Oakland Soul will face one of two scenarios on Sunday afternoon against the first-place SF Glens to ensure their postseason spot. They may have to either tie or win to clinch a playoff spot or, depending on results from two W League Saturday games, may already have secured their place in the postseason.
Confusing? Let’s break down the scenarios.
Currently, three teams are fighting for two playoff spots: Oakland Soul, California Storm, and United PDX of the Northwest Division.
The NorCal division has a half-spot playoff that could be awarded to the third-place team, depending on the results in the Northwest division, which has a half-spot playoff for the second-place team.
According to the USL, the wild card bid will be awarded to the team with the highest points per game remaining from the NorCal and Northwest Division. Oakland Soul and California Storm have a 2.45 and 2.27 ppg average, respectively. United PDX has a 2.22 ppg average. Each team has one more game this weekend.
If California Storm and United PDX win their games on Saturday, Oakland Soul will need a tie or a win on Sunday to earn their playoff spot. If either California Storm or United PDX tie or lose on Saturday, the Soul will be guaranteed a place no matter the result of their game on Sunday against the Glens.
Sixteen teams nationwide make the W League postseason. The round of 16 playoff games will take place on July 6th, and the quarterfinals on July 9th. The semifinals will be the weekend of July 14-16, and the final will take place the weekend of July 21-23.