Podcast: Previewing the NEPSAC boys and girls tournaments

Nobles’ Quinn Pappendick fends off a challenge from Buckingham Browne & Nichols' Ethan Rabel. (Burt Granofsky/NESJ)

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

Zhe joined host Matt Langone to preview the upcoming NEPSAC boys and girls playoffs. The brackets for Class A, B, C and D, for both boys and girls, will be released this weekend, and quarterfinal matches will be held next Wednesday, with New England champions being crowned on Sunday, Nov. 19.

While tourney spots are still to be decided in this final week of the regular season, Zhe and Langone took a look at where things stand right now, and which teams could find themselves in the playoffs next week.

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Here are some highlights from our discussion with Zhe:

On if defending girls Class A champ, Buckingham Browne & Nichols, is the clear favorite once again:

Zhe: “I don’t think they walk to (a championship) by any means. I think maybe they enter the tournament as the favorite with the past history and stuff like that, but one thing, talking to Hayley Ketkowski, the first-year (BB&N) coach this week, she talked about the vibe she got coming into the program and the fact that these girls are used to setting high goals. They’re used to paying attention to the details and doing all the small things that you need to do to win soccer games.”

On which girls teams could make some noise in Class B:

Zhe: “Pingree is a fair starting point, just because they are the champions from last year. They brought eight starters back from that team. They score goals in bunches — you look at their scores and there’s 6-1 and 7-0. They scored three against BB&N early in the season in a 4-3 loss. No team has done that this year, maybe in quite a while. So, there’s firepower there. They spread the scoring out last year, they’re doing it again this year.”

On Class A on the boys side:

Langone: “As one coach told me this week, one through 10, he doesn’t think he’s seen as much parity in Class A as there is this year. That’s not to say there’s not a ton of individual talent in Class A, but yeah, there may not be that one game-changer who can just take over a match and lead his side to victory. Last year, Worcester Academy won the championship, and had, like, five of those game-changers, and it was one that we kind of saw coming early in the season. This year, not so much.”

On who to watch for in Class B on the boys side:

Langone: “Where the Independent School League really gets strong is in Class B. … I think (the ISL) has four potential programs that could get a spot in Class B. Leading the way would be Nobles, currently in second place in the ISL, 12-1-1 overall record. They figure to be probably a top-two seed. The other one, of course, is Rivers. So, it looks like Rivers and Nobles could be No. 1 and 2 in Class B.”

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