Now that most all major tournaments are over for the summer, it is now time for the annual right of predictions. The younger ages have it covered by Dragon and company here at WPS, the GU-14's are being covered at Standings Plus. The GU-17's, of course, are covered by GS. The GU-16's are covered a little on GS, but there hasn't been a mention of GU-15's. So, what are your predictions, all you CP's?
To start out, here is my own list based on this summer's prevails, although P2-WSYDL do not have a much data as I would like:
P1:
1. WPFC 91 Black (once whole team finished with ODP commitments, team showed well at Pleasanton and Rimland)
2. Eastside FC 91 (strong team last year, expect the same this year).
3. Vancouver 91 (disappointing performance at State Cup last year, not as good of showing at Mustang as WPFC had at Pleasanton)
4. Nemesis (always tough, but not enough to knock off the top three, but will make it very close)
5. Maruaders 91 (will perform similar to last year, only problem is number of good teams above them)
6. Westsound 91 Red (may be able to move past Marauders, but not any higher, since team is basically the same)
7. Shadow 91 (improving team, but will not get enough wins/points to beat out other teams above)
8. ECFC 92 Green (last year's darling, strong at GU-14 age, but year's difference will be a factor this year -- top teams at this age are closer to GU-16 and older performance, not younger ages -- expect a lot of ties due to tough defense, but not many wins).
Note: Bottom four will be very close with any two possibly being relegated.
P2:
1. Three Rivers (Can be tough team, as long as they can get wins early and hold on, they can move up)
2. Federal Way Reign (Very good team, but can be inconsistent at times--will place high as long as they play their "A" game all year)
3. Crossfire Redwine (tough team, prepared, but not enough for top two -- toss-up for 3 or 4 with Silverlake)
4. SilverLake Spirit (tough team defensively and physically, but both 3 Rivers and Reign can stand up to them in physical toughness, question is whether they can beat either 3 Rivers or Reign--If not, they will be 3 or 4)
5. ECFC 91 Green (middle of pack team, as long as they solved their goalie situation, should be able to hold the middle ground)
6. Columbia Timbers (Timbers defense will hold the ground and keep them above the rest of teams below them)
7. Snohomish (Strong defense with some scoring punch, but not as strong defensively as Timbers).
8. ESA (Should make things close, but will lose out on wins/points, and GA when compared to Timbers and Snohomish, especially last stat).
Note: Expect tiebreaker scenarios to come into play for final 3-4 spots.
P3
1. Whatcom Rangers (most improved team in off-season, will make other teams in division pay the price for having them relegated)
2. Crossfire Robinson (May be hopeful choice, not sure if they are really better than rest)
3. Badgers (very strong team amongst remaining teams)
4. Dosveedanya (defense will hold the ground and keep them from going to LPT's)
5-6: Toss-up between NWN and Eagles
7: Sun City Strikers: WIll all depend if they can have early season success and then hold on, like last year. Team is beatable by all the other teams.
8. Marauders White: Can be spoiler, but over the whole season, not better than 1-6. May end up above Sun City.
P4.
1. Eastside White (strong team that has beat other teams in division, including at LPT's)
2. Crossfire (has the firepower to beat the rest, needs to play its game, not the other team's game)
3. Black Hills FC (as long as defense holds and can live w/o star player that went to BH's GU-16, should be able to compete with Eastside and Crossfire)
4 Sparta (can be spoiler, better than bottom four, but probably not enough to crack 1-3)
6. MRFC United (will struggle against top four teams, but should be able to beat rest)
6-7 Toss-up: FCA Aliance and ECFC White. (Alliance has greatly improved, but not enough to move higher than lower half of league, ECFC White can be good)
8. Arsenal (sorry, but should be CYL and either Skagit Storm or WPFC should be WSYDL, only made it due to LPT draw).
CYL:
1. Skagit Storm (should be WSYDL, except for tough LPT draw)
2. Aanvallen (tough team will upset WPFC for second)
3. WPFC (should be WSYDL, except for tough LPT draw, can easily beat rest of this level competition, but will they be able to score against Skagit or Aanvallen in order to beat them)
4: Westsound (should be in upper half)
5. Rangers Blue (second best D1 team, but not necessarilty better than top four)
6. Snomish United Extreme (good team, could make 4-7 interesting)
7. Reign White (competitive with 4-6, but may not have enough to pass them)
8. LH United (will need to demonstrate they have improved and belong and are not just a district team -- last year they were not at the same level as rest)
I know there will be disagreements. I just wanted to get the ball rolling. I am not necessarily comfortable with my picks and could easily be swayed.