Group D played out the string this evening when FC Kingston hosted Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack to see which team would finish in last place. If there was any doubt, Kingston scored in the opening minute of the game when Arsenio de Sintra stood in front of a free kick and decided to go straight at goal. After Sadahige Kanai scored on a rising shot that snuck in just underneath the crossbar 20 minutes later, Hodensack knew they were beaten. Kingston ends the tournament on a high note and some good vibes for Cup XV. The Dual Monarchy is wondering whether or not they should disband.

The last playoff spot is on the line tomorrow.

The lone game that decides Group E isn't until this afternoon. I'll be out doing some things so the update will be this evening between 7-8pm. See you then.

The final playoff spot has been clinched as Group E sends its 2nd place team to the Knockout Rounds. North Polar Dragons FC was hosting Space Olympics in a game Olympics had to win. Unfortunately for the Frenchmen, they never got their offense rolling and managed only two shots on goal. Isdel Rosas got North Polar on the board when he beat the defense to the spot and ripped a shot past Olympics goalie Diego Roma. Kaj Tervo then made it 2-0 just before halftime and the visitors never found an answer. A scoreless second half ensued and the North Polar victory sends Burnaby Hillbillies through with 8 stage points. Olympics, which was shut out in their final two group games, ended with a rather odd 1-2-3 record as their tournament comes to an end.

The final game tomorrow is for seeding only. Once it goes final, I'll start checking the standings and seeding the playoff teams.

The Group Stage has come to a close as Wolfsburg Dynamit plays their best game of the tournament by far and denies North Polar Dragons FC the opportunity to grab the #2 seed. Dynamit went a man down early after Japanese hothead Noritoshi Minami decided to play a moment of American football when he tackled Kenian Lorentsen in the 17th minute. Despite the disadvantage, the German side built up a 3-1 lead and then withstood a last ditch flurry by North Polar, who scored very late on a goal by Kaj Tervo but couldn't get any closer in the 3-2 Wolfsburg win. North Polar finishes its Group E campaign with 13 points and will have to settle for the #4 seed. Wolfsburg played six competitive games and will have some momentum for its next Cup appearance.

Eru Avilés (Bad News) ends up as the Golden Toe leader after the Group Stage. While there is no rule against a player from a team that has been eliminated from the Cup winning the individual honor, it is almost a certainty that 7 goals will not be the scoring mark that takes home the trophy...but he is sitting atop the standings for the moment.

I'm taking the rest of today off and will start to pair the First Round matchups tomorrow.

I'm still verifying the Group Stage for any errors but I should have the playoffs set up by tomorrow morning.

The Knockout Round seeds are official and you may start to schedule at your leisure. The First Round is a home and away with aggregate goals being the only tiebreaker. If we have an aggregate tie, the higher seed will host the first tiebreaker game.

The first four seeds get that sweet bye and advance directly to the Quarters, so they get to rest and watch the rest of you duke it out.

As the games start to be scheduled, I will post the game date on the Knockout Round page in [red brackets.] The time frame for scheduling games runs through the 18th. If a series is involved in sudden death overtimes, the deadline for that series will be extended. If you win your series, don't start scheduling Quarterfinal games even if you know your opponent. Let's let the other series catch up to you.

The playoff seeding ended up being the following

#1 - FC Stolpen Steamroller (18 pts)
#2 - Swamp City Dragons (16 pts)
#3 - Bordeaux Fighting Bovines (15 pts)
#4 - North Polar Dragons FC (13 pts)

#5 - Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi (12 pts)
#6 - the crutchanators of soccer (11 pts)
#7 - FC Trojans of SC (2nd pl, 13 pts)
#8 - Kobelco United Football Club (2nd pl 10 pts, +5 GD)
#9 - Fianna AFC (2nd pl, 10 pts, 0 GD)
#10 - FC Not Very Athletic (2nd pl, 9 pts, +2 GD)
#11 - Brighton AFC (2nd pl, 9 pts, +1 GD)
#12 - Burnaby Hillbillies (2nd pl, 8 pts)

Best of luck in the playoffs, everyone.

Six out of the eight First Round games have been scheduled with the opening games starting on the 11th. Fianna AFC just had their world roll over so they are probably waiting to sign a couple of players before pulling the trigger on their matches.

My apologies for lack of reply, as I have been on the road for work this week and just arrived home tonight. gomiami is correct that Fianna AFC had their world roll over, and I will need a few days to rebuild the squad with some new signings. Thank you for your patience.

The First Round kicks off tonight with a couple of 7pm games.

The first couple of knockout games have gone final as the margin of error for teams is now gone. The defending Champs Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi, stung by the fact that they weren't able to grab one of the four byes, did manage to open up their post-season as the #5 seed in victorious fashion, although it was a struggle. #12 Burnaby Hillbillies used the home Canadian crowd to its advantage and played Cotopaxi toe to toe, with both teams failing to score in the first half and then trading goals early in the 2nd half to make the game very drawish. The stats line confirmed this as virtually every category was either close or dead even. The only difference between the two teams was when Cotopaxi forward Maeyken Bastin struck an unassisted shot in the 80th minute that caught Burnaby goalie Augustus Barth leaning the wrong way to give Cotopaxi a very tough 2-1 road win. The series goes to Ecuador where Burnaby has to turn the tables in order to stay alive.

In the other game tonight, a massive crowd of 60,000 saw a quite different contest. #6 seed the crutchanators of soccer gave up two of the first three goals of the game against #11 Brighton AFC and then dominated the rest of the way in a 4-2 home win. Jessie Moose did all he could, scoring both of Brighton's goals but a balanced crutchanators attack was too much as they really pulled away in the 2nd half and owned the stats. The best goal of the game was a looping header by Miika Moilanen, who connected on a shot that went over Brighton goalie Terrence Pettit's hands and then ducked underneath the crossbar in the 59th minute. Brighton has a couple of days to figure out its issues as the series goes back to their home pitch.

There are no games tomorrow but the 13th features both return games in the two matchups today as well as the opener in the #7 FC Trojans of SC/#10 FC Not Very Athletic pairing.

The first elimination day of the knockouts is underway and already two teams have packed up their gear and headed home. #5 Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi went into the return match against #12 Burnaby Hillbillies with a slim 2-1 advantage but really took it to the Canadian club down in South America. Edwin Smets side-footed a well-placed shot to open the scoring in the 20th minute and the Champs never let off the gas. After building up a 3-0 lead, Hillbillies midfielder Cesar Surcin lost his cool and started yelling at the referee. The referee warned him but the Brazilian told him to stick it. The end result was a red card that doomed what little chance Burnaby had of making a comeback. A couple more goals late by Cotopaxi as they were enjoying the gifted man advantage rounded out the scoring in a 5-0 win and a 7-1 series aggregate. They will advance to the Quarterfinals where #4 North Polar Dragons FC awaits them.

In the other elimination game, #6 the crutchanators of soccer had to hit the road against #11 Brighton AFC, after having won their home leg 4-2. Miika Moilanen scored twice and now sits tied for the Golden Toe lead with teammate Heinz Hagelin with 7 goals. Brighton had plenty of opportunities and shots but could only net one after Houston Dainichi headed in a cross right before halftime. crutchanators goalie Sasson Treppe made some critical saves during the 2nd stanza and his team won the game 2-1 and took the series with a 6-3 aggregate. Brighton's tournament has come to an end and the crutchanators will move on to the quarters to face #3 Bordeaux Fighting Bovines.

The 7/10 gets underway this afternoon. For those of you that have advanced, don't schedule your Quarterfinals games. The 8/9 matchup is still waiting for their games to be placed on the docket so we have a ways to go before the First Round concludes.

The series between #7 FC Trojans of SC and #10 FC Not Very Athletic got underway on Athletic's home grass in a matchup that featured both team's leading scorers. Regan Holian took over solo lead of the L'Orteil D'or with a hat trick, including two goals in the first 17 minutes of the game. Trying to keep his side in the game, Trojans forward Udayle Velázquez answered back with a pair of his own, including a 20th minute effort where he weaved his way through the defense and then unleashed on defenseless goalie Rickard Ainsworth. But the scoring line belonged to the home side, which built up a 4-1 lead before Velázquez minimized the aggregate damage to end the game as an Athletic 4-2 victory. The return game goes back to Trojans Stadium as the higher seed gets its chance at some home cooking.

Holian's scoring output officially eliminated Bad News forward Eru Avilés, who had been clinging to a tiny chance of sharing the Golden Toe.

There are no games scheduled tomorrow so we'll see you on the 15th.

Hey, my season rollover is coming up soonish - I think it makes sense to schedule game with Bordeaux Fighting Bovines now - then when everything else is playing out/other games are catching up i'll have the rollover going on. Trying to avoid too much delay by the rollover.

Posted by brandon5135 on 5/15/2024 10:01:00 AM (view original):
Hey, my season rollover is coming up soonish - I think it makes sense to schedule game with Bordeaux Fighting Bovines now - then when everything else is playing out/other games are catching up i'll have the rollover going on. Trying to avoid too much delay by the rollover.

Hold off just another day or so if you could. Three of the four First Round series are complete and the first 8/9 game is on the 17th. Your season ends in 8 days and you'll have your full lineup for a couple days after that. I'm hoping the last game gest scheduled either today or tomorrow so we'll know when this round wraps up.

A third team has advanced out of the First Round with the completion of the 7/10 matchup between FC Trojans of SC and FC Not Very Athletic. Athletic won the opening leg 4-2 as a home crowd of almost 41,000 Trojans fans tried to lift their club's fortunes but Regan Holian, who was sitting atop the Golden Toe after a three-bagger in the first game, scored two more early in the 2nd half to make the aggregate way too big to bridge. With 5 goals in two games, Holian now has 10 in the tournament entering the Quarterfinals. The Trojans, to their credit, played to the final whistle and did get one back on a header by Macadam Gilfoyle, but the 2-1 loss gave the series to Athletic 6-3, who advances to play the #2 seed Swamp City Dragons.

The first game of the #8 Kobelco United Football Club and #9 Fianna AFC is on the 17th and, hopefully the return game will be scheduled shortly thereafter.