Podcast: Previewing the NEPSAC boys and girls playoffs

Choate players celebrate after a goal this season. (Photo by Jack Dunbar)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is Seamans Media Managing Editor and girls prep soccer writer Mike Zhe.

The 2024 NEPSAC regular season is now in its final week, with the boys and girls playoffs set to start next Wednesday. Champions will be crowned on Sunday, Nov. 17. The eight-team playoff brackets for all four classes for boys and girls will be released Sunday.

Zhe joined host Matt Langone to preview the upcoming NEPSAC playoffs. What might the playoff brackets look like in both Class A and B on the boys side and girls side? Who are the favorites and are there any other teams who could make some noise? We discussed it all.

The full podcast can be accessed below and is available on all major platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review.

Here are some highlights from the discussion:

On a girls team outside of the Independent School League and Founders League who could be primed for a run in Class A:

Zhe: “Worcester (Academy) is having a terrific year and it’s something that we kind of thought could happen back in the preseason, looking at all the experience that they had. They’ve got eight college-committed seniors. In the recent addition of our magazine, we featured three of the younger sisters, who had sisters come through the program and enjoy some great success, and they’re certainly part of it.”

On which boys teams will enter the Class A tournament as the favorites:

Langone: “We’ve kind of been looking at two all year, and in the beginning of the season, it was Milton Academy — the defending Class A champion — and they have not disappointed this season. Chris Kane’s team has been great. We knew they were going to be great based on the talent they had back from a championship level squad. They sit in first place in the ISL right now, they only have one loss on the season and that loss came to the other team that we’re really looking at, Berkshire. I was there for that game when Berkshire played Milton. It was at a neutral site in Albany. Berkshire won, 1-0. It was a very evenly matched game.”

On the battle for the girls Class B championship:

Zhe: “I think you start with Dexter Southfield, and I think when we sat in the studio in August that’s one of the things we thought. They had just about everybody back from a team that lost in overtime in the Class B final (last year) to Pingree.”

On the depth of Class B on the boys side:

Langone: “You get the sense there’s unfinished business for Suffield (Academy), and they’re highly motivated and right there in the thick of things — should be a top-three seed, I would think. Then you dip into the ISL, you got Middlesex, you got Brooks, Nobles — all three of those teams. Nobles was the Class B runner up last year.”