NATIONAL CUP - 2018

The question is which Arsenal “ECNL2” team will get to use their ECNL players? It’s the Arsenal way!
Randy Brown used his ECNL players in Flight 2... had to forfeit at least one game due to them playing in AZ so he couldn't field a team. Won Flight 2 bracket and somehow didnt play in the playoff. #arsenalway
 
We are in a 3 team bracket and we are wondering if we get our third game by playing another 3 team bracket....so after 2 games and for the 3rd game:, 1 plays 3, 2 plays 2 and 3 plays 1. The problem with that is that there are only 3 brackets with 3 teams - A, I and J, not four. If they don't do that, then they are going to have to give more points to a win in a 3 team bracket, otherwise you wouldn't be able to qualify with a wildcard - you'd be down the points of one game.

As for seeding, Legends Riverside is first in CRL and Fullerton was first in CSL - if they had to square off in the first round of pool play, I'd say there was something fishy going on. I can't figure the other 3 team bracket out.

I've seen 3 team brackets versus 4 team brackets in ODP National Championships games and I know a 2 win team (So Cal B03's a few years ago) lost out of advancing due to points but I don't remember how they did the points.

I guess time will tell.
It will definitely be interesting to see how it shakes out. Legends ended up 2nd in CRL after losing to Slammers and Fullerton finished 11th out of 13 team. The seeding seems to be all over the place. Good luck to everyone!
 
I agree that there is not one single team that stands out as a clear favorite but I think that Beach DPL, Legends-Riverside, and CDA Slammers-Cerritos have the strongest and most consistent teams.

For reasons mentioned above, Arsenal ECNL is a wildcard that will depend on what team RB chooses to show up with this weekend. Interestingly, Arsenal and Slammers-Cerritos are in the same group for this first round.

Anyone have a dark horse prediction?
 
Anyone have a dark horse prediction?

Not sure how far they’ll go, but Slammers HB - Melendez has been on fire after the break. They’ve put up big numbers in CRL, with a big win over Legends Riverside.

The only problem for them is that I think they are in one of the toughest groups (B). You have LAGSD DPL & Santa Monica United, two other very strong teams in that group. With only 5 wildcards, a 2nd place team in all likelihood will need 2 wins (6 points) to have a shot at the wildcard. With three quality teams, there’s a much higher chance to tie, thus probably only one team advances from this group.

Group C has the same problem with Real So Cal - SCV; Fram Ferren; & Pats Academy II.

In group K, Beach is the clear favorite, so that leaves little room for error for SD Force and Pats Irvine.

These are the three toughest groups in my opinion. Getting a wildcard from these groups is going to be tough.
 
So When a team like Arsenal, Slammers or any other team bring players from another high tier ECNL team from their club to play at Nationals, does it means the team borrowing the players,
the roster are not good enough? the coach is not confident on the roster? or the coach just plain simple is not good anymore for development of the team,The "Teams" will say well we have few injuries or sick or quit etc so we need it to borrow players just to be sure that we have enough players, I think many teams have the same problem and sometimes they play much better when they are short on players,In my view the only winners are the teams they are playing against, since they will have a more challenging game and will grow to be a better player than the counter parts sitting on the bench.
 
Not sure how far they’ll go, but Slammers HB - Melendez has been on fire after the break. They’ve put up big numbers in CRL, with a big win over Legends Riverside.

The only problem for them is that I think they are in one of the toughest groups (B). You have LAGSD DPL & Santa Monica United, two other very strong teams in that group. With only 5 wildcards, a 2nd place team in all likelihood will need 2 wins (6 points) to have a shot at the wildcard. With three quality teams, there’s a much higher chance to tie, thus probably only one team advances from this group.

Group C has the same problem with Real So Cal - SCV; Fram Ferren; & Pats Academy II.

In group K, Beach is the clear favorite, so that leaves little room for error for SD Force and Pats Irvine.

These are the three toughest groups in my opinion. Getting a wildcard from these groups is going to be tough.
I believe Slammers Melendez picked up a few new girls after the season and have a new coach taking over from what I could tell during CRL. From the games I saw they look a lot more organized on the field and are putting up goals unlike the season when we played them.
 
Predictions for the round of 16??? Any clear cut favorites??? Surprises on teams that didn't make it to the round of 16?

Tough one for the lower ranked teams in bracket play although I suspect they were middle of the pack Flight 2 teams testing the waters. Maybe State Cup would have provided closer competition. #38 - # 42 ranked teams scored a combined 5 goals over 15 total games and gave up 32.

Good luck to all that are playing in the Round of 16!
 
Predictions for the round of 16??? Any clear cut favorites??? Surprises on teams that didn't make it to the round of 16?

I still think that Beach, Legends-Riverside, and CDA Slammer-Cerritos are the favorites. All three are skilled teams that are also very athletic. I think Legends has slightly easier path to the finals as Beach, Slammers-Cerritos and Arsenal are all in the same half of the bracket

I am surprised that SWSC (aka Notts) didn't make it to the round of 16 given that how well we know they can play and the group they were in. I am also surprised that Force did make it through as at least a wildcard. I caught the second half of their game with Beach and it looked like that game could have gone either way.

Looking forward to some very good round of 16 matchups!
 
My predictions highlighted in green

09:00 AM Legends FC East-Riverside G04 vs. UIFC Venom

09:00 AM LAGSD G04 Academy II-Tarrant vs. Real So Cal- SCV G 2004
11:00 AM San Diego SC G2004 Academy Navy vs. Arsenal FC G04 ECNL

11:00 AM Arsenal FC South G04 ECNL II vs. CDA FC Slammers - Cerritos G04 Segovia

01:00 PM CDA FC Slammers - Whittier Alvarez vs. CDA FC Slammers - HB G04 Melendez E

01:00 PM Anaheim Surf G2004 White- Martinez vs. Real So Cal G04 DPL

03:00 PM Fullerton Rangers G04 White vs. CDA FC Slammers- Orange G04 Huie

03:00 PM Beach FC G04 DPL vs. Legends FC G04 Academy II
 
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