power rankings: UPSL georgia, week 11

We’ve gotten used to big scorelines in this division, but this week brought some tense defensive battles.

One team escaped from a dangerously even match and kept their status as title favorites alive, while a blockbuster went the way of another title favorite on Sunday night.

Let’s find out which teams are best positioned for top seeds as we head into playoff time in a couple of weeks:

the rankings

1. Kalonji Pro-Profile, +0 from last week (W 1-0 over Seas). Seas Jamaica proved a difficult test, and it seemed like their goalkeeper would keep Kalonji from the three points, but they found their winner late on and held to a 1-0 result that keeps them in pole position for the regular season title.
2. FC Matata, +0 from last week (W 6-4 over LSA). A big win for Matata at South Gwinnett Park sees them triumph over LSA for a win that guarantees them a floor of the two seed in the playoffs. Now, they can set their sights on gaining some goal differential back against Stone Mountain next week and hoping it’s enough to stave off Kalonji, who play two more times in this final weekend to come.
3. LSA Limeño, +0 from last week (L 4-6 to Matata). It’s not been the best finish to this regular season for LSA, but they can still enter the playoffs with an emphatic statement in their final regular season match against Kalonji (and also do Matata a huge favor in the process). Third place is a lock either way for the team from Gainesville.
4. Atlanta Elephants, +1 from last week (D 0-0 with Atletico). That draw wasn’t just their first clean sheet of the season; it’s a game that almost ensures they have a top four spot. It’s been up-and-down for Elephants, but it’s hard to say a top seed in the playoffs isn’t deserved for the Ivorians. They’ll face that same Atletico team they just drew with in the first round, so they’ll be familiar foes for sure.
5. Atletico Atlanta, -1 from last week (D 0-0 with Elephants). That’s not what Atletico would have hoped for, especially given they couldn’t score against a leaky Elephants back line. They can certainly still make something of their season, but given the fact that they have to play Elephants in the first playoff round, they’ll need to improve greatly to even make the semifinals of the Georgia playoffs, much less find themselves in contention for nationals on the final weekend of the UPSL Spring season.
6. Potros FC, +0 from last week (no match). Potros are finished with their regular season, and thanks to a Seas loss, they’ve locked up the six seed in the playoffs, guaranteeing themselves a game with LSA Limeño in the first round. That’ll be a tough ask for the still-young UPSLers, but they’ve made lots of progress this season and are becoming a really serious challenger to the top five.
7. Seas Jamaica All Stars, +0 from last week (L 0-1 to Kalonji). Seas put up a valiant effort in a bid to grab sixth place and avoid a first-round matchup with Matata or Kalonji, but Kalonji’s attacking strength was too much in the end. Seas will still be a tough out for whoever they end up against and are playing their best soccer all season right now.
8. Rovers FC, +0 from last week (D 1-1 with ATLetic). Rovers found a very late goal to equalize with ATLetic and keep Forest Rovers alive. More selfishly for Rovers, they find themselves in a very secure playoff spot. ATLetic would now have to beat Kalonji in order to overtake Rovers’ 8th and final playoff position.
9. Club ATLetic, +0 from last week (D 1-1 with Rovers). That late equalizer was a tough one to concede, and ATLetic seem to believe it was an unjustly given one if Twitter is to be believed. In any case, it goes in the books as a 1-1 draw, and that’ll put all the pressure on them as they face Kalonji this Saturday the 29th. Get a better result than Forest Rovers, and ATLetic will survive. Fall short of FRFC on points, and they’re out. If they stay level on points, ATLetic have a 1-point advantage in goal differential, so they’ll need to watch that carefully if they both lose. Forest Rovers play the day after ATLetic, so they’ll know exactly what they need to do to stave off relegation.
10. Forest Rovers FC, +0 from last week (no match). It’s all going to come down to the last day in the race to stay in the Premier Division. Forest Rovers play a high-flying Elephants team that they shouldn’t expect to beat, but they could still finish ahead of ATLetic if they can keep it respectable where goal differential is concerned. The two relegation rivals come into this final matchweek with just a single goal of GD between them, so it’s almost completely a matter of who does better in their respective last matches of the season.
11. FC Stone Mountain, +0 from last week (no match). Not much left to say here. They’ve got one more match to go against an FC Matata team that’s hungry for goal differential, and that could really spell trouble for a team that lost 22-1 the last time they took the field.

actual table

1. FC Matata – 23 pts, +14 GD. Form: DWWWW
2. Kalonji Pro-Profile – 22 pts, +33 GD. Form: WWWWW
3. LSA Limeño – 16 pts, +9 GD. Form: DDDDL
4. Atletico Atlanta – 15 pts, +6 GD. Form: LWLWD
5. Atlanta Elephants – 15 pts, +1 GD. Form: DLDWD
6. Potros FC – 13 pts, -6 GD. Form: WLWLD
7. Seas Jamaica All Stars – 12 pts, +7 GD. Form: WWDWL
8. Rovers FC – 10 pts, -6 GD. Form: DDLDD
9. Club ATLetic – 7 pts, -2 GD. Form: DLLLD
10. Forest Rovers FC – 7 pts, -3 GD. Form: LLWLL
11. FC Stone Mountain – 0 pts, -53 GD. Form: LLLLL

next week’s fixtures

9) ATLetic v 1) Kalonji

4) Elephants v 10) Forest Rovers

2) Matata v 11) Stone Mountain

1 ) Kalonji v 3) LSA

What a weekend we have in front of us; the last weekend of the UPSL Georgia regular season will tell us who gets relegated, who wins the regular season, and what our first-round playoff matches will be. We hope you’re enjoying following this league as much as we are at smallworld!

Stay weird and support local soccer!

Blessings,

Danny