With all the nonsense in the previous posting, its time to let the kids play. Looks like MN weather will keep the games from starting for a few more days. Hopefully the fields will hold up. Good luck to everyone in the tournament!
Schedule and results here: http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/events/statecup.cfm#sched
1,034 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1001 – 1034 of 1034Regions are 2 weeks away.
Who are the (girls) favorites ?
Any predictions on how MN (girls) will fare ?
Someone mentioned Bangu's U-12 team that won the State Cup (U-13)as the clear favorite to be the age group leader as true 13's next year. Hard to argue that they have earned that right.
Here are the other U-12's that show up on MYSA standings as being currently undefeated.
Cottage Grove, North Metro, Burnsville, PSA.
Are these the likely contenders?
any other teams that should compete for the U-13 championship next year?
I realize some teams will possibly consolidate talent so much could change.
10:01 I think you are right about Bangu being the likely leader, they will consolidate their talent from the south and create one strong team based out of the east.
Here are a few names I think you should add to your list.
1. Dakota Rev U-12's playing 13 this season.
2. Eden Prairie
3. Edina
I think Dakota Rev is the class of the south, Bangu out of the east, North Metro in the North , and the east is a toss up (to be determined by age group depth) EP, Edina, and PSA all could win.
Region draws are out, U13 and U17 appear to have the most difficult pools, U14 the easiest. All the pools MN teams are in will have some good competition in them, as it should be at regionals.
11:43 where did you find the brackets ? Thanks.
http://www.region2.com/2008Cup/teaminfo.html
See "Bracket Draw"
OOPS...
And also see:
http://www.region2.com/2008Cup/teaminfo.html
Preliminary Rounds Schedule Grid (PDF)
nice regions chart by andy kassa
http://www.gosportslife.com/mn-girls-soccer-blog-2/
The only team with a decent chance of advancing is the U14's. Not our best team but definitely the easiest draw. U13's are likely to take a few drubbings. The U15's have a difficult draw and not a strong team to begin with. Inferno at 16 and Stars at 17 both were terrible at PDA so have to question them, although Inferno has a decent draw. Stars have difficult pool. U18's have a reasonable draw but will have to get by the IL champ. MA's group will have to carry the banner again although they too have done nothing since regions last year. I don't think we will come anywhere near matching last years good showing. Predictions:
U13 0-3-0
U14 2-0-1
U15 1-2-0
U16 2-1-0
U17 1-1-1
U18 2-1-0
U19s?
Impossible group to predict. hard to know who is playing.
U19s @ Regions
MINNESOTA (PSA)
KENTUCKY(Javanon)#18R
MISSOURI(JB Marine-Kaiser)#16R
KANSAS (KC College Select)
I meant it is hard to know what players have returned from college to participate. Teams can change a lot.
Yes the U14 Bangu team has the easiest draw by far and they should win there group. I guess getting the number one seed did them a favor.
To say they have not done anything since last year is not very accurate. They won their group in Phoenix and lost 2-1 to the Sting at top 20 team. They went 2-1-1 in Vegas and beat the region 1 champs. they went 2-1-1 in Portland and lost to a top ten team Sereno. They have stuggled recently due to injuries but are getting healthy and could make another run at regionals. Getting a good draw helps and once you get the semi-finals anything can happen. Good luck to them and all the MN teams.
Hmmm.... some ignorance out there. The previous years semifinalists are all seeded into different brackets. The rest is a blind draw. There is no "number one seed".
If I am so ingnorant, than why are all the returning champions that are still alive listed at A1 in the draw and all runner-ups from last year are B1. Correct the draw is blind but those teams are seeded 1 and 2, and the other semi-finalist are placed in C1 and D1. Maybe you should know what you are talking about before call someone ignorant!!
For the U14 group, the only other seeded team from last year, beside Minnesota are the Michigan Hawks in bracket C. The runner ups, the Internationals did not win their state cup. There are only three returning teams from last year. Minnesota, Michigan and Indiana. All other states and wildcard teams are new teams to Regionals. Michigan and Indiana are in the same bracket.
So why is ON in B1 and the other semi-finalist in D1. It is listed the exact same way in the U17 age group, which has all four returning semi-finalist.
I may be wrong but every age group with the exception of U16 list the returning champion and the runner-up in A1 and B1.
Looks like they give it to the state from last years semi-finalists, even if that team did not make it back this year. i.e. the International from Ohio North and the Ratpack from Kansas.
Wow, some people are not too bright. 7:45 has it right. The 4 returning semifinalists are all seeded to not be in each others group. Whether they are A1,D1 or X1 is irrelevant. They may well put a returning champ in Group A, that does not make them the #1 seed and influence the rest of the seeding as in the NCAA basketball tournament. Once these 4 teams are placed in their groups it is a blind draw. They do not say 1 plays 8, 4 plays 5 and so on. It really is no different than the MN state Cup except more teams are seeded, not just the finalists.
That is an accurate summary by 709 but it may be better to refer people to the rule governing seedings and draws 9.3.1A. That way anyone who can read will have their questions answered. Can we move on now? Returning finalists are placed in groups A and B, semifinalists in C and D. The rest is a blind draw, there is no #1 seed which influences who is placed in your group.
http://www.region2.com/2008Cup/SmallCupRules08.pdf
I wrote the original post and yes I did call the U14 Blue team the number one seed, which they are. However, I am well aware that the rest of the draw is blind and am even more aware that they got a very fortunate BLIND draw.
Too funny!!!
10/6 3:45
Good recap. The Stars hit bottom at PDA. They are worn down physically and regions will be more difficult than PDA. 1-1-1 might even be a bit optimistic based on recent performance.
Ronaldo
there were a few comments on current u12 moving to u13 next year. it is going to be a stronger class than this year's group with much more depth. not counting player movement, you would have to have the bangu u12 state cup champs at the top but not by much. the next 7 or 8 teams are fairly even (Bangu's u12 play up in the south, Burnsville, Cottage Grove, Dakota Rev, Edina, EP1, North Metro, PSA). At true u13 today you probably have 3-4 good teams (Bangu,Tonka, Burnsville) and the rest are ok. Here there are many more.
Although I am a North parent, from what I recall I wouldn't crown Dakota Rev the jewel of the south just because they play up. If my recollection is right they didn't win a u11 state game last summer and didn't finish ahead of Burnsville. In fact my daughters team lost to Burnsville this year in a u12 tournament and they look strong. Up here North Metro is the reigning state champ and still hasn't lost this year although they may not have the club depth to move to u13 and carry that forward. it doesn't seem Bangu has taken off in the south like it has in the east/north. maybe time will tell.
this will be a fun group to watch next year and summer state will probably give a good glimpse into the top candidates. i am guessing these teams do year round training and are raising the level of play and hopefully it will produce a highly competitive state cup next spring
114, Don't forget the Bangu East and South will pool talent for next year and make an even stronger team. The East has a lot of talent and the south team has some very strong players also. Should make them very tough to beat. The current 12's have a lot more depth than the current 13's throughout the state.
1:14 Bangu will be very tough in the East because as indicated by 2:15 they will consolidate the talent from the east and the south who are both pretty good on their own.
I agree with North Metro having the edge in the north,
I agree the west is wide open between EP, Edina, and PSA.
I put REV as the early favorite in the south, but you are correct Burnsville is also very respectable. Bville's success at 13 may depend on what team a few of the 12's who play on the current Bville 13 team decide to play for next year, the current 12's or the current 13's. The Bville 13's are likely to gain Premier status which may play into the descision they have to make.
The only current 11 year old team I can imagine making the jump to 13 next year (and having any success) is the current Wayzata U-11 C2 team. Does anyone know if Bangu will play a team up like the two they have this year ?
Bangu's current 11's play Tournament only as U12s for most tournaments. The big 3 NSC, WALMART, and USA Weekend as U11. The current 11's will follow the same path as the Current 12's. I have seen Wayzata U11's play and they are a good U11 team, but I don't think they will find much sucess at U13 C1 next year.
The top U11 Bangu team beat Wayzata 5-0 a few weeks ago. The second Bangu team is also exceptionally good.
If you read MA's r2r blog on the u11s you'll see that that group has had some regional success this year that no other MN could claim until now. 5 or 6 regional events, 5 or 6 championships. Not that this means anything in the grand scheme of things but I think it puts them in contention to hold MN's top u11 team banner at the moment.
Merger is ON:
http://www.bangutsunami.com/
I have been pushing for a Wings/Bangu merger for a long time. Good to see it happen under the Thunder umbrella.
www.wings-sc.org
Did anyone catch the HBO special last night on the US Woman's team? It was very well done, and I am trying to get a copy of it. A must see for girls of all age groups.
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