A closer look at the 2018 PDL Eastern Conference playoffs
Myrtle Beach Mutiny will represent the Carolinas in the PDL playoffs, which start July 20.
With only one Carolina team making the PDL playoffs and with the NPSL teams eliminated, all of Soccer ‘n’ Sweet Tea’s amateur soccer hopes now rest on the Myrtle Beach Mutiny.
The four-team Eastern Conference playoffs start Friday, July 20 in Reading, Penn. Both of the semifinals and the final will be streamed by Reading United AC, so be sure and check their Twitter to find the link.
Here’s a closer look at the four teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Reading United
The No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the host finds itself in the playoffs for the 10th time in 11 seasons. Since joining the PDL in 2004, the Philadelphia Union affiliate has won the Mid Atlantic six times. Reading is looking for its first national title after only making the national semifinals twice in their history.
Reading United is led by Penn State midfielder and No. 1 PDL Top Prospect Aaron Molloy. Also appearing on Top Prospects list are No. 7 Daniel Krutzen, a defender from Albany, No. 21 Kamal Miller, a defender from Syracuse and No. 38 Lamine Conte, a midfielder from Louisville.
Since the wildcard came out of the Mid Atlantic, Reading United will be matched up with No. 3 seed Myrtle Beach Mutiny in the first round.
Black Rock FC
The East’s No. 2 seed is Northeast Division winner Black Rock FC. The Barrington, Mass., youth club is enjoying all kinds of success in its first PDL season. Black Rock is led in scoring by Georgetown’s Ifunanyachi Achara (eight goals, four assists) and Villanova’s Theo Quartey (three goals, six assists), and also a young Canadian, Jacob Shaffelburg (eight goals), who is a 2019 commit to Virginia and the No. 45 ranked prospect in the PDL.
Black Rock finished the regular season July 7, so it will be interesting to see how sharp they are against New York Red Bulls U23 on Friday night. They’re a team full of youngsters with a handful of big-time D1 recruits on the roster. Here’s hoping they gel quickly over the weekend and put their best foot forward.
Myrtle Beach Mutiny
The Champions of the Grand Strand are back in the playoffs after winning the South Atlantic for a second straight season with a record of 8–2–4, good for 28 points. But after losing 2017 all-league selection Tobenna Uzo and his 13 goals to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks of USL, the Myrtle Beach Mutiny had to find a new source of goal-scoring.
It took them a game or two, but this year’s Mutiny squad ended the regular season by cracking the 40 goal mark for the first time in the team’s two-year history. Led by Jon Ander Ibarrondo and his South Atlantic Golden Boot-winning nine goals, the Mutiny have spread the goal-scoring load around to multiple players. Last season, two players scored more than three goals. This year four players have scored five goals or more.
The Mutiny hope to improve on their 0–1 PDL playoff record and advance past the conference semifinal. (Quick side note: The South Atlantic regular season division winner has yet to advance past the conference semifinal. Charlotte lost in that round in 2015 and 2016 and Myrtle Beach lost in last year’s semifinal.) Myrtle is the only team in the Eastern Conference playoffs to not have a player on the Top Prospects list.
The time is approaching for the boys from the beach to represent all of the Carolinas in Reading, Penn. Be sure to follow them on Twitter and Instagram for all of the latest Mutiny news. They’ll take on Reading United at 7:30 p.m. July 20.
New York Red Bulls U23
Though the Baby Bulls had to settle for the wildcard spot thanks to Reading United’s dominant regular season, they’re still an uber-talented team in their own right. Finishing the regular season with 31 points (10–3–1) and a PDL-leading 45 goals, Red Bulls U23 could have qualified as the No. 2 seed based on merit alone. This is the fourth year that the U23s have been in the PDL and they’ve made the playoffs in three of those four seasons, including a national runner-up finish in 2015, their inaugural season.
The Red Bulls, like Reading United, have a host of former players now playing at the professional level, including former Duke Blue Devil Brian White at Red Bulls II. White was the 2017 PDL MVP after scoring 17 goals in 14 games.
This year’s Red Bulls U23 team is led in scoring by Loyola’s Brian Samargo (11 goald in 12 games). No. 8 prospect Janos Loebe, a midfielder from Fordham, has only played in two games for the Baby Bulls, and No. 12 prospect Dayne St. Clair, a goalkeeper from Maryland, has played in three games. We’ll see if these guys are back in the 18 for the playoffs or if they’ll have to rely on the rest of the D1 talent as they take on Black Rock FC 5 p.m. July 20.
How do you think the Mutiny will do representing the Carolinas this weekend? Will they break the South Atlantic division winner curse? We’ll keep you posted throughout the weekend.
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