Well, Sons of Ben Union, I picked you to win this week in the Casa Soccer League, and I said you’d lead off the round-up. Although they lost 0-8 this week and finished the year with a -57 goal differential, SOB Union did not finish in last place. An early season win over Sidewinders gave Union a firm hold on 9th place and something to build on for next season.

Primera

The round-up doesn’t give out much advice, but after looking at the tiebreaker scenarios last week Penn United received this sage nugget: “Just don’t lose to Drinkers Pub and you’re fine.” And much like the time I told Robert Pires that Philadelphia was the perfect town for a whiny old French midfielder, my advice was ignored. Full props are due to Drinkers, who jumped three spots on the last day of the season to end the year in seventh place. Joining Penn United in the drop zone is Cannons. Despite pulling off a 2-2 tie against Philly Soccer Firm behind two penalties from Scott Miller, Cannons finished even with Philly United but two behind in the goal differential category. A tough pill to swallow, but few doubt they’ll be back up soon.

West Philly swept a pair of big matches this weekend. A 2-0 shutout of Philly United behind a great second half performance by goalie Mike “Big Daddy” Halenar was followed by a 2-1 Sunday win over first place Real Optimus. Ben Bowens handed West Philly all three points with terrific finishes in both halves. WPFC takes the Primera title if AC Milan wins or ties against Grey Lodge in their make up game, which will be played…?

Only four Primera teams secured more than two wins this season, which is either a testament to the division’s parity, or a sign of weakness that NewPhillyUnited will look to exploit next season. That’s right, Casa’s top division will feature both Philly United and NewPhillyUnited (now with fresh Primera scent).

Segunda

NewPhilly wrapped up a one-loss season with a 4-2 win over Sporting Philly. Riding Segunda’s best defense (8 goals allowed) to the automatic promotion spot, NewPhilly will look to make the fall season more than a quick visit to the top division. Stoney United didn’t need to play stellar defense to take the second spot in Casa’s second division. The only 30-goal offense in the top three divisions, Stoney is the favorite to take the second promotion spot. But it won’t be a walk in the Pennypack Park for Stoney: Nittany United and United Nations FC round out the top four in Segunda and will look to sneak into Primera with good playoff runs. United Nations ended the season strong with a 3-0 shutout over Steagles. The victory earns UNFC the right to play Sporting Philly in the first round. Steagles loss matches them up with Skulls in a game that I wouldn’t put money on unless… I hated money.

In the biggest Segunda match of the day Philadelphia Athletic pounded Organized Chaos, thus ensuring Tercera will have one more oxymoronic team in its ranks next year. Rumor has it that OC fought through a rash of injuries this year, so Tercera beware – this team will be ready to roll in the fall. Memphis Taproom will also be going down, and they should be a competitive squad in a strong Tercera division.

Tercera

This is why you play the games. FC Spartans scored nine goals over their first eight games. Quaker City allowed only three. You’ve got to figure that that if QC scores three goals, they’re headed to Segunda, right? Quaker City giving up four would be madness…

Madness? THIS IS SPARTA(ns)!!!

Wow, that felt great. Spartans FC pulled off the upset of the season by jumping out to a 3-1 halftime lead and holding on against first place QC. Mt. Laurel took care of business against Lot Lizards, and – coupled with the QC loss – earned the right to do their business in Segunda next year. Park Towne’s strong defense will face Lot Lizards in the first round of the playoffs after they wrapped up third place and sent Loose Cannons down. If any new teams join Casa next year, you might not want to use “Cannons” in your name – it seems to be a bad luck charm. Revolution 76 wins this season’s milquetoast award with a 0-0 tie against Tri-County Red. Revs finished 3-3-3 with a 0 goal differential. Fans of symmetry raise their equally-filled, perfectly-round cups to you, boys.

Abierto

AOH61 will be in Tercera next year after putting five past Sweet Lucy’s FC. AOH secured Casa’s best goal differential and will be a lot to handle as they move into the third division. It will be an exciting postseason for Abierto, as the four other teams with winning records all think they have a good chance to grab the second promotion spot. Early money should be on Spruce Goose, but Zolo, Sweet Lucy’s and Pennypack Rangers should all challenge. While Lucy’s dropped to AOH, Spruce, Zolo and Rangers all picked up big wins and should have great momentum heading into the playoffs.

Looking at the rest of Abierto, Revolving United and FC Kilbanes both averaged over two goals per game and could challenge at the top if their defenses improve. If either team puts together a strong defensive performance in the playoffs, expect an early round upset.

That’s it for the round-up. If you’ve been ignoring us all year, you’ll have to keep it up one more week because we’ll be back next week with previews of the first round playoff matchups.

Full stats and scores at Phillysoccer.org