Saturday’s matches in the Casa Soccer League‘s Primera division set up a nail-biting final week to the season, with almost every game having playoff or relegation implications. Week 8 saw first place West Philly FC and 2nd place Deportivo Arsenal fail to pick up maximum points. West Philly narrowly fell to newly promoted Penn United 1-0 on Dominic Pellegrino’s game-winning goal, while Deportivo only managed a 3-3 draw with bottom club Stoney United. Despite the tie, Stoney won’t avoid the drop and will be doing their business in the Segunda division next year. Other results included mid-table United FC sharing a point each with the Philly Soccer Firm in a 3-3 draw. AC Milan held off struggling Steagles United 1-0 on Michael Quinn-Willauer’s game-winner, while KS Cracovia took down Allstars 2-1. Six teams will compete for three remaining playoff spots in the final week, with West Philly having already clinched. (View remaining schedule and standings.)
In the Segunda division, the top teams asserted their dominance, and all five teams now in the top half took 3 points against the lower half. Philly United remained in control of their own fate at the top of the division, taking down Philadelphia Athletic 3-0. Real Optimus and Cannons stayed on their heals with wins of their own, taking down Nittany United and Gremio FBPA respectively. Drinkers Pub United kept themselves in a playoff spot for now with a 2-0 victory over Grey Lodge Public SC and Skulls stayed one point off the pace with a victory of their own against New Philly United. The regular season championship (and automatic promotion) along with the final remaining playoff spot will both be decided in the final week, as will the battle to avoid relegation. (View remaining schedule and standings.)
Casa’s third and fourth divisions saw their regular season titles (and automatic promotion) clinched this Saturday as Organized Chaos and Park Towne United won the Tercera and Abierto divisions, respectively.
OC came into their match on a seven-match winning streak, but second place United Nations FC nearly upended them by taking a 1-0 lead on Chris Nnumolo’s goal. OC’s Dave Brown equalized in the second half, however, to give OC the draw they needed to clinch the automatic promotion that comes with the regular season title. UNFC will now aim to win the four-team postseason playoff that will determine the second team to gain promotion. Third place Sporting Philly sits in the driver’s seat with UNFC, having knocked off Sons of Ben Independence 3-2 on Saturday. Lot Lizards and Tri-County United are fighting with SP and SoBI for those last two playoff slots. The Lizards played to a scoreless draw with FC Spartans, while Tri-County defeated Pennypack Park Rangers 5-3. The Rangers will be relegated to Abierto next season, along with nOgerland, who were the victims of a nine-goal explosion by the long-dormant FC Zot attack on Saturday. (View remaining schedule and standings.)
In the Abierto (“open”) division, Park Towne United secured its promotion to Tercera with a big win over Sidewinders FC. Marlton FC clinched a playoff spot with a blowout win over Spruce Goose FC, while Bayern Makefield, Sons of Ben Union and K-R-E-V are competing for the last two playoff slots. K-R-E-V kept itself in contention by knocking Brighton out of it with a 3-2 win Saturday. Makefied drew with FC Recreational Hazards, and SoBU won big in its match. As the league’s entry level division tends to be, Abierto has proven a mix of very good and overmatched teams, and now the very good teams are facing off to make it to Tercera next season. (View remaining schedule and standings.)
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