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PDL playoffs kick-off today
The Premier Development League playoffs are among us and the Student Activity Complex is the place to be for soccer enthusiasts.The best of the Southern Conference clash today on the artificial and hopefully dry turf of the SAC, in an effort to extend their seasons.
The playoffs kick off with the El Paso Patriots taking on the Southeast champs Carolina Dynamo at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Mid-South champs Laredo Heat versus the Central Florida Kraze at 8:30 p.m.
At this point in the season there are no more pushovers. A defeat tonight and it's hello offseason.
All 16 PDL playoff teams hit the pitch today. The Central Conference teams are in Detroit,; Eastern Conference in Ocean City, N.J. and Western Conference in Fresno, Calif.
The Conference champions move on to the semifinals next weekend.
The Heat is packaging all three games for $10, both tonight and the championship on Saturday night. Single game tickets are $6 and children 12 and under go in free.
Kraze (11-4-1, 34 points) vs. Heat (10-2-4, 34 points)
The Heat, which is brimming with playoff experience, takes on a Kraze squad that is for the most part getting its toes wet in playoff waters.
"We are very young, we have very little experience on the team. Only three or four players return from last season," Kraze coach Joe Avallone said.
The Heat returns its core group of players from last season's championship run, throw in the home field advantage and you got yourself what should be a recipe for success.
"That is where experience comes in. We have never been a good travel team," Avallone said.
On the road the Kraze went 5-3, even thought hey totaled 24 goals for and only 12 against.
Despite the experience and their familiarity with the artificial turf, a surface that the Kraze haven't set foot on all season. Heat coach Israel Collazo and company know that one slip up and their season can come crashing down.
"We expect to win and play an intelligent contest where our players will play their hearts out," Collazo said.
On the opposite side Avallone isn't exactly planning to curl up and die.
"They (Kraze) got to go out and play with confidence and enthusiasm. They can't be in awe, it'll be a long game if they do," Avallone said.
The Kraze is the only team that can boast a PDL championship trophy and Avallone sees no reason why this year's squad can't do the same.
"I am very confident in my team they are young. I feel very confident that we can compete and we believe that we are going to win the title every year," he added.
The Kraze heads into the playoffs with a 2-2-1 record in their final five games. They scored 13 goals for a 2.6 average, but they played the Cocoa Expos who had the indistinct honor of finishing last in the PDL with a total of two points for a 0-13-2 record and managing only one goal while allowing 63.
Defensively the team allowed only seven goals in the last five games for a 1.4 averaging with two shutouts.
On the season the Kraze had no problem finding the back of the net finishing with a Southeast division high 47 goals and allowing 21.
For their last five games of the season the Heat picked up some steams going 4-0-1 with 12 goals scored and only four against, including three shutouts.
On the season the club totaled 29 goals and allowed a division low 17.
Offensively the team relies on a handful of players. Josh Fender and free kick specialist Juan de Dios Ibarra tied for the team lead with five goals. Ibarra's daft touch also helped him lead the club with five assists. Speedster Hector "Gota" Vallejo collected four goals and Dionisio "Nicho" Infante three.
The Kraze aren't short in strikers, either. Tony Alejandro led the team with 10 goals and five assists. Keith Savage followed with eight and with four apiece are Tanner Wolfe and Sergei Raad.
Both clubs sport depth and versatility from the bench with Collazo relying on the youngster Felix Garcia. Garcia the LBJ student managed two goals for Laredo.
The Kraze place Josiah Miller at the middle and attacking position, in the season. Miller led the team with 6 assists and scored three times.
"We don't have a lot of speed, the strength is that the players play as a team. I'm looking forward to it (playing Laredo). It will be fun. I'm sure Laredo plays a quick touch kind of football," Avallone said.
Captain Daniel Galvan and goalie Ryan Cooper anchor Laredo's defense.
In 15 games Cooper allowed 13 goals for a microscopic .89 goals against.
The Kraze goaltending situation isn't as defined as Laredo. The Kraze lost their main goalie in Alessandro Barcherini when he went back to England. Barcherini played in eleven games with a 1.16 goals against average. With his departure the coach turned to Greg Williams and Doug Parra.
Williams notched three games with a 1.60 GAA and Parra played in four with a 1.86 GAA.
Dynamo (11-3-2, 35 points) vs. Patriots (8-6-2, 26 points)
The Carolina Dynamo knows that having the Southeast moniker only guarantees you pats on the back for the accomplishment.
In the playoffs it doesn't matter how you got there, but what you can do once you're there.
Last season the Dynamo finished as the top club in all the PDL, but was ousted at home in their first game versus the Bradenton Academics.
With that scenario fresh in their minds, the club should know better then to take the Patriots lightly.
Coach Joe Brown led his team to back-to-back division titles by posting a 4-1-0 record in their final five contests, one of the wins was a forfeit.
The Dyanmo have been nothing if consistent all season. During that span of five games the team scored 12 goals for a 2.4 average and allowed only three for a .60 goals against average, not far from their regular season average of 2.56 goals for and .88 against.
The scoring punch has been juggled between the trio of Robert Salinas (7 goals, 4 assists), Eddie Ababio (7G, 1A) and Michael Lahoud (5G, 7A).
The defensive backbone is goalie Brian Edwards who in eleven games allowed 15 goals for a 1.42 average and Aaron Johnson who in five games allowed no goals.
The Patriots on the other hand backpedaled into the playoffs. Posting a 2-3 record in their final five games, one of those wins was a forfeit against Austin.
Their offense has been lacking, but effective all season behind a solid defensive unit.
For the year the Patriots scored only 19 goals, the lowest in the Mid-South and 22 goals shy from the 41 the Dyanmo netted.
The job of corralling the Dynamo trio falls on a defensive squad that allowed only 17 goals on the season. The last line of defense comes in the form of Jorge Muniz who in 14 games allowed 14 goals.