In the rarest of playoff score lines, #10 FC Not Very Athletic played #2 Swamp City Dragons to a 0-0 draw in front of 46,000 Athletic faithful. Both teams had almost exactly the same amount of possession, there were no bookings, pretty much the same amount of shots and opportunities. The tie is a little suprising considering both teams have a potent offense and played a very aggressive 4-3-3 set. The result means tomorrow's game is a winner-take-all, otherwise we'll be heading into sudden death.

The final Quarterfinals matchup has been scheduled for the 26th. So, if no overtime games are needed, we'll start the Semifinals on the 28th.

The last Quarterfinals series got going this afternoon between #4 North Polar Dragons FC and #5 Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi. The defending champs, denied a First Round bye and having to play against the highest seed in the Quarters, dominated on the road statistically but was fortunate to walk away with a 1-1 tie. North Polar struck first when Barnum Madrigal found an opening and scored unassisted in the 27th minute. Weyland Watkins then returned the favor 20 minutes later and tied the game when his effort snuck just underneath the crossbar. Despite hanging around Dragons goalie Aderet Schar with a bunch of opportunities and enjoying a corner kick advantage of 12-1, Cotopaxi fell to an offside trap four times and couldn't find a winning form. The series goes tomorrow back to Ecuador for a winner-take-all game.

The update for the 2/10 game at 7pm will probably come in late since I have a function to go to this evening.

The third Semifinalist has been determined as yet another lower seed advances out of the Quarters. After a scoreless opening game, #2 Swamp City Dragons went home back to Canada against #10 FC Not Very Athletic where the scoreless drought lasted exactly two minutes. Jabari Pickens bent a shot around the outstretched hands of Dragons goalie Huenu Palomino to finally tally a goal in the series. That seemed to be the impetus to open the floodgates. Derrik Ishihara and De Vante Greer scored in consecutive minutes to give the lead back to Swamp City 2-1 and a total of seven goals were scored in the 1st half, with the Dragons and their almost 42,000 fans enjoying the 4-3 advantage.

But Athletic was not to be intimidated by the higher seed, the score or playing on the road. Doonan Molan hit a perfectly placed header to the far corner to knot the aggregate at 4-4 and, moments later, Pickens scored off a corner when his shot was screened by the mass of players inside the box and Palomino was unable to track the ball as it got by him in the 54th minute. That goal not only gave Pickens the hat trick for the night but it proved to be the series winner. 108 year old Arley Movsisyan, in his 88th season of professional football, almost scored the tying goal in the 80th minute when his shot hooked just wide of the goal and Athletic held on for the 5-4 win. Swamp City, with yet another strong Cup performance, will watch the rest of the tournament from the sidelines.

The final game (barring a tie) of the quarters is tomorrow.

Down goes Frazier! #5 Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi's bid to repeat has gone up in flames as the fire-breathing #4 North Polar Dragons FC win the return game on the road and advance to the Semifinals. With the aggregate tied at 1-1, midfielder Carmelo Weinglas picked a perfect time to score his first goal of the tournament when he took a pass in the air and volleyed the shot off the fingertips of Cotopaxi goalie Rose Luyten. Isdel Rosas then made the advantage 3-1 when his header found the back of the net in the 25th minute. The defending champs got some hope after Weyland Watkins scored off a muff by Dragons goaltender Aderet Schar right as the first half whistle was being blown but they couldn't get another past Schar as he became much more sure-handed in the 2nd half. A couple of Cotopaxi shots clipped the crossbar and Watkins actually beat Schar on a shot late but the ball rolled just outside of the far post for a goal kick. With the 2-1 win, North Polar advances with a 3-2 aggregate and we are guaranteed a new Champion. One final salute to the Cup XIII winners as Cotopaxi will now get to watch the rest of the games on TV.

The Semifinals have been set and the teams can start scheduling whenever they like. Because of the holiday week, I haven't set a time frame. We'll just play it by ear in case one of the coaches is on vacation.

Noooooo

First time we've advanced past the knockout round in many years, I think. Thanks to indiansrck27 for getting those in quick after your signings, we got both games in right before rollover to the new season, which allowed us to both to play the games with full teams.

Now we're a year older and down one expensive vet midfielder, as Tadeo Quinones hangs up the cleats. I don't plan to try to sign any starters though, so we can begin anytime.

All four Semifinal games have been scheduled with the first one on the 31st and the last one on June 5th...so sit back and enjoy the time off.

Best of luck to those few remaining. The Ultimate Prize is only four victories away.

After a couple of days off, the playoffs started up again this morning as #4 North Polar Dragons FC hosted the first Semifinal against #9 Fianna AFC. Dragons midfielder Carmelo Weinglas wasted no time in getting the home side on the scoreboard when his header off a very early corner beat Greens goalie Deegan Colcroft to the far post to make it 1-0 in the 3rd minute. Melvyn Ashton then tied the game when he was left unguarded inside the penalty area and ripped a winner to knot the game at 1-1 going into halftime.

Both teams traded goals within the first five minutes of the 2nd half and things stayed 2-2 until Weinglas scored his second goal of the game with 13 minutes left in regular time after Zakary Walls delivered a perfect corner kick. Unfortunately for the Irish side, a free kick awarded in extra time gave Barnum Madrigal a good look and he took full advantage, scoring a damaging goal right before the final whistle blew, making the final score 4-2. The Greens now head back to Dublin having to win by at least two to extend the series and gives the highest remaining seed in the tournament a little bit of breathing room.

We have several days off until two games are played on June 2nd.

After six weeks of game play, we finally have our first Finalist. #4 North Polar Dragons FC hit the road with their 4-2 aggregate advantage, trying to qualify for their first Championship Round appearance since Cup V back in May 2021. #9 Fianna AFC had other plans, wiping out the two-goal deficit in the first 21 minutes when Cowal Chernock beat Dragons goalie Aderet Schar to make things all even a 4-4. The sold-out crowd of 40,000 had the stadium rocking as halftime and part of the 2nd half passed with the series still deadlocked.

North Polar subbed out its left midfielder in an attempt to shake things up and while Daavid Kaurismäki didn't score, his fresh legs seriously disrupted the Greens defense as North Polar started to get some serious looks at goal. It paid off in the 73rd minute when Hannes Carli dived forward and made good contact on a Zakary Walls cross to give the Dragons a 5-4 lead. Kaj Tervo then beat Fianna goalie Deegan Colcroft seven minutes later with what proved to be the series-winning goal to extend to 6-4. Dustyn la Barre gave the home crowd some hope when he got one back in the 84th but Isdel Rosas slammed the door with his 5th of the tournament as North Polar won the game 4-3 and the series 8-5.

With the loss Fianna will go to the 3rd Place game and will meet the loser of the other Semifinal Series. Reilly Glinton finishes his tournament still tied for the Golden Toe lead with 11 goals (3rd Place game goals don't count for the individual honor) and North Polar will await who it will face as it tries to improve on its Runner-Up effort in Cup V to Futbol Club Oviedo. The other series starts tonight and the first game will be updated around 8pm CST.

The Semifinal between #6 the crutchanators of soccer and #10 FC Not Very Athletic started tonight as Athletic, making their first appearance in the final four hosted the opening match. Unfortunately for the English club, the playing of God Save the King was the highlight of the evening. crutchanators came out firing on all cylinders with Heinz Hagelin scoring at the 5 minute mark and Finnish phenom Miika Moilanen bagging a hat trick, moving him into a three-way tie for the Golden Toe lead. More importantly, crutchanators dominated all facets of the game and had a 6-0 lead until Gavin Furlong-Kelly beat goalie Rueban Lazar with 10 minutes left to avoid the shutout. The series goes back to the US with crutchanators not only having a 5-goal advantage but home field advantage as well.

By the time the June 5th game is played, the FC Dynasty Cup Record Book will be up to date with all of the stats except for the this Cup's playoff records.

Holy crapazoid. Both my World Mates meeting up the Cup. I'm NEVER going to hear the end of this bragging rights, LOL

We started off with 24 teams and have finally come down to what it's all about - The Championship Round.

#6 the crutchanators of soccer went home and nursed their whopping 5 goal advantage from the first Semifinal game against #10 FC Not Very Athletic and cruised to a 3-0 halftime lead, including Miika Moilanen's tournament-leading 12th goal, to make the aggregate an insurmountable 9-1. After that, the 2nd half was a victory lap as Athletic took control and scored four times, including a goal by Phelps Walcott where he weaved his way through the defense like Maradona and scored in the 60th to erase the goose egg...but the series was alerady decided at that point. Athletic won the game 4-3 to salvage some pride but crutchanators wins the Semifinals 9-5 and heads onto the Championship.

Here we go - GL Shoe - our world showed up this year

It just happens to be that the Championship Round is an all World 79 affair and the 3rd Place game is an all World 62 affair. This is the first time in Cup history where both medalist rounds are against world mates.

We have a couple of tournament rules items to cover. For the 3rd Place game, the host is decided by coin flip. FC Not Very Athletic was heads and Fianna AFC was tails, the results came out below.
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You flipped 10 coins of type East German 1 Mark:

Timestamp: 2024-06-05 13:46:13 UTC
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Heads was the Deutsche Demokratische Republik and Tails was the 1962 1 Mark. Heads won 6-4, so Athletic will host the game. 3rd Place is not a series, it is a single game. So, if the game ends in a tie, both teams will share the 3rd Place honors.

There will also be a coin flip to decide which Championship team will host the first tiebreaker game if necessary. I'll do that coin flip in a couple of days before the first Championship game is played.

The Championship Round and the 3rd Place game do not have time frames. Teams can schedule whenever they like.

Congratulations to North Polar Dragons FC and the crutchanators of soccer on making it all the way to the end and, also, hats off to FC Not Very Athletic and Fianna AFC for advancing to the Bronze medal game. There is a crew of white-gloved dudes who are beginning to polish up the trophies to make them all shiny for the awards presentation ceremonies...