the other conference championships in the region.
FC Baltimore-Christos faces Philadelphia Lone Star in Essex, Maryland at 7:00 PM. The clubs have met each other twice this season. Baltimore won at home 5-1 on June 16 and the two drew at one all in Philadelphia last Saturday.
In McDonough, Georgia, Revolution and Storm have a third meeting at 8:00 PM. Georgia Revolution won 1-0 on its May 1 road trip. The match in McDonough ended in a 1-1 draw on June 5.
Hartford City hosts Kingston Stockade at 7:30 PM. Kingston defended its home turf with a 3-0 victory on May 15 while the June 12 match in Hartford ended in a 1-1 draw.
The East Region semifinals will be held on July 23 with the seeding based on regular season PPG (#1 vs #4, #2 vs #3). The eight teams are ranked thusly: FC Baltimore-Christos, Georgia Revolution, FC Motown, Hartford City, Kingston Stockade, Georgia Storm, FC Monmouth, and Philadelphia Lone Star. As such, Baltimore and Revolution are guaranteed home matches if they win while Monmouth and Philadelphia would go on the road, regardless of other results
South Region
At 8:30 PM in Oak Grove, Mississippi, Southern States faces New Orleans Jesters for the Gulf Coast Conference title. At home, Southern States won 2-1 on May 12. The clubs played to a 1-1 draw in New Orleans on June 26.
UPDATE: At ~3:48 PM the NPSL reported
Given the tight schedule and travel requirements, one would presume that Southern Stars would be declared the champion. That is yet to be announced, however.
The Sunshine Conference final will be played at 7:00 PM in Miami Gardens, Florida. Naples was victorious at home 3-1 on May 16. Miami won the return fixture 2-0 on June 19.
Demize and Tulsa Athletic meet at 8:00 PM (EDT) in Springfield, Missouri to decide the Heartland Conference title. Both previous meetings ended in draws; 1-1 at Demize on June 1 and 2-2 at Tulsa on June 20.
The South Region semifinal will be held on Friday July 23. The top seeded team on the basis of PPG gets a bye to the July 23 Region Final. The PPG rankings of the remaining teams in the region are as such: Demize, Miami United, Tulsa Athletic, Southern States, Naples United, New Orleans Jesters. Because of that order, we know that the Gulf Coast Conference Champion will have to play in the semifinal and Demize gets the bye if it is victorious.
West Region
In Denton Texas, Diablos take on Laredo Heat at 8:30 PM. The clubs’ only meeting came occurred in Laredo on June 3 and resulted in a 3-0 victory for Laredo.
Finally, Las Vegas Legends duel FC Golden State at 10:30 PM. Golden State won its home match 5-1 on May 25 while Las Vegas claimed the return fixture 4-3 on June 12.
The winners of these two conference finals will face each other in the region final on Saturday, July 24 with the higher-seeded team being the hosts. PPG rankings are as follows: Denton Diablos, Laredo Heat, Las Vegas Legends, FC Golden State. Because of that, we know that the Lone Star Conference Champion will be hosting the Southwest Conference champion.
Midwest Region
Last night, Duluth FC defeated Sioux Falls Thunder 5-2 to claim the last berth in the region playoff. They will play in a region quarterfinal on July 20. Their opponent is likely to be FC Milwaukee Torrent. However, if Cleveland SC were to lose tonight at Erie Commodores, then Milwaukee would have a bye and Duluth would host Carpathia . Pittsburgh Hotspurs will play in a quarterfinal on July 20 (either vs Carpathia or at Cleveland). FC. Minneapolis City has locked in a bye to the July 23 semifinals. The semifinals and July 25 final are held at a common location that are yet to be determined.
Tomorrow’s post will have the Midwest Region bracket as well as recaps of the conference finals that are taking place tonight.
Eye of the Storm 