Spartans Look to Hold onto Last Playoff Position

Four Teams in ECC Still Competing for playoffs, STAC Included

By Dylan Bestler (Sports Management: Journalism Practicum)

            With the men's soccer season in its final week, there are four teams who still have a shot at that last playoff spot. The Spartans have been ranked in the top ten for the region for the last few weeks and are currently fighting to hold on to that 4th place spot for the ECC playoffs. However, UDC, Queens and Bridgeport all have a shot at stealing the last playoff spot from them in these next few games.

            With the Spartans being finished with their conference games, they have to sit back and hope the scenarios play out in their favor. UDC is only three points behind the Spartans, so a win against LIU Post on Wednesday will knock the Spartans out of the playoffs because that would give UDC the tiebreaker which is the best result against a top team. If UDC loses Wednesday, they will be eliminated. If UDC ties LIU Post, they must beat Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday to advance. LIU Post is 6-0-1 in conference play so that will be tough game for the Firebirds. If UDC loses to LIU Post and beats Roberts, the Spartans will have the tiebreaker because they had the best result against a top team. The Spartans tied NYIT 2-2 while the Firebirds lost 4-0 to Molloy, who is the top team with a 7-1 record, and 3-0 to NYIT.

            Queens and Bridgeport, who are tied with eight points each, can also knock the Spartans out. If either team wins both of their final two games, the Spartans are out. Queens and Bridgeport are playing each other on Wednesday so that game will decide who is eliminated. Bridgeport will then go on to play Mercy on Saturday while Queens will play Molloy on Sunday. The Spartans should root for Queens on Wednesday so they knock Bridgeport out and then hope first place seed, Molloy can beat Queens on Sunday. If the game between Queens and Bridgeport ends in a tie, both teams are eliminated.

            Looking at the matchups, the Spartans have a good chance of holding on to that last playoff spot, but anything can happen in these next few days. With four teams mathematically still in the race, this will be a crazy finish to the 2016 ECC men's soccer season.