San Diego Surf Thanksgiving Challenge...Breakin it Down?

RichMan

SILVER
TUDELA FC LA 2005 WHITE (CAS)
SAN DIEGO SURF SC SD SURF 2005 EGSL (CAS)
TOTAL FUTBOL ACADEMY TFA - S.E. LA 1899 G05 (CAS)
LA ROCA FC LA ROCA PO (UT)
Tudela FC LA is a fairly new team (I believe). Went undefeated 11-0 in league (Coast Silver Elite) & decent showing in Blues Cup where they competed well. Should put up a fight in this group.
SD Surf has the deck stacked with them here and should exit this bracket easily and unscathed. According to YSR, #1 team in the country. Undefeated SCDSL season going 12-0 w/46 goals for & 9 against.
TFA FC LA seems to be a solid squad coming in 3rd to only So Cal Academy and Eagles in Coast Soccer league Gold division. That competition will serve them well in fighting for a wildcard spot here with a clear front runner.
La Roca FC shipping in from Utah! Interesting spot to land here. Bracket masters must not have thought too highly of their competition in Utah. Looks like Utah's top team, so should be an exciting weekend in what seems a 3-way battle for a wildcard spot.
USA-01 USA PREMIER 05G-DB (UT)
ARSENAL FC 2005 ECNL (CAS)
SCOTTSDALE SOCCER 05G BLACKHAWKS CHAPMAN (AZ)
SD FORCE FC ACADEMY G2005 (CAS)
USA PREMIER (Utah) is heading down for some competitive soccer this weekend. According to GSR, #2 team in Utah. Think it's a fairly open bracket & have a chance to make some noise.
Arsenal FC ECNL (formerly FC Golden State) finished 2nd in their respective SCDSL division to only Legends FC Pre-Academy. Opted to play President's State Cup instead of National Cup & won it all. A formidable opponent also w/a shot to make some noise in here.
Scottsdale Soccer Blackhawks come in as the #11 team in the country according to YSR. But recent history has shows they don't travel so well coming to SoCal. They have the slight edge to come out of this bracket in one way or another.
SD FORCE FC ACADEMY (O'Campo) had a tough season playing in a division against the likes of San Diego Surf Academy Girls Select 2005 and So Cal Blues 2005 Draluck. Have a puncher's chance as they play a lot of 1-touch passing from back to front & play physical soccer.
LA GALAXY SAN DIEGO G05 PRE ACADEMY (CAS)
BYSC CORONA UNITED G05 (CAS)
CCV STARS 05 GIRLS (AZ)
REBELS ELITE 2005 (CAS)
LA Galaxy SD finished 2nd to only Slammers Pre Elite in their SCDSL bracket this season. Although not the most competitive division, LAGSD is a solid team & shapes up as a 2-horse race between them and CCV Stars. Runner up probably earns a wildcard spot with 2 teams struggling.
BYSC Corona United may just be in a bit over their heads here. Really struggled finishing last in the Coast Soccer league Gold division with a record of 1-10-1. They'll need to dig deep and bring it to make some noise.
CCV Stars come in red hot from Arizona, but that's been mainly on their own turf. Now they come to size up against better competition in Cali. However, good chance to exit this bracket with both BYSC and Rebels rounding out the bottom of their league's stat sheet w/total of 3 wins & 21 losses.
Rebels Elite find themselves in a similar situation to BYSC in here. Need to find another gear to compete for a spot getting out of this bracket. Maybe they can play the spoiler role and cause some waves. We'll see.
SO CAL BLUES 05 PRE-ACADEMY DRALUCK (CAS)
SPARTA UNITED SPARTA 05 PREMIER AS (UT)
RIO RAPIDS 05G (NM)
ENCINITAS EXPRESS EXPRESS 2005 PREMIER (CAS)
Blues seems to be playing very well right now coming in. Finishing 2nd to only San Diego Surf Academy Girls Select 2005 in their SCDSL division, they are always a force to be reckoned with & often find themselves playing on Sundays or Mondays. They get the clear nod for me, but may see some good physical play and competition along the way.
Sparta United hails from hey, what do ya know, Utah! Maybe all 3 Utah teams got together & found a great deal on travel? Well, ranked #3 in Utah, Sparta comes in with a few fresh losses to teams playing here this weekend (La Roca, CCV Stars and Scottsdale Soccer Blackhawks). Should compete, but have an uphill battle matched with Blues.
Rio Rapids comes in as New Mexico's top team. However, much like Sparta, they have 2 very fresh losses to both CCV Stars and Scottsdale Soccer Blackhawks. I see Sparta and Rio Rapids shooting for that coveted wildcard position to exit this bracket. Rio Rapids has played in tournaments 2 of the last 3 weekends, so they should be ready to rock right out of the gate.
Encinitas Express has their hands full here. Not sure I see them getting by any 1 of these teams, but who the heck knows. Although they've struggled against top SoCal teams, they may just right the ship against the travelers shipping in. Can't wait to find out!
HEAT FC 05 ECNL (NV)
REAL SO CAL G2005 PRE ACADEMY (CAS)
SAN DIEGO SURF ACADEMY BROOKFIELD 2005 (CAS)
DIABLO FC 05G PREMIER (CAN)
Well, if there has to be a "Group of Death"....I'd say that this is it. The winner of this bracket doesn't even get to play a wildcrad team. Instead, they will more than likely face another #1 in Blues (winner of D vs. winner of E).
Heat FC comes across the border playing pretty strong. They've had success in SoCal as semi-finalists in both Blues Cup and Manchester City Cup. This will be another good test for them facing a deep Real So Cal team with a lot of talent. I see a 2-horse race here with a possible dark horse lurking.
Real So Cal is a deep team that will often play to their competition (kinda like the rest of us, right?). RSC is playing well and recently beat Beach FC (R. Perez) who won Surf Cup 2017 and was a finalist in both Blues Cup and Manchester City Cup. They played in the most competitive SCDSL division finishing 3rd by a point to only Beach FC (R. Perez) and LA Galaxy South Bay (according to YSR, #8 & #9 in the country respectively). My pick to win the bracket.
SD Surf Academy (Brookfield) really struggled in their SCDSL division vs. the likes of San Diego Surf Academy Girls Select 2005 and So Cal Blues 2005 Draluck. Winning just 3 games, they will need to do more to compete for a spot to come out of this bracket no doubt. In fact, I'll call it now and say they can play the spoiler role if they can find lightning in a bottle somehow.
Diablo comes south to test themselves against better competition which they find right out of the gate here. Last time down, San Diego Surf Cup didn't treat them too well and in fact they lost to SD Surf Academy Brookfield 0-5 (rematch!). We'll see. Revenge can be sweet!
Well, have fun with it and please add to it as I didn't get too technical or specific with teams. Maybe you'll see it completely different from me and everyone else. Good luck to all the girls and looking forward to watching some serious soccer/futbal this weekend! Be safe and Happy Thanksgiving! Post some updates over the weekend as well!
 
Apologies as I was over the 1000 characters & really had to condense & cut out content. Hope it still reads okay.
 
Thanks for the write up @RichMan. Should be a fun tournament.

I was getting ready to ague with you about the O'Campo team playing physical soccer and I thought back on the season; almost all of the games have been dogfights and to their credit the girls don't give up. If they have earned a reputation as a physical team, so be it. Good luck to everyone. See you at the fields
 
Thanks for the write up @RichMan. Should be a fun tournament.

I was getting ready to ague with you about the O'Campo team playing physical soccer and I thought back on the season; almost all of the games have been dogfights and to their credit the girls don't give up. If they have earned a reputation as a physical team, so be it. Good luck to everyone. See you at the fields
I agree with you actually. I saw them today and realized I was thinking of a completely different team... My fault.

I did see one girl on their team that was pretty aggressive though....
 
Great breakdown. I'll go for Surf (homer pick, sure) to win in the final vs Blues. Dark horse to challenge for the Cup is Heat.
 
I agree with you actually. I saw them today and realized I was thinking of a completely different team... My fault.

I did see one girl on their team that was pretty aggressive though....
Day 1 down and we are still punching. The game against Scottsdale was a very fast paced game back and forth. We had shots go off the crossbar and the post, but they came hard in the 2nd 1/2. With the amount of time they spent on our 1/2 during the 2nd, the tie seems like a good result.
 
had a good view of the scottsdale team twice. both games I "saw" they were much stronger in the second half. very solid soccer team.
 
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