NPSL Midwest Region Playoffs preview
Photo credit: John Pavlecka
It’s that time of the year again, folks. The top two teams in each conference have been decided and another wild and entertaining edition of the NPSL playoffs will begin soon. Let’s take a look at each Midwest Region playoff team, their road to getting here as well as their chance of winning the regional and heading on to the national NPSL semifinal round.
For those unfamiliar with the NPSL playoff tournament, the format is as follows:
Image credit: NPSL
Teams qualified:
Great Lakes: 1st Ann Arbor, 2nd Grand Rapids FC
North: 1st Minneapolis City SC, 2nd Duluth FC
East: 1st Erie Commodores FC, 2nd Cleveland SC
No. 1 seed – Minneapolis City SC
Minneapolis is very well deserving of the #1 seed in the region as they are not only the North Division champions but the only team in the Midwest Region to remain unbeaten. To put it simply, these guys score a lot of goals. The Crows have scored a whopping total of 46 goals so far this season, good for first place of the entirety of the NPSL (98 teams) in goals scored. Liberian brothers Martin and Whitney Browne are the goalscorers on this team with six a piece and are tied for the team lead. But another player to keep an eye on is Will Kidd. The young, speedy, blonde American has not only scored four goals this season, but has had his hand in creating many assists and is an important playmaker for this team.
No. 2 seed – AFC Ann Arbor
Great Lakes Conference champions for the second straight year, AFC Ann Arbor has had another fantastic regular season in the NPSL. But regular-season success does not always result in postseason success and “The Mighty Oak” had to find that out the hard way last postseason as they were tragically defeated by Detroit City FC in the Midwest Region Championship despite having the much better regular season than Detroit. This team will use that as motivation during this playoffs, as anything but a birth into the national NPSL semifinals will be likely viewed as a failure. If you couldn’t tell from my Great Lakes Conference midseason review, I am pretty high on Ann Arbor and what they can do. They have a great balance between local Michigan talent and international players who have been making a big difference thus far. There isn’t necessarily one key guy to be focused on with this team because they have so much talent, but a couple goalscorers who are likely going to find the back of the net in the playoffs are Jordan Montoya, Yuri Farkas and Marc Ybarra. However, this team not only scores a lot of goals but defends terrifically, allowing the fewest goals per game in the entirety of the NPSL, an extremely impressive feat.
No. 3 seed – Erie Commodores FC
Erie Commodores FC has won the East Conference Division for a second consecutive year and were only a win away from beating out AFC Ann Arbor for a first-round bye, which would have been greatly appreciated considering their early departure from the playoffs last postseason. The lone U.S. Open Cup second-round representative out of the East Conference Division, Erie has set the standard of quality soccer in their division and will try to be the team to upset the heavyweights of this Midwest Region in Minneapolis and Ann Arbor. The key goalscorers for this team are New Zealand native Cam Philpot and England native Steve Rigg, who actually bounced around in the lower divisions of professional soccer in England and Scotland before heading stateside. The Commodores were able to clinch the East Conference Division thanks to a winner-takes-all season finale against another fellow playoff team Cleveland SC. Despite being a man down due to a red card in the first half, Erie was able to hang on to a 2-1 lead and defend their division title.
No. 4 seed – Cleveland SC
Cleveland SC replaced AFC Cleveland in the NPSL this year and had some great success in doing so. For the most part, Cleveland kept pace in the standings with defending division champions Erie and even handed them their first loss of the season 3-2 back in June. The new kids on the block were clearly undaunted by the more experienced clubs they were competing against. Vinny Bell, the man who scored a hat trick to defeat Erie, is a crucial piece to this team in order for them to make a run in the playoffs. His health is a question though. Bell played in last weekend’s clash against Erie in which Cleveland lost; however, Bell had missed time over the course of the previous two weeks nursing an injury.
Erie Commodores SC vs. Cleveland SC prediction:
(July 14 at 7 p.m. ET, Gannon University)
This will be an interesting game considering these two teams just played each other at the same venue last weekend. Erie starting goalkeeper Nicolau Neto will be suspended for this match due to his red card late in the first half in last weekend’s affair. But the fact that Erie still won this match despite being a man down for the entirety of the second half is telling to me. There clearly is grit and determination with this side, not to mention experience in the playoffs. I’m picking Erie to repeat last weekend’s performance and defeat Cleveland.
Photo credit: Tyler Birschbach
No. 5 seed – Duluth FC
Last year’s North Conference Division champions fell short of going back to back this season, but still managed to put together a strong regular-season record, securing second place in the division and landing a No. 5 seed of the playoffs. Duluth FC went one and done last year in the postseason after getting routed by Detroit City FC in their first match of the playoffs. Another U.S. Open Cup second-round team, the “BlueGreens” will hope to ride the momentum from their win-or-go-home regular season finale against Med City in which they won 1-0 to clinch playoff qualification. They’ll hope to forget their painful 4-2 drubbing against eventual division winner Minneapolis City SC just a couple short weeks ago. Keep an eye on dynamic outside midfielder Dana Kowachek, who’s tied for the team lead for goals with four and will be an important figure for this team if they are to make a run in these playoffs.
No. 6 seed – Grand Rapids FC
Well, it wasn’t pretty and it involved relying on some other teams, but Grand Rapids FC was able to hang on and clinch a playoff berth thanks to Milwaukee’s surprising 1-0 win over red-hot FC Columbus last weekend. Grand Rapids had multiple chances to control its own destiny but failed to get results in their last two matches of the season, including a loss to Columbus and a tie against Detroit City, which forced them to play the waiting game until Columbus finished its regular season. I feel like regardless of the sport or league, having momentum going into the playoffs is something crucial for a team’s success, and I’m not sensing a whole lot of that out of the “Boys in Blue” right now. That being said, overall they had a great season and were a force to be reckoned with in a strong Great Lakes Division. Fan favorite Matt “Super Matty” Whelan is truly an exciting goalscorer to watch and leads the team in that category. GRFC even handed AFC Ann Arbor its one and only loss this season, proving the quality of this team.
Duluth FC vs. Grand Rapids FC prediction:
(July 14 at 7 p.m. CT, Public Schools Stadium)
I’m going with the home team Duluth FC winning this one. I think Duluth is the hotter team right now and Grand Rapids will potentially be rusty having not played a game since June 29.
Championship prediction: Minneapolis City SC vs. AFC Ann Arbor
Minneapolis City SC vs. AFC Ann Arbor prediction:
(July 21, time and location TBD)
Look, I know it’s easy to predict the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds to go to the championship game, but these two teams are a cut above the rest of the competition in my opinion. Just look at their records, there is only a combined total of one loss between these two heavyweights. If this matchup comes to fruition it is going to be one of the best games of the whole NPSL season. Minneapolis, the leading goal-scoring team in the nation vs. Ann Arbor, the team with the fewest amount of goals conceded in the nation. In the end, I like Ann Arbor’s experience on this stage — as well as their determination from last year’s disappointment — to propel them to be the 2018 NPSL Midwest Region’s champion.
Update: An earlier version of this story contained an error identifying Mpls City as having gone to the second round of the 2018 U.S. Open Cup and has been corrected.
Follow Jack on Twitter: @JackRenwick22.
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