The regular season is in the books and the playoffs are set to begin in the Moose Jaw High School Athletic Association soccer league.
Things get underway with a rare weekday matinee match-up on Thursday, as the defending provincial 4A boys champion Central Cyclones take on the Moose Jaw Boys, a combination Peacock Tornadoes and Riverview Royals team.
Central finished in third place in the regular season with a 3-2 record, while the Moose jaw Boys capped their campaign at 0-4.
The contest is an unusual one in that it’ll take place at 3 p.m. Thursday at Yara Centre with the winner advancing to the semifinals next week.
The lone match-up between the two teams took place at the beginning of the season back on Sept. 12 and saw Central take a 4-3 win.
Both the Yorkton Raiders and Yorkton Sacred Heart Saints finished atop the league standings with 3-0-1 records, with the tie coming in a 3-3 draw between the two clubs on Sept. 20. Sacred Heart took first place by virtue of a better goals-for, goals-against ratio.
The Notre Dame Hounds (1-3) take on the Swift Current Colts (2-3) in the other quarter-final on Tuesday, Oct. 10, with the lowest remaining seed taking on Sacred Heart on Tuesday, Oct. 12 and the remaining quarter-final winner facing the Raiders on Monday. Oct. 16.
The semifinal winners will advance to the gold medal game on Wednesday, Oct. 18, with the site and time to be determined.
The girls league playoffs could take an interesting turn this season, as the 13-time defending champion Swift Current Ardens finished in the middle of the pack in the league standings, posting a 2-2 record.
Yorkton Regional finished atop the league with a 5-0 mark and have outscored their opposition 24-1 in the process, while Sacred Heart landed in second at 4-1.
The Ardens were to have taken on the winless Moose Jaw Girls in the quarter-final on Thursday, but after a 19-0 Swift Current win in the regular season, the decision was made to let the Ardens have the bye. They advance to face Sacred Heart in the semifinal on Monday, Oct. 16.
The other quarter-final will see the Vanier Spirits (2-3) host the Weyburn Eagles on Tuesday, Oct. 10. The two teams met back on Wednesday, Sept. 20, with Vanier taking a 4-3 victory. The winner of that contest will advance to face Yorkton Regional in the semifinal on Thursday, Oct. 12.
The semifinal winners will also play for league gold on Wednesday, Oct. 18, with the site and time to be determined.
