Congratulations, Casa teams. You’re almost done with another spring season in the Casa Soccer League. But after eight weeks, it’s incredible how little has been decided.
Primera
West Philly shut out Philly Soccer FiRM 2-0 behind goals from Carlos Clay and Ben “cheeky-chip” Bowens in the EFFOTTNDA derby. Fantastic defense from Ben Shapero and strategic goaltending from Nate Monahan keyed the West Philly victory while Dave Scott worked tirelessly on the FiRM wing.
Elsewhere, both relegation spots are up for grabs after Cannons rocked Penn United behind goals from Scott Miller and Mysterious Number 00 (oooh). It was only the second win of the season for Cannons but boy-oh-boy was it a big one. Cannons win makes an incredible SIX Primera teams that are in danger of relegation during the final week of the season. Safest are AC Milan and Philly Soccer Firm with 9 points apiece. Maybe Milan has more than 9 points, but we don’t know because somebody hasn’t reported their sco-ores. they didn’t play and didn’t update their twitter.
Philly United and Penn United have 8 points apiece, although Philly has a 4 goal advantage in the goal differential tie-breaker. Penn United faces Drinkers Pub in the final week while Philly United faces West Philly FC. Drinkers is doomed to go down unless they take down Penn United and West Philly beats Philly United. So here is the relegation breakdown for Primera:
Milan: 9 points.
- Fill out your score! DNP
- Face first place Real Optimus on Saturday.
- Go down if: They lose to Real Optimus and at least two of the following win: Philly United, Penn United, Cannons.
FiRM: 9 points.
- Lost 0-2 to West Philly last Sunday.
- Face 9th place Cannons on Saturday.
- Go down if: They lose to Cannons and Philly United and Penn United win.
Penn United: 8 points.
- Lost 0-2 to Cannons last Saturday.
- Face 10th place Drinkers Pub on Saturday.
- Go down if: Holy crap, this one is complicated. Just don’t lose to Drinkers Pub and you’re fine. If Penn loses and West Philly crushes Philly United (big, big if), all holy tie-breaking hell breaks loose.
Philly United
- Lost 3-2 to Real Optimus last Saturday.
- Face 4th place West Philly on Saturday
- See Penn United. Or go to www.phillysoccer.org and figure it out for yourself. Both Penn and Philly control their own destiny, unlike Cannons.
Drinkers Pub
- Tied Cracovia 1-1 last Saturday.
- Face 7th place Penn United on Saturday.
- Go down if: They lose, or they beat Penn and Philly United and Cannons both lose.
I’m not going to get into the top of Primera because Grey Lodge hasn’t reported their week 8 score yet. didn’t play last Saturday.
Segunda
Can you taste it, NewPhillyUnited? You’re a tie or win away from the regular season segunda championship and an automatic promotion spot. Unfortunately you’re playing Sporting Philly, a team I couldn’t figure out with Fox Mulder and a team of statisticians. Sporting has been all over the place this year, from big losses to huge wins and everything in between. I’m betting they give NewPhilly a good run for their money.
If NewPhilly stumbles, Nittany will be ready to grab the title. Only three points back, Nittany actually has a better goal differential than the Segunda leaders. However, they face the second most confusing team in Casa, Skulls. After tying last place Memphis Taproom in late April, Skulls whacked Sporting 5-1 before dropping their first game of the year to Stoney. Apparently enamored with this new feeling, they dropped two games last weekend and a potential run at first place has turned into a chance to hand NewPhilly the title with a win.
There is one game that stands above all others in Segunda: Organized Chaos vs. Philadelphia Athletic. Philadelphia Athletic sits in the relegation zone, two points behind Chaos. They need to win – a tie means relegation. It should be noted that we have Memphis Taproom to thank for this match. Their valiant tie against Chaos last Saturday set up this showdown.
Stoney, Steagles, United Nations: Start prepping for the playoffs. Primera calls you!
Tercera
Lot Lizards gave up a second half goal and lost 1-0 to Bayern Makefield last weekend. That goal… it was a big one. Lizards needed one point to get clear of the drop after Mt. Laurel took care of business against Loose Cannons. The loss to Makefield leaves Lizards 3 points ahead of Cannons going into the final week. And while Cannons face Park Towne United, who have nothing to play for besides playoff position, Lizards take on the aforementioned Mt. Laurel, who need a win to push Quaker City for the top spot. Just an idea, Lizards: If Park Towne takes care of business, the comments section is a good place to say, “Thanks.”
Back to Mt. Laurel, they need a win coupled with a Quaker City loss or tie to grab that coveted promotion spot. Quaker City faces Spartans, who have slumped since shutting out Makefield on May Day. A QC win guarantees them promotion, but a tie leaves the door wide, wide open.
Abierto
We knew it would be a good game and it was. Spruce Goose got a first half strike from Arindam Biswas and held on for the biggest win of their season over Sweet Lucy’s. How angry was Sweet Lucy’s? Let’s just say it’s the first time we’ve seen “goose” on the menu at a BBQ joint. The win leaves the Geese and AOH61 tied for the top spot going into the final week of the season. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Sweet Lucy’s had a chance to hand the title to the team that just knocked them out of the hunt for the top spot…
Well pull out your Alanis Morissette CDs and take those black flies out of your chardonnays because Sweet Lucy’s takes on AOH61 at 9:20am on Saturday. Spruce Goose takes on The Incredibles at the same time. AOH has a five goal cushion in the goal differential department, but if they take all three off of an angry Sweet Lucy’s team that stat won’t matter.
The Incredibles are fresh off ending Sons of Ben Zolo’s title challenge by forcing a 2-2 tie last week. Zolo will end up in fourth place, and have to settle for knowing they’re the best SoB team in Abierto. Sons of Ben Union have an absurd (sorry, guys) -49 goal differential this year with a game to play. We’ll call this a rebuilding year for SoB Union and count them lucky they don’t have Chris Seitz in goal to make it worse (oh yeah, one good game and everybody’s back on the Seitzwagon. Not this rec soccer summarizer!) SoB Union face Pennypack Park Rangers this weekend and I’m picking them to win. You’re going to lead off the Round-Up next week, Union. So give us something spectacular to write about!
Only one more Round-Up to go before the playoffs start. None of the promotion or relegation battles have been decided yet so it will be a huge week at Pennypack Park this week. Bring your boy/girlfriends out to the games! Let’s get some fans!
More importantly, bring your puppies and let me pet them.
It will be a miracle if we (Sweet Lucy’s) topple the AOH in the last round. Myself and four other players on the team is going for a floorball tournament in Toronto, so if we can muster 8 players and some guest-players, that would be a good turnout.
BTW, I’m still having nightmares about lobbing the ball over the crossbar from two meters in the game against Spruce Goose (and a header in the same crossbar). We’ll just have to wait until the play-offs…
Off the crossbar!? I didn’t realize it was that close. It must have been an insane game. Did anyone else see Kalou hit the crossbar from 2 yards out in the FA Cup final? And that’s playing on the Wembley pitch, which is reportedly only slightly worse than Pennypack.
Just so it doesn’t look like my team (Grey Lodge) is neglecting its duties, I’d like to point out that Grey Lodge and A.C. Milan never played this past weekend. A large number of players from both teams had Union tickets, and we were going to reschedule the game for a more convenient time. However, there were several scheduling mishaps that resulted in the game being postponed until a yet-to-be-determined date. I’m not a captain so I can’t reveal any other pertinent information. In fact, saying this much without permission may have already put my life in danger. Mom, I love you.
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the update. I had no info on that cancellation. Good thing you guys went to the Union game because that Mwwwwwanga goal was awesome.
Also, some guy named Jack Bauer stopped by looking for you…
nothing against AOH but i really hope sweet lucys can pull off the win… its going to suck that we will end up 8-1 due to a traffic accident that kept 7players from arriving on time and had us start 7vs11 ..im a real poor sport about that game.. im sure we will get the 2nd promo when we win the all out title… SPRUCE GOOSE!!!!