2019 Premier Postgame Semi Finals Edition

2019 Premier Postgame Semi-finals Edition

#1 BSC Raiders (9-0-1)  - #6 Buffalo United SS (5-3-3) 

BDSLRumors game of the week features two clubs with a history of meeting each other in the playoffs.  This season, in a week 2 matchup, both teams were missing key pieces.  BSC Raiders won 2-0.

Our take:

BUSS can be confident all day but the fact that BSC Raiders have not lost a regular season game this year puts them as the favorite.  We like their swagger but we don't see Raiders getting beaten.  It's impossible to pick against BSC, right?  Well they did lose against Celtic United in Tehel Cup.  But so did BUSS.
Screw it, we are gonna rock the boat here at BDSL Premier Postgame and say BUSS sneaks by BSC Raiders in this one.  Lets go with 2-1 in regulation.

OK so we were waaaaay off on this one.  We thought it would be a Sunday full of upsets but we really missed on this game.  BSC Raiders showed their superiority and dismantled BUSS 4-0.

BUSS gave Raiders a lot of credit:

"Everything I said about the Raiders was right. I was worried about those guys and sure enough, they were at the top of their game. We struggled in all phases of the match. Nothing seemed to go right for us. We gave away the ball twice in our own end and they made us pay. The first half was abysmal. We had no possession, and no real chances. We were unorganized and completely out of sync. But to the guys credit, the second half was different. We played much better and it was more of a contest. At that point though we were way behind and had nothing to lose. The Raiders are the real deal and laid a beat down on us. With the talent and organization of their squad no team will beat them regularly."

Do you consider this season a disappointment?

"Any season that ends without a trophy is a disappointment.  We are disappointed that we didn't win.  I am not disappointed in my guys though, we had a great season.  Sometimes things just don't go your way.  I expect us to be better next summer."

#4 Amherst Sharpshooters (6-2-3)  - #2 Lackawanna FCY (8-2-1) 

These teams have faced each other twice so far this season.  In both match-ups Lackawanna has had the edge and beaten Amherst.  Both of those matches were played at The Cage.  Sundays game is also at the cage so Lackawanna will have the home field advantage. 

Our take:

Last week on Twitter we said that fresh legs would carry Amherst to victory.  The report they gave us claims they will have 22 guys at the game.  Lackawanna has struggled to get a complete roster to each game.  Man for man we think that Lackawanna wins on paper......however, this game is not played on paper.  Amherst has young, skillful players.  As we saw this week in Tehel Cup action with Queenston beating Celtic United, young players can make a big difference.  We see that happening in this clash.  We are going to predict another upset and say the Amherst finally gets things going at The Cage and beats the home team 4-3 in extra time.

We picked the correct team, and thought it would end in ET.  This game ended up going to penalties with Amherst coming out on top.

We spoke with Amherst first:

"It was a great game. It was intense and competitive. It was a really even, well played game."

What was the key to your victory?

"I think we did a pretty good job of limiting the chances for their forwards. Quinn made a couple of good saves, but we held them to less quality scoring chances than earlier in the year. Getting off to a quick start with an early goal helped too."

Lackawanna FCY thinks this season is only the beginning for their club:

"An unbelievable season, we played great soccer and it was very enjoyable, so much excitement especially for our community . We played a hell of a game yesterday, their goalkeeper was unbelievable. Making great saves all game long and he also saved a PK in regulation, great game to him. Deciding the game with penalties is always a 50/50 , it’s a sad way for us to finish the season, but I’m very proud of my guys. The BDSL season is over for us but soccer is still going on. We will bounce back next year to finish the job."