Division I Playoff Analysis/Predictions

[Wofford Dad f/k/a SJA Dad]

The D-1 bracket will generate controversy as it always does. Without a seeding process, you have two marquee 1st round match-ups in the bottom half with Mandeville travelling to play Mt. Carmel; and St. Scholastica hosting Acadiana. With those 1st round tussles, the bottom half seems set to thin itself out much earlier than the upper half.

The 2nd round seems destined for a titanic[/i] showdown in the upper half between Fontainebleau [did I spell it right?] and Dominican. The lower half also gets a huge potential 2nd round matchup in Dutchtown versus the winner between Acadiana and St. Scholastica.

In fact -- that quartet of Acadiana, SSA, Dutchtown, and Northshore have a tough road.

Alas -- let the games begin!! Good luck everyone!!

[barbedad20]

Let the Predictions begin: bold=winner

Byrd
NISH

Natch Central
East Ascension

St Thomas More
Ruston

Central Lafouche
Carencro

Fontainebleau
St Amant

Dominican
S Terrebonne

St Joe's
Capt Shreve

Bonnabel
Chapelle

West Monroe
Barbe

Caddo Magnet
Woodlawn

Lafayette
Airline

Terrebonne
Grace King

Acadiana
SSA

Dutchtown
Northshore

BRHS
John Ehret

Mount Carmel
Mandeville

Only 3 made me think a bit:
1) Carencro vs Central Lafouche- Have not seen either team play.
2) Acadiana vs SSA: My heart wants fellow District 3 member Acadiana to win but I think SSA takes this one 1-0
3) Mount Carmel vs Mandeville- I like the job the Lady Skippers have done vs a brutal top district but I think they are 1 year away.

[number3]

Central has some strong players, and play a physical game. I think they can take Cro.

[sosoplayer24]

I agree with all of your picks Barbedad20 but I will keep a close watch on Byrd and Nish. After 2 straight years of pulling Nish in round one I developed a great deal of respect for them. I have not heard much about them this year but I thought they had a young team last year and a growing program. I have not seen Byrd play this year either but have hear good things. Good luck to both but I wouldn't be surprised to see NISH on top at the end.

[diverdo]

Barbedad has a pretty good crystal ball I think, although I think Carencro will be a winner and because I am not objective on Mt Carmel vs Mandeville, I HOPE that Mandeville will pull the upset. SJAdad, I agree that SSA/Acadiana/Dutchtown have a tough road but equally tough is the journey of Mt Carmel/Mandeville/BRHS - it is a minefield. And it is not the bottom half - it is the bottom quarter! I would assert that no other contenders come even close to being dealt the difficult hand of those in the bottom quarter.

[sokerfan]

Hey Barbedad, the only different pick I have is Natch. Central over EA. The one that makes me think the most is the Mt. Carmel / Mandeville game. Mandeville played SSA and FHS close and we've played Mt. Carmel twice, I say flip a coin. Mt. Carmel - good defense and finds ways to win. Can Mandeville score is the question.

[a9imus]

Also agree with Barbedad20.

First round looks pretty straight forward, obvious picks. Three games Barbedad mentioned are the only I see too close to call.

However...upsets will happen. The tough question is...Who will pull the upset?

[soccer8]

I say Acadiana over SSA 1-0

[justfurfun01]

STM wil win. Mount Carmel beats Mandeville hands down. (FHS and SSA dominated all games but one against Mandevile.) Acadiana, Dutchtown and SSA will definately battle. Fontainebleau will dominate and win. Dominican and Barb will also dominate and win. Not enough background on the other games. Will some of these be close?

[saders1fan]

Just stir the pot and since you have to pick at least one upset somewhere I'll try West Monroe on turf over Barbe even though it is a short trip for them after Barbe's Christmas excursion. ;D
Will just hope for some good hard fought games with closes scores.
Second UPSET of the CENTURY: Woodlawn over Caddo (maybe I should have put that bottle down before I finished it off - HIC!)

[bruce76]

Not to disappoint Barbedad, SSA 4 - 0 Acadiana

[my2centsplus]

Barbedad- I say you go 16-0 in your 1st round picks

[barbedad20]

saders1fan said:

Just stir the pot and since you have to pick at least one upset somewhere I'll try West Monroe on turf over Barbe even though it is a short trip for them after Barbe's Christmas excursion. ;D
Will just hope for some good hard fought games with closes scores.
Second UPSET of the CENTURY: Woodlawn over Caddo (maybe I should have put that bottle down before I finished it off - HIC!)

Okay saders1fan.... who was taking all the hits to the head, your daughter as a keeper or you!!!! If you get just 1 of the 2 picks right, I will say YOU ARE THE MAN. That is what makes this game so fun to watch, any given night can produce any given result. Tell your daughter we miss her and I hope you haven't spent her 2nd year tution on bets like you made above!! ;D ;D

[sokerfan]

I'll make a prediction - District 9 will be ELIMINATED as soon as the whistle blows to end the Baton Rouge / John Ehret game.

[saders1fan]

Barbedad20,
I did also pick Woodlawn over CADDO and that would really be a long shot win. Guess I better stick to watching although with those odds on Woodlawn I could probably pay for my daughter's education for the next four years.
College 8 v 8 Tourney being held at ULL on 3/8 will a lot of fun to watch (was last year). Come see some of the LA girls compete against each other (WCU will be there).

[qpsoccer]

st joe gets lucky and will have an easy time against chapelle. dominican, the defending champs, will surprise fontainebleu. having seem STM several times, i predict they will be the champs.
good luck to all.

[Rayne]

saders1fan said:

Barbedad20,
I did also pick Woodlawn over CADDO and that would really be a long shot win. Guess I better stick to watching although with those odds on Woodlawn I could probably pay for my daughter's education for the next four years.
College 8 v 8 Tourney being held at ULL on 3/8 will a lot of fun to watch (was last year). Come see some of the LA girls compete against each other (WCU will be there).

Did you see the game? You lost that bet, my friend. Caddo dominated the field, the entire game. 9-0 was the score. There was no doubt. The minute the whistle blew to start the game, it was over. 5 minutes in, Caddo was up 2-0.

Looks like Barbe did well against West Monroe too. Props to you for voting for the underdog, but those were not the odds to bet on this round.

[diverdo]

For those of you who are picking Mt Carmel to go all the way you should be just a little nervous. They got all they could handle tonight from the 3rd place team from District 7 and won 1-0 off a kick after a foul called on the Mandy sweepeer in the 38th minute as the Mandy sweeper was pushed to the ground on a ball up for grabs - except for that phantom foul which should have gone the other way, it was a very even match with very few shots on goal by either side but excellent passing and agressive contact in the midfield by both sides and equal time at both ends of the field during both halves. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened in overtime if it had been a 0-0 result in regulation. By the way, I do not think that the LHSAA should have allowed this game to be played at the Bertolino (sp?) Playground - there is NO SIDELINE. The game field ends where the running track surface begins and it is very dangerous for the girls. How ridiculous is it to sart a corner kick on a running track? If that is the best MCA can do for a field then they should not be allowed to host - for the sake of both teams. Great effort and great heart tonight by the Skippers who were playing with all kinds of "walking wounded." If MCA is one of the favorites to win it all then they got outcoached bigtime tonight by Coach Esker of Mandeville. Good luck to MCA but they better watch out for the !st and 2nd teams from our district.

[mcarules]

I agree with you on the field. It is dangerous and the New Orleans area in general needs a real soccer stadium.

As for the game and your comment on the phantom foul I guess you didn't see the 15-20 phantom calls made against MCA, setting up Mandeville for scoring opportunities the whole game. MCA got one free kick and they scored. Mandeville got about 20 and they didn't. I also don't see a reference to the phantom offiside call on MCA's second goal. That was a clean goal and you know it.

I also agree with you that MCA should not have another Gym night because they won't go far if they do. The Mandeville coach made sure the game was played Friday (even though the request was made to play earlier in the week), to ensure he got the advantage of playing after a night where the MCA girls were out. I am sure their coaches tried to make them stay away but we all know how that goes. I also like your outcoaching comment even though your coach lost! I guess you guys expected to get creamed and were happy with the close loss. The Mandeville girls played their hearts out and they are to be commented for it. They don't need your help to make them look good.

[diverdo]

Mcarules, there were all kinds of phantom calls, and no calls, in this game, I agree, but they went both ways and both teams got their share of free kicks - I would think that you should agree with that. The call in question occurred right outside the box, in a scoreless game right before halftime, that is the difference as opposed to the rest that occurred further out. With regard to scheduling, I have no idea what a GYM night is but maybe we should have insisted that we play THAT night? All I can tell you is that we were supposed to play SSA for 2nd place in our district on Monday night and I guess you wanted us to turn around and play you two nights later? By the way, perhaps one of the reasons you barely survived this match to advance is because YOUR girls were overheard on the field before the game by our girls talking about how bad they were going to beat the Lady Skippers? Our girls played great even though they do not advance. Please don't be so arrogant.