Analyzing the 2022 Women’s Outdoor

With only 4 rounds of regular season games remaining we’re going to pull back the curtain to analyze the 2022 Women’s Outdoor session and how the playoff picture may look once the regular season has ended.

At the time of writing we can, with relative confidence and barring any unexpected results in the remaining four rounds, guess at who the 8 teams making the two playoff brackets will be in the 2022 Women’s Outdoor season. With 4 weeks to go, this is what the table looks like:

#	Team	+/-	Points
1	Purple Haze	+53	24
2	Levendi FC	+25	18
3	Striker FC	+9	18
4	Antilleans SC	+16	15
5	Blazers	-2	13
6	Average At Best	-2	12
7	Brams Baddies	-11	8
8	Force FC	-8	7
9	Grey Matter	-29	3
10	Weekend Warriors	-51	0

Unfortunately, as it stands, with 3 opponents from the top half of the table still to play, Weekend Warriors appear to have little chance, if any, of qualifying for the playoffs. Grey Matter have a slightly better chance as they are set to play both Force FC and Brams Baddies, the two teams sitting directly above them in the table. However, Grey Matter will also have to contend with Purple Haze and Striker FC. The run-in for these two teams isn’t promising considering their current records.

For the Championship playoff bracket (featuring teams 1-4) Purple Haze, Levendi FC and Striker FC appear to be solid locks, despite not having mathematically clinched their spots in the top half just yet. It’s hard to look at Purple Haze’s goal scoring efficacy, led by the nigh on unstoppable Kendra Cooper who has already scored 29 goals in 8 games, and not anticipate that they will find a way to finish in the top 4 before going on to contest for the title.

Levendi FC, who have had some unexpected results this season, are an organized and talented side. The spine of Levendi’s team, which starts at defense with Kimberly Beckles and Ariana Wilson, who can play either beside Beckles or just in front, then moving up through the midfield where Kyra Dickinson keeps things calm and pulls creative strings, and is complimented by their progressive attack where Holly Nonis, Nicole Le and Cassidy Chantler have the capability to leave defenses dizzy. When Levendi are on their game, they can, and will, pose problems for any team.

Striker FC are currently tied with Levendi FC in the table and should maintain their spot in the top 4 to qualify. Being able to rely on Navneet Aujla as a calming, creative fulcrum in the midfield is going to continue to be a big factor in their potential successes. With Aujla pulling strings, Striker FC can turn to the likes of Taylor Lyons who can be deployed as either an extremely attacking winger, or shifted into a more stabilizing wingback role to help protect a lead. Amelia Stasiew and Laura Ikenyoue will continue high pressing opposition defenses and consistently scoring.

The real question we’ll need answered in the next 4 weeks is “who takes 4th?” and finds themselves in the Championship playoff bracket.

At present, Antilleans SC currently sit in 4th with 15 points but are followed closely by Blazers with 13. Dropped points by ASC coupled with a win by Blazers will see them swapping spots in any of the 4 remaining weeks. Of course, as if written in the stars, on August 12th, 2022, the final round of the regular season, we could all be treated to a battle for 4th as Antilleans SC host the Blazers for the final game of the regular season.

However, we also have Average At Best sitting in 6th with 12 points and any number of results over the next 4 weeks could also see them contending for the 4th spot with both Antilleans SC and Blazers.

For the teams that do not qualify for the Championship playoff bracket, there is still the Consolation playoff bracket (featuring teams 5-8).

Brams Baddies will most likely feature in the Consolation playoffs along with Force FC, so the question remains as to who of Average At Best, Blazers and Antilleans FC will join them. Of course, Brams Baddies could still go on a 4 game win streak bringing them to 20 points if Jaiden Ogrady and Asha Barrett heat up to close out the season. They are however, playing all the teams currently sitting from 2nd to 4th, so it won’t be easy.

BAS women’s soccer has been running for a very long time but we can confidently say that the level of skill and the parity within the division this 2022 Women’s Outdoor may possibly be the highest we’ve seen to date which suggests we’ll be provided with very exciting playoffs.