TBA70 wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 5:44 pm
Floyd wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 4:19 pm
Pretty sure any school hosting a game on alumni day plays lowest available seed.
What team has an alumni game?
Seb's has reunion on Saturday and Coach White was the architect of the playoffs, so I'm guessing that's where the teasing is coming from.
As for the games...
Govs @ BH: Govs didn't have the season I expected. I didn't realize how young they are and they've had some injuries. BH has great balance and athleticism. With their goalie looking likely to emerge as All ISL from a very talented pack of keepers, and the freshman face-off specialist proving more than adequate, BH are the strong favorite to win it all. On the other hand Govs probably didn't think they were in this half of the tournament 24 hours ago. Sometimes an injection of house money like this can infuse a team with energy that makes them tough to beat.
Thayer @ Tabor: Thayer is a very young team that has juggled the line up a lot due to injuries. That may build depth and character for a potential title run next year but it's a tough combo to overcome this season. Tabor's starting attack is averaging about 14.5 points per game in ISL play, and they have one of the top goalies in the league. I'd love to see how a full strength Thayer could do here, but since that doesn't look to be in the cards then I think it's got to be Tabor.
St. George's @ Nobles: This got played a week ago with St. G's staying close for awhile but ultimately losing by seven. It's a tough match up for the Dragons as the strengths of the two teams are really similar, but Nobles looks to have the edge at pretty much every position imo. The talent gap is close enough that hot day by the goalie and another player or two could swing it for St. G's, but I'm going with the Bulldogs.
Lawrence @ Seb's: It seems like no team has tinkered with the line up quite as much as Seb's, yet I'm still not sure we have (or will) seen them play their best. Their young attack struggled early against strong non league and league opponents, and then got going in the back half of the schedule against weaker opponents. With about 12 weeks of jelling and improving from tryouts until now, will they be able to produce when they start going up against strong defenses again? Lawrence's face-off specialist can make things interesting, and the 1-2 punch they deploy at attack is devastating. But they simply haven't had the depth of athletes in the midfield to keep up with top ISL teams and I don't think they do here either.
I'm going chalk across the board. If I had to pick an upset I'd say Thayer over Tabor just because I like the ceiling talent of some of their younger players and I said before the season that Foley was capable of stealing a game for the Tigers in net.