NE Ohio playoffs D1, D2, D3

S

Salad76

Well-known member
In D1 it's probably Iggy again. My alma mater Medina along with a few others will make things interesting of course but the Cats remain the favorites.

D2 has a wide variety of teams without any true clear cut favorites.

In the West it's Shawnee, Ontario and Lexington along with Revere who jumped out there. On paper it would appear that Revere is the top choice to get to the final four.

In the East Bay and CVCA are probably the top 2 but they will face each other in a regional semi. The other regional finalist could be any of Harvey, Poland, Canfield, Kenston or Howland. They are all pretty even for the most part with Harvey possibly having the edge.

In D3 Mooney is the favorite. A big, senior laden team that plays solid defense but has a tough time scoring at times. They should come out of the Niles districts. Crestview lost a lot from last year but still lurks with the best overall scorer in the area in Novak. The Akron districts will likely come down to the Kirtland and Beachwood matchup. Keep an eye on Hanoverten United who is out in the Elyria district in the NW. A very fast, solid team that has put up some very nice results.
 
 
It's Ignatius and then everyone else in D1. They likely won't have a competitive game until the state semis. Who they face will be interesting, as there's a lot of strong teams in Region 1. Westlake has been strong all year - they have one of the best players in the state, plus a really solid goalie, which helps. Hudson, Medina, Brunswick, Hoover - any of those have chances as well. US drew a high seed as well, but I'm not totally sold on them this year.

D2 will be tough - Revere, as the top seed, was able to get into Region 2, so they can avoid most of the stronger NE Ohio teams until states. Maybe Shawnee or Lexington can give them a game. Lots of talented teams in Region 1, with the obvious favorite being Bay and Howland as usual.

Don't know much about D3 overall. My son's team beat Beachwood (albeit in a late preseason scrimmage) and I'm surprised they went on the run they did this season. Saw Mooney play once this year and they did look pretty strong and well coached.
 
D1 R1
Cleveland 2 (most likely Hudson) v Cleveland 3 (most likely University School) - Twinsburg could be the district finals opponent for Hudson, they only lost 2-1 to the Explorers early in the year; however, the Tigers will have to mostly likely clear Stow (a team they lost to 1-0 recently) to hit that game. By seed University School is looking at Painesville Riverside in the district final, a team they beat 2-1 on opening night; though Walsh Jesuit will have something to say about Riverside hitting that point.
Cleveland 1 (Jackson or Hoover) v Cleveland 4 (Westlake or Medina) - Jackson and Hoover tied in their regular season meeting and ended up sharing the Federal League, Hoover has the tougher roadblock to the district final in an Eastlake North team they only beat 1-0 during the regular season; Westlake and Medina were in a district final last year that Medina won, Medina/St. Edward and Westlake/Brunswick are both great district semifinal matchups.

D1 R2
Northeast 5 (Strongsville, Wooster, et al) v Northeast 6 (St. Ignatius) - Cleveland 4, 5, and 6 were one pod. You can look at how the teams split out and tell that everyone is avoiding St. Ignatius for as long as possible. In Northeast 5, Strongsville and Wooster are the highest seeded teams, they played last night. Strongsville v Copley is the likely district semi, while that bottom half has any of six teams that could clear (Wadsworth, Olmsted Falls, Avon; Wooster, Lakewood, Avon Lake). Shaker Hts is the highest seed in the bracket with St. Ignatius, and they lost 4-0 to the Wildcats during the regular season.
In the Toledo area, Anthony Wayne and Sylvania Southview anchor one district, while Perrysburg, Toledo St. Francis, and Sylvania Northview anchor the other; Toledo St. Francis jumped right on Perrysburg in a sectional final, which is interesting.
 
D2 R5
Akron 4 (CVCA/SVSM) v Akron 3 (Bay). CVCA beat SVSM 2-1 on 9/22. Norton and Buckeye are slated to meet in a sectional final just to hit CVCA in the district semi; SVSM tied Buckeye 2-2 on 9/3 and beat Norton 4-0 five days later (SVSM lost to Buckeye last year in a district semi having gone undefeated until that game). The most interesting question in Bay's district is who will play Bay in the district final - Orrville v Hawken will be an interesting sectional final, while Lutheran West v the winner of Gilmour/Rocky River will be another interesting game in that round (first round game merits attention too); lots of similar teams there, though there are disparate records between the five sides.
Akron 2 (Harvey, Poland, Canfield) v Akron 1 (Howland/Kenston). Akron 1 should boil down to Howland and Kenston. Harvey should clear to the Akron 2 final, though if Hubbard can find their early season form, they could pose a nuisance to the Red Raiders in the district semi; Canfield beat Poland 1-0 in the district final last year, and this year has not lost since a 3-0 season opening loss to Kenston (though the Cardinals have six ties in that stretch), while the Bulldogs have 13 straight wins of their own against a less rigorous schedule than Canfield.

D2 R6
Elyria 1 (Revere, maybe Lake Cathollic) v Millbury (Bowling Green or Delta). Look at Revere's half of the district, and overall district, and you see a clear sprint away from that area in the three bracket pod (Akron 4 and 3 are part of that one). BG has played a lot of D1 teams through the NLL this year, while Delta is more a high D3/low D2 in terms of their schedule during a 14-0-3 campaign. Revere has a trip to the regional written all over it.
Lima Shawnee vs. Ontario/Lexington as the other regional semi is something I could take great odds on.
 
D3 R9
Niles 2 (Badger or Crestview, maybe Wickliffe) v Niles 1 (Cardinal Mooney). If you look at how the teams in this pod behaved, teams avoided Cardinal Mooney like the plague, and with good reason. Seeds 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 all jumped in the bracket Cardinal Mooney was not in. Badger v Warren Champion is one district semi, while Wickliffe/South Range v Crestview is the other. Badger is the safest bet to clear a district final in Niles 2, while it would not surprise me if South Range ends up the other district finalist. The Raiders operate in a different schedule ecosystem than either Wickliffe or Crestview, though both the Blue Devils and Rebels return all-state players in the attacking area of the field.
Akron 1 (Beachwood, Kirtland, Fairview) v Akron 2 (Norwayne, maybe Berkshire/Independence). Beachwood is on a big run right now having won ten straight, including a recent 4-1 win over Kirtland (and 3-1 result over Wickliffe). Fairview, despite their record is the most battle hardened of the D3 teams; they did lose by one to both Open Door and Kirtland, who are projected sectional final and district semi opposition, but also have lost by one to Solon and North Olmsted and have recent results against Lutheran West (win) and Rocky River (tie). Norwayne made regional play two years ago, and probably should have last year but were upset in a district semi; Berkshire is a super veteran side with a couple of big-time goal scorers, while Independence has a sustained history of recent success, and drew Berkshire earlier this season.

D3 R10
Akron 3 (Hanoverton United, or others) v Toledo (Ottawa Hills). Hanoverton United has the most congested area by far of the three brackets from the Akron pod. They have feasted against their schedule to outscoring opposition 116-4 on the way to a 14-1-2 record. It's the opposite half-bracket that is real congested with Waynedale (who has had a great season), Andrews Osborne (a regional team last year that has been competitive against one of the stronger schedules in NE OH D3), and Kidron Central Christian (who has made regional play for god knows how many years in a row, though their record isn't great, but they play a highly robust schedule).
 
An upset (of sorts) in the first round, D2:

Rocky River 5
Gilmour 2

Rocky River plays their neighbors, Lutheran West. The two schools are like a mile away from each other.
 
In perhaps the game of the year, 0-16 Niles beat Alliance (7-9-1) by a score of 2-1 in OT in a D2 first round game. Niles has had just enough kids to play most games and were outscored 102-6 during the regular season.

A good friend is the coach at Niles and I'm just so happy for them. Several kids on the team my kids played rec with way back when. A true testament to perseverance and seeing things through to the end.
 
D2 District Finals are set - all of the higher seeds moved on:

Northeast 1: Howland vs. Kenston
Northeast 2: Harvey vs. Poland
Northeast 3: Bay vs. Orrville
Northeast 4: CVCA vs. St. Vincent / St. Mary
Northeast 5: Revere vs. Lake Catholic

Trying to figure out if there's an upset possible in these games. Probably not, except maybe Poland over Harvey (which is a #2 v. #3 seed, so not much of an upset in reality).
 
soccerdad72 said:
D2 District Finals are set - all of the higher seeds moved on:

Northeast 1: Howland vs. Kenston
Northeast 2: Harvey vs. Poland
Northeast 3: Bay vs. Orrville
Northeast 4: CVCA vs. St. Vincent / St. Mary
Northeast 5: Revere vs. Lake Catholic

Trying to figure out if there's an upset possible in these games. Probably not, except maybe Poland over Harvey (which is a #2 v. #3 seed, so not much of an upset in reality).
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I think 1 and 2 are very even

3, 4 and 5 the faves can name the score.
 
D3

My thoughts

Wickliffe over Badger
Mooney over JFK
Beachwood over Kirtland
Berkshire over Norwayne for an upset
 
I was surprised last night that Revere only beat Firelands, 3-0. I would have expected a bigger blowout in that game.
 
soccerdad72 said:
I was surprised last night that Revere only beat Firelands, 3-0. I would have expected a bigger blowout in that game.
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I think sometimes it depends whether the other team ever comes out of their shell.

Kenston didn't score their first goal til 17 seconds left in the first half. 2-0 about 15 minutes into the second half.

Then with about 15 remaining Ursuline decided to open things up and I think Kenston got 3 goals in maybe 5 minutes.

Also sometimes comes down to the opposing coach pulling back or not.
 
A couple good D1 District Semis matchups tonight.

Westlake - Brunswick should be a really good one
Strongsville - Copley and Olmsted Falls - Wooster have promise as well.
 
D2: the two games in the east pod are more or less tossups; in the west pod, Bay and Revere should win (I think Lake Catholic is more equipped to win, but they are playing a better side), while CVCA v SVSM could go either way (CVCA won by one in the regular season).

The other D3 game on Saturday in NE OH has Kidron CC vs. Hanoverton United.

Tonight's D1 games:
University School/Green, Walsh Jesuit/Riverside (WJ/Riverside should be a real good game)
Hoover/Eastlake North, Massillon Jackson/Louisville (Hoover/EN was 1-0 Hoover in the regular season)
Hudson/Kent Roosevelt, Twinsburg/Will South (Hudson/Kent Roosevelt as surprisingly close opening night, Twinsburg beat WS 3-1 regular season)
Westlake/Brunswick, Medina/St. Edward (both could be really good games)
St. Ignatius/Midview, Shaker Hts/North Ridgeville
Strongsville/Copley, Wooster/Olmsted Falls (both games could be interesting)
 
Walsh up 1-0 on Riverside, Westlake and Brunswick are 0-0

Watched a little of the Ignatius game on SIBN. Didn’t look like Midview ever touched the ball. It’s 4-0 so far
 
D1 East pod semis all were straight forward:
Univ School 6 Green 0, Walsh Jesuit 2 Riverside 0
Hoover 2 Eastlake North 0, Jackson 2 Louisville 0
Hudson 8 Kent Roosevelt 0, Twinsburg 1 Will. South 1
 
bucksman said:
D1 R1
Cleveland 2 (most likely Hudson) v Cleveland 3 (most likely University School) - Twinsburg could be the district finals opponent for Hudson, they only lost 2-1 to the Explorers early in the year; however, the Tigers will have to mostly likely clear Stow (a team they lost to 1-0 recently) to hit that game. By seed University School is looking at Painesville Riverside in the district final, a team they beat 2-1 on opening night; though Walsh Jesuit will have something to say about Riverside hitting that point.
Cleveland 1 (Jackson or Hoover) v Cleveland 4 (Westlake or Medina) - Jackson and Hoover tied in their regular season meeting and ended up sharing the Federal League, Hoover has the tougher roadblock to the district final in an Eastlake North team they only beat 1-0 during the regular season; Westlake and Medina were in a district final last year that Medina won, Medina/St. Edward and Westlake/Brunswick are both great district semifinal matchups.

D1 R2
Northeast 5 (Strongsville, Wooster, et al) v Northeast 6 (St. Ignatius) - Cleveland 4, 5, and 6 were one pod. You can look at how the teams split out and tell that everyone is avoiding St. Ignatius for as long as possible. In Northeast 5, Strongsville and Wooster are the highest seeded teams, they played last night. Strongsville v Copley is the likely district semi, while that bottom half has any of six teams that could clear (Wadsworth, Olmsted Falls, Avon; Wooster, Lakewood, Avon Lake). Shaker Hts is the highest seed in the bracket with St. Ignatius, and they lost 4-0 to the Wildcats during the regular season.
In the Toledo area, Anthony Wayne and Sylvania Southview anchor one district, while Perrysburg, Toledo St. Francis, and Sylvania Northview anchor the other; Toledo St. Francis jumped right on Perrysburg in a sectional final, which is interesting.
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Tonight in D1 R1, Walsh Jesuit did have something to say about Riverside hitting that point.....Walsh 2, PR 0.
 
D2 district finals
Howland 1 Kenston 1 (Howland wins in the 6th round of penalties)
Poland 2 Harvey 1
CVCA 1 SVSM 0
Bay Village 3 Orrville 0
Revere 5 Lake Catholic 2

D3 district results
Cardinal Mooney 4 Warren JFK 0
Wickliffe 4 Badger 1
Norwayne 4 Berkshire 0
Beachwood 0 Kirtland 0 (Beachwood wins 7-6 in 7th round of penalties)
United 3 Kidron CC 1
 
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D1 finals (NE OH):
Hudson 5 Twinsburg 2
Walsh Jesuit 2 University 1 (OT1)
Hoover 2 Jackson 1
Medina 5 Brunswick 1
St. Ignatius 4 Shaker Hts 0
Wooster 3 Strongsville 1
 
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