Maybe it's the American in me, but 0-0 draws always crack me up. Way to go boys!

Most of the games today are in the afternoon and evening. The two played this morning didn't clear up the playoff race any. FC Kingston and FC Trojans of SC played to a 3-3 draw as the teams below Bordeaux Fighting Bovines in Group D are having a hard time getting a full three points out of a match. Over 40,000 Kingston fans witnessed a seesaw game where neither team could hold onto the lead. Damien Mullarkey got the Trojans on the board just past the 10 minute mark with a nice shot after he danced through the Kingston back line. Less than 15 minutes later, Jem Zeltner tied the game with a play displaying some of his own athleticism...and the game went on *** for tat like that. After each team scored a little into the 2nd half to knot the game at 3-3, wasted chances by both sides sealed the tie. With 5 games remaining in the group, 2nd through 4th place is still only separated by three stage points.

The Group F match this morning was a 3-2 road win for Brighton AFC as they beat winless Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub. Brighton jumped out to a 3-0 lead after Quillan Brougham knocked one in in the 62nd minute but the the Brighton defense relaxed at the wrong time and allowed Hungarian version of the Dual Monarchy to score twice before the end of the game. Austria-Hungary almost tied the game in the closing moments when Inacio Alba got a clean look that was saved by Brighton goalie Terrence Pettit to preserve the win. While Brighton got all three points, those late goals may hurt them since they are locked in a battle with Bad News for the transfer spot and differential now favors News by exactly those two goals Brighton yielded to the hapless Hungarians. Four games remain in Group F action.

Assuming there are no severe weather storms this evening, the update will be at the normal 7pm-ish.

We still have two unscheduled group stage games. They are the following:

Unscheduled Games - 2 games

Group C - Hibernian home to Rushmore (Hibs sends the challenge)

Group D - Kingston home to Hodensack (Kingston sends the challenge)

I'll send a sitemail reminder to the two home teams to send a challenge this evening. If we need to extend the deadline a day or two to get these games in...and both have heavy playoff implications, I'd rather do that than declare a forfeit. We haven't had one of those in literally years.

Had time to add three of the afternoon games. Group B has finished play when FC Cackalacky won 4-3 at home against FC Not very Athletic. Athletic was trying to improve their seed but was blitzed in the first 12 minutes as Cackalacky came out on a mission and scored three times. Sinai Kupferstoch got the third hat trick of the tournament, including a gorgeous volley in the 7th that Athletic goalie Rickard Ainsworth didn't even bother moving for. Regan Holian then did some blitzing of his own and scored twice for the visitors, sending the game tied into the half at 3-3. But Kupferstoch's third goal midway through the 2nd put the game away and denied Athletic a better seed. Cackalacky finishes the tournament on a high note and Athletic will await who it will face in the First Round.

A couple of games out of Group C brought the playoff picture amongst those four teams into a better focus. Rushmore FC and the crutchanators of soccer played to a 1-1 draw as crutchanators finished their group play with 11 points. Kobelco United Football Club then went on the road and hammered VB Hibernian 4-0, putting Hibs right on the brink of elimination. Brady Sealy knocked in two goals for Kobelco as a sloppy Hibs squad was hit with 7 yellows and a red card in the 47th, which didn't help the cause. Scoring all of their goals in the 1st half, the Japanese club put it in cruise control for the rest of the match. Kobelco takes over 2nd place with Rushmore three points behind but with two games in hand.

I'll add the other three games today between 8-9pm tonight.

By far the most consequential game of the evening was the Group A showdown between Fianna AFC and SwampDragons United in a winner-take-all contest. The first half of the game remained scoreless, a situation that United couldn't allow to maintain because The Greens held the advantage if the game ended as a draw. So, forced to go on the attack, their defense started to be exposed to counterattack. Fianna broke through in the 65th minute after a header by Reilly Glinton and then all hope disappeared when Glinton bent a ball like Beckham into the upper corner, securing a 2-0 win and the second transfer spot. Fianna finishes group play with 10 points, which may be just enough to avoid a double-digit seed, whereas United's tournament has come to an end.

In the other two games, North Polar Dragons take a tough 1-0 road win over Burnaby Hillbillies as they leapfrog Burnaby into second place in the Group E standings with 5 games remaining. Barnum Madrigal got the only goal of the game when he scored unassisted in the 70th minute. Otherwise, the players of the game were the opposing goalies, who stopped a combined 14 out of the 15 shots on goal. Space Olympics still holds the group lead but with three ties, it will be hard for the Parisians to maintain that position for long. To round out the action, Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack lost another competitive match in Group D, this time a 2-1 home defeat to FC Trojans of SC. In four matches, Hodensack has a -4 goal differential, meaning they're keeping it close. However, soccer isn't a game of horseshoes and a 1 goal loss is still a loss. Gideon Kuhlman scored the game winner with a few minutes left in the game to give the Trojans all three points and a solid 5 point lead in the group standings over 3rd place FC Kingston. Austria-Hungary is virtually eliminated although they can advance if a miracle occurs.

I sent a message to the coaches who need to send a challenge to get the remaining two games scheduled so be on the lookout (Rushmore) for a challenge in the next day or two. We have 4 games tomorrow as the Group Stage starts to wrap up.

Ready to accept the challenge. Thanks Jay!

A big upset out of Group F advanced two teams to the playoffs. Winless Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub hit the road to play Bad News and while the Frenchmen controlled the flow of the game, they forgot to put the Hungarian side away. News struck first, scoring a quick goal in the 5th minute when Golden Toe leader Eru Avilés scored his 7th goal of the tournament. But, Austria-Hungary then went on their best stretch of Cup XIV, scoring the next three goals. A late score by Kincaid Byfield couldn't undue the damage and the Dual Monarchy walked out of the stadium with a surprise 3-2 win. That result automatically punched the golden ticket for Swamp City Dragons, who was hosting Brighton AFC in the other Group F contest, Needing only a draw to advance, Brighton grabbed the lead on Melvin Ianni's first of three goals in the game. After 107 year old Arley Movsisyan scored his third of the tournament, Swamp City eventually caught and passed Brighton with an 87th minute header from Charlie Hinson, who benefitted from Brighton goalie Terrence Pettit's fat fingers. Now down 4-3, Brighton got one last look at the net on an out-swinging cross that pulled the defense away from the box, setting up Templeton Jaramillo and his perfectly placed lazer that tied the game right as the 4th referee was announcing added time. The 4-4 draw was just enough to give Brighton the other playoff spot. Bad News, who played well in all of their games, has been eliminated and the final two games in the group will be for seeding.

Not nearly as dramatic but setting up some future drama, Rushmore FC beat VB Hibernian 4-1 to create a two-way tie for 2nd between Rushmore and Kobelco United Football Club. Rushmore scored twice in each half, including a pair of goals by Dougal Ridgewell in the last minutes of the opening 45 to dominate the game. Rushmore has a game in hand but Kobelco can mitigate some of that by beating them in the return game coming up. Hibernian has been eliminated but can still play spoiler in their last contest.

There is one game this afternoon.

Thanks again GoMiami for doing this tourney. It keeps me subscribing to GD to have forum posting rights to try to advance out of the round robin.

The lone afternoon game has gone final as Burnaby Hillbillies rack up a win in a game they absolutely needed to have in order to give them a realistic chance to advance. Hosting Wolfsburg Dynamit, both teams were needing a three points to stay relevant in the Group E standings. After a scoreless half, Burnaby had a moment of brilliance thanks to 33 year old Mexican forward Hernandez Corralero, who found his prolific league scoring touch and applied it to Cup XIV...for about 90 seconds. Between minutes 68 and 69, Corralero found the back of the net twice, giving the Hillbillies just enough to squeeze out a 2-1 win. Lenny Parrett cut the lead to one for Wolfsburg several minutes later but couldn't get another as Dynamit were eliminated from the tournament due to a lack of offensive quality in the finishing third. Meanwhile, Burnaby temporarily jumped from third place to first but only with 7 stage points. They will probably need to win their final game to secure a playoff spot.

That wraps it up for today as the last four Knockout Round slots get decided in the next couple of days.

Posted by clememp on 5/2/2024 2:38:00 PM (view original):
Thanks again GoMiami for doing this tourney. It keeps me subscribing to GD to have forum posting rights to try to advance out of the round robin.

My pleasure. None of my teams have advance out of the Group Stage (in my own tournament) in a long time...so I know what you mean.

The last unscheduled game was just scheduled so we are complete. Thank you, everyone.

I'll start the 5/3am update in about 20 minutes.

A 9th team has clinched their spot in the next round as the 2nd spot out of Group D goes to FC Trojans of SC, who comfortably sat in front of their TVs as their playoff spot was secured. Bordeaux Fighting Bovines beat FC Kingston 2-1 in an even matchup that saw Kingston take the lead 1-0 after Quong Ikeda's running effort got the home side on the scoreboard in the 22nd minute. Macario Munguía, however, had other ideas and scored not only the equalizer but the game winner in the 74th with a well-placed shot into the corner. The loss eliminated Kingston, who now plays their final game against Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack to see which team will finish in last place for the group and promotes the Trojans to the First Round. Bordeaux still has an outside shot at the #1 seed but they'll need to win their last game by 8 goals or more.

Kobelco United Football Club finished their Group C play with a convincing 5-2 win over Rushmore FC, a win that places Kobelco on the brink of a playoff berth and Rushmore on the edge of elimination. The two teams went into the game tied with 7 points but Yoshino Sugawara and Yujiro Takahashi scored twice to overwhelm the Rushmore defense, who seemed to have difficulty communicating over the noise the small but vocal Japanese home fans were making. Kobelco is now locked in at 10 points and Rushmore needs to win its last game against last place VB Hibernian by 7 goals or more in order to win the tiebreaker.

Bad News, after having been eliminated in Group F after a surprising upset to Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub, probably mailed in their last game against group leader Swamp City Dragons as they fell in a lopsided 6-0 defeat on the road. The ageless one Arley Movsisyan scored the first and last goal of the game, weaving through the News defense and nutmegging a defender or two. Derrik Ishihara also added two for Swamp City, which improved their playoff seeding and will likely improve it some more when they play the return game against the Hungarian Dual Monarchy coming up.

There are a couple of afternoon games that I'll add tonight and then I'll give an estimate as to the date the playoffs will begin.

I was about ready to go to bet on this Friday evening and I thought to myself...hmm, I think I forgot something.

A couple of games were played this afternoon and neither one was overly competitive. FC Trojans of SC, which had secured their transfer spot earlier, hosted Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack and crushed them in the Austrians first rout in Cup XIV. The stats line looked pretty good but the Dual Monarchy didn't convert on any of their 8 shots. Meanwhile, the Trojans scored early and often as Gideon Kuhlman set the tone in the 11th with a shot so hard, Hodensack goalie Volney Stryker didn't even move on. After Damien Mullarkey's second of the game made the score 5-0, the Group D contest mercifully ended. The Trojans still have one more game to play as they can clinch the #4 seed with a win.

The other game was in the always shuffling standings in Group E. North Polar Dragons FC went on the road to Paris and trounced Space Olympics 4-0. Zakary Walls took exactly 100 seconds to give North Polar the lead when he took a shot inside the penalty box that easily found the net. Isdel Rosas then added a pair of scores in the 2nd half as North Polar jumped from third place to first place with three more group games to go. They lead the standings with a perfect 3-0 record and 9 points, with Burnaby Hillbillies in second with 7 and Olympics now out looking in with 6 points and a game remaining...making the last Olympics game a must win for them to advance.

There are five games on Saturday, one on Sunday and the last Group Stage game on Monday. That will mean the start of the First Round of the playoffs will beginning on Wednesday the 8th.

There was a single game this morning and it produced the 10th playoff spot. Rushmore FC went into the contest needing a blowout win as they hit the road to play VB Hibernian to round out the Group C schedule. Hibs quickly put that dream to bed by halftime. Although Rushmore scored first when Dougal Ridgewell controlled the corner cross, got the ball to his feet and just beat Hibs goalie Ramon Campbell in the 20th minute, the home side reeled off three straight to close the opening stanza, Callough Hoskins capping it off when his effort was muffed by Rushmore goalie Guilio Cannavaro. Knowing they had to win huge, the life went out of the Rushmore attack in the 2nd half and the game ended up a 3-2 Hibs victory. The result sends Kobelco United Football Club through to the next round and Rushmore home.

Several games are this afternoon and evening as we all wait for Group E to make up its mind.

North Polar Dragons FC grabs the 11th bid with their 2-2 draw against Burnaby Hillbillies out of Group E. Burnaby had a chance to clinch a playoff spot and shut out Space Olympics but the Hillbillies defense yielded two goals in the first 5 minutes and the Burnaby offense did everything it could just to manage to split the points. After Ronaldo de Acevedo tied the game in the 59th, the Canadian club didn't have another good look at goal much to the relief of Olympics. The draw sends North Polar through with two games left to play and the final transfer spot will come down to the North Polar/Olympics matchup tomorrow. If Olympics wins, they are in. A North Polar win or a tie sends Burnaby through. The 2-2 draw also hands the overall #1 seed to FC Stolpen Steamroller as North Polar was one of the last teams that had a chance to end group play with a 6-0 record.

FC Trojans of SC ended up being the best 2nd place team and earns the #7 seed as they win a tough 2-1 Group D road game against Bordeaux Fighting Bovines, also eliminating the Cattle's bid at a perfect 6-0. Hassoun Hautcoeur did it all for the Cattle, scoring their only goal in the 5th minute and then getting himself kicked out of the game after he committed his 2nd yellow of the match in the 52nd. The Trojans finally cashed in on that man advantage in the 90th minute when Udayle Velázquez scored unassisted thanks to the extra space. Bordeaux will need to wait and see which seed they will get, although they are guaranteed a bye. In the last afternoon game, Swamp City Dragons finished strong, routing Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub 6-1 on the road in Group F and assuring themselves of either the #2 or #3 seed and a bye. Derrik Ishihara scored a hat trick and Arley Movsisyan scored in his third consecutive game. The poor Hungarian side was outmatched as they ended their Cup XIV with the worst goal differential in group play.

There is one more game tonight before we enter the final two days of the round robin.