Development Academy U-16 playoffs scenarios

The younger age bracket at the Development Academy playoffs is still wide open after two games. Out of the 32 teams at the event, only nine have been mathematically eliminated before Tuesday's finale. Thus, almost every game Tuesday morning could be for a spot at Finals Week in Milwaukee from July 9-16. Here is a breakdown of the potential scenarios for which teams could book their trip to Wisconsin.

Group 1:

Remaining games:

9:00 a.m. (CT)

Empire United v. Crew Soccer Academy, Field 12

Seattle Sounders v. D.C. United, Field 9

Standings:

Sounders 6 pts. +4

Empire United 3 pts +2

Crew 3 pts 0

D.C. United 0 pts -6

Scenarios:

Seattle advance with win or draw. Could advance with 1-goal loss unless Empire United win by more than 2 goals. Or Crew win by more than 4 goals.

Empire United advance with win and Seattle loss combined with margin of victory to overtake Seattle.

Crew advance with win and Seattle loss combined with margin of victory to overtake Seattle.

D.C. United is eliminated. 

Group 2:

Development Academy U-18 playoffs standings

Here are the standings after day one:

Pool A

Teams	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	GF	GA	GD
D.C. United	1	0	0	3	3	0	3
Pateadores	1	0	0	3	2	1	1
N.C. Fusion	0	1	0	0	1	2	-1
Empire United	0	1	0	0	0	3	-3

Pool B

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	GF	GA	GD
RSL-AZ	1	0	0	3	3	0	3
NYRB	1	0	0	3	3	1	2
Cal Odyssey	0	1	0	0	1	3	-2
Sockers FC	0	1	0	0	0	3	-3

Pool C

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	GF	GA	GD
PDA	1	0	0	3	2	0	2
Chicago Fire	0	0	1	1	1	1	0
CDA	0	0	1	1	1	1	0
PA Classics	0	1	0	0	0	2	-2

Pool D

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	GF	GA	GD
Columbus Crew	1	0	0	3	3	2	1
Arsenal FC	0	0	1	1	2	2	0
Dallas Texans	0	0	1	1	2	2	0
Charlotte SA	0	1	0	0	2	3	-1

Pool E

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	GF	GA	GD
Seattle Sounders	1	0	0	3	9	2	7
BBC	1	0	0	3	2	1	1
St.L SG Missouri	0	1	0	0	1	2	-1
Seacoast United	0	1	0	0	2	9	-7

Pool F

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	GF	GA	GD
Indiana United	1	0	0	3	2	0	2
FC Dallas	0	0	1	1	1	1	0
Cosmos West	0	0	1	1	1	1	0
Real Colorado	0	1	0	0	0	2	-2

Pool G

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	GF	GA	GD
CASL Chelsea	1	0	0	3	2	1	1
Albertson	1	0	0	3	2	1	1
Colorado Rush	0	1	0	0	1	2	-1
Concorde Fire	0	1	0	0	1	2	-1

Pool H

Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	GF	GA	GD
St.L SG Metro	1	0	0	3	2	1	1
Chivas USA	0	0	1	1	2	2	0
Weston FC	0	0	1	1	2	2	0
DC Wolves	0	1	0	0	1	2	-1

Development Academy Playoff Groups

Here are the groups for the U-18 and U-16 age groups for the Development Academy playoffs, which begin Saturday, June 25 at Pizza Hut Park. The numbers of the groups are meaningless, it was just a way for me to keep track of the teams. After the playoffs are finished, the teams are reseeded for finals week. 

U-18:

1:                                                       2:

Weston FC*                                    FC Dallas*

Chivas USA                                   Cosmos Academy West

Derby County Wolves                    Real Colorado

St. Louis SG Metro                        Indiana United

3:                                                     4:

Charlotte SA*                                 Seattle Sounders*

Columbus Crew                              Baltimore Bays Chelsea

Dallas Texans                                 Seacoast United

Arsenal FC                                     St. Louis SG Missouri

 

5:                                                    6:

CASL*                                           PDA*

Albertson                                       Chicago Fire

Colorado Rush                               CDA

Concorde Fire                                PA Classics

 

7:                                                   8:

RBNY*                                        North Carolina Fusion*

Sockers FC                                   Pateadores

Cal Odyssey                                 Empire United

RSL-AZ                                       D.C. United

U-16:

1:                                                  2:

North Carolina Fusion*               North Meck*

Pateadores                                   Seacoast United

Texas Rush                                  Chicago Fire

New England Revolution            PA Classics

 

3:                                                   4:

Solar Chelsea*                            Charlotte SA*

Real So Cal                                 Baltimore Bays Chelsea

FC Delco                                     RSL-AZ

De Anza Force                            FC Westchester

5:                                                6:

St. Louis SG Missouri*             LA Galaxy*

CASL                                        Houston Dynamo

FC Dallas                                  IMG

Sockers FC                               Sporting Kansas City

 

7:                                              8:

Concorde Fire*                         Seattle Sounders*

Albertson                                  Columbus Crew

Vardar                                       D.C. United

Dallas Texans                           Empire United

Based off first glance, I would say that Group 7 in the U-18 bracket is pretty tough and should offer some very competitive games. Group 4 in the U-16 bracket looks tough as well.

Playoff Pots

Playoff week is upon us, and we are days away from U.S. Soccer announcing the groups.

For those unfamiliar with the playoffs, there are eight groups with four teams in each. The pots - used to assign teams to each group - are assigned based on points per game in overall Development Academy games. I used goal differential as a tiebreaker where necessary. Teams from the same division cannot be placed in the same playoff group, so that will factor into the lot drawing as well.

Here is my best guess at the pots based on the standings on the Dev Academy website, which can fluctuate at any moment.  

U-18:

Pot 1: Seattle Sounders (2.08), NC Fusion (2.08), PDA (2.12), Weston (2.16), NYRB (2.19), Charlotte Soccer Academy (2.20), FC Dallas (2.35), CASL (2.40)

Pot 2: Real Colorado (1.76), Sockers (1.77), Alberston (1.77), Baltimore Bays (1.78), RSL-AZ (1.79)**, D.C. United (1.81), DC Wolves (1.83), Dallas Texans (2.04)

Pot 3: Empire United (1.65), St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri (1.67), Colorado Rush (1.67), Chicago Fire (1.70), Indiana United (1.74), Arsenal (1.75), CDA (1.76), St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro (1.76)

Pot 4: Seacoast United (1.31), Pateadores (1.54), Crew (1.61), PA Classics (1.63), Cosmos West (1.64), Chivas USA (1.64), Cal Odyssey (1.64), Concorde Fire (1.64)

U-16:

Pot 1: NC Fusion (2.04), North Meck (2.12), Seattle Sounders (2.32), Los Angeles Galaxy (2.25), Concorde Fire (2.52), Charlotte Soccer Academy (2.60), St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri (2.19), Baltimore Bays Chelsea (2.04)*

Pot 2: D.C. United (1.96), CASL (1.96), PA Classics (2.00), FC Delco (2.00), Solar Chelsea FC (2.04)*, Texas Rush (2.00), Albertson (2.00), Houston Dynamo (1.91)**

Pot 3: Real So Cal (1.82), Chicago Fire (1.83), FC Dallas (1.83), IMG (1.84), Pateadores (1.82), Empire United (1.81), RSL-AZ (1.86), Vardar (1.87)

Pot 4: Westchester (1.38), De Anza Force (1.52), Dallas Texans (1.70), New England Revolution (1.73), Sockers (1.74), Columbus Crew (1.78), South Carolina United (1.68), Sporting KC (1.81)


*No idea on the tie-breaker here. They are level on goal differential [44] and goals scored [19].
** Not listed on the Wild-Card standings on the Development Academy website, but I am pretty sure both have a rightful claim to a playoff spot.

Update 6/21 - First group pairing for U-18: Indiana United, FC Dallas, Real Colorado, Cosmos West - pots updated to reflect the new information.