Class AA

No. 8 White Plains vs No. 1 John Jay-East Fishkill at Hudson Valley Sports Dome in Milton, 1 p.m.
No. 7 New Rochelle at No. 2 Arlington, 2:30 p.m.
No. 6 Scarsdale at No. 3 Ossining, 2 p.m.
No. 5 John Jay vs No. 4 Horace Greeley at SUNY Purchase, 2:30 p.m.

Class A

No. 8 Pelham at No. 1 Byram Hills, 3:15 p.m.
No. 7 Keio at No. 2 Pearl River, 2 p.m.
No. 14 Beacon at No. 6 Hen Hud, 5 p.m.
No. 5 Harrison at No. 4 Rye, 7 p.m.

Class B

No. 11 Croton-Harmon/No. 6 Dobbs Ferry at No. 3 Rye Neck, 12 p.m.
No. 7 Albertus Magnus at No. 2 Hastings, 3 p.m.
No. 5 Irvington at No. 4 Edgemont, 2:30 p.m.
No. 8 Briarcliff at No. 1 Bronxville, 1 p.m.

Class C

No. 7 Tuckahoe (3-11) at No. 2 Valhalla (12-6), 2 p.m.
No. 6 Hamilton (3-9-1) at No. 3 Solomon Schechter (7-6-2), 2:30 p.m.
No. 5 Haldane (5-10-2) at No. 4 Blind Brook (8-8), 2:30 p.m.

Class AA

No. 8 Ketcham at No. 1 John Jay-East Fishkill – SITE AND TIME TBD (anyone with updated information as of 10 p.m. Tues., please let us know)

No. 7 Arlington at No. 2 Horace Greeley, 2:30 p.m.

No. 11 Mahopac at No. 3 North Rockland, 2 p.m.

No. 13 Suffern at No. 5 Mamaroneck (at Hommocks Middle School), 2 p.m.

Class A

No. 8 Eastchester at No. 1 Somers, 3 p.m.

No. 10 Hen Hud at No. 2 Byram Hills, 1 p.m.

No. 3 Beacon at No. 3 Rye, 2:30 p.m.

No. 5 Pearl River at No. 4 Lourdes (at Stringham Field), 3 p.m.

Class B

No. 8 Pleasantville at No. 1 Nanuet, 2 p.m.

No. 7 Albertus Magnus at No. 2 Rye Neck 2:30 p.m.

No. 6 Dobbs Ferry at No. 3 Briarcliff, 2:45 p.m.

No. 5 Westlake at No. 4 Bronxville, 2:45 p.m.

Class C

No. 6 Tuckahoe at No. 3 Haldane (at St. Basils Academy), 2 p.m.

No. 5 Blind Brook at No. 4 Valhalla (at Westchester Community College), 2:30 p.m.

Congratulations to Byam Hills senior Regan Marin, who has committed to play at Bryant University, a Division 1 program in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

Marin, a midfielder, has started for Bryam Hills since she was a freshman, and has six goals and 10 assists for Byram Hills.

Byram Hills, the No. 2 seed in the Class A tournament, hosts No. 10 Hen Hud today at 1 p.m.

Any other players who have made commitments, please send me an email at jgold@lohud.com so we can put it up on the blog.

Section 1 has postponed every athletic event today. It’s all going to be tomorrow at the same times.

Now that the field has been whittled a bit and the curds separated from the whey, I’ll start making predictions. Jeff gave an inspired missive before he presented his girls soccer picks, which I will now steal. These are his words, but the sentiment is one I share.

“I give these with predictions with one rule: No one can say I didn’t give a team a chance, and no one can say that “no one” gave a specific team a chance, because I don’t speak for the rest of the world. These are simply predictions, they are only my predictions, and by predicting one team will beat another, it in no way, shape, or form means that I think a team “doesn’t have a chance.” It’s a tired cliche, so let’s all avoid using it from here on forward.”

Thank you, Jeff. Let me also add that I am not “clearly biased against” your favorite team, as many will suspect. I don’t make picks because I’m secretly rooting on my alma mater. I grew up in Brooklyn and my high school was in Manhattan.

Thank you for indulging my legalese. And now, on to the picks.

Class AA
No. 8 White Plains at No. 1 John Jay-East Fishkill: Though they never faced each other, they did have six common opponents. Fishkill went 6-0-1; White Plains went 6-1-0. Fishkill outscored them 31-2; White Plains did it 21-4. If White Plains was at its peak I’d think it had a good shot. But I’m not sure the Tigers are playing the kind of perfect game it would take to unseat the undefeated No. 1 seed. JJEF 4, White Plains 2

No. 7 New Rochelle at No. 2 Arlington: New Ro is playing its best soccer of the season. All those offensive pieces are clicking together, making them very hard to keep down. You don’t know who to double cover because you have to leave someone open. They got shut out by Arlington last year; it’s hard to see that happening again. Scarsdale’s Joe Cipriano said he can see New Rochelle winning here. Frankly, so can I. New Rochelle 3, Arlington 2

No. 6 Scarsdale at No. 3 Ossining: A lot of people are doubting Ossining’s ability to hang with Scarsdale. It didn’t help when Ossining’s toughest foe, Lourdes, couldn’t make it out of the first round in Class A. Like New Ro, Scarsdale is at the top of its game. The Raiders played one of their best defensive games in a first-round shutout of Ketcham—their sixth whitewash in seven games. Ossining can triple its respect by advancing. Scarsdale 3, Ossining 1

No. 5 John Jay at No. 4 Horace Greeley: Reprisal of a rivalry. It always felt like they would meet again, didn’t it? Some John Jay fans are sore about Greeley getting a higher seed, although I’m not sure what the justification for that is since they split the season series and John Jay had two ties on its record that Greeley didn’t. I guess they’re just looking at the league title. Well, the Indians may be on the road, but if they think they’re better than the reigning champ, here’s the chance to prove it. Greeley 2, John Jay 2, PKs

Class A
No. 8 Pelham at No. 1 Byram Hills: I hear Pelham is starting to heal a little bit, which is great news for the soccer community. You don’t want to see a top team be eliminated because of injuries. Whoever suits up, you better believe they’re going to deliberately test Byram’s replacement keeper. Jesse Stoopler will see more shots than Nicholas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas. If they can put enough on him, the Pelicans might figure one routine one gets by him. Even if one does, I don’t think it’ll be enough. Byram Hills 2, Pelham 0

No. 7 Keio at No. 2 Pearl River: I’ll be at this game, so I’ll wait to share the valuable insight that The Journal News pays me $200 a word for.

No. 14 Beacon at No. 6 Hen Hud: No matter who takes this you’re looking at a very unlikely semifinal team. These two were at best the third and fourth best teams in a weak league. They played a very tight season series that featured one tie and one overtime game. Hen Hud 1, Beacon 0

No. 5 Harrison at No. 4 Rye: As I mentioned in the first round wrapup, Harrison is finding the back of the net with regularity these days. Watch Bryan Merlos and Andre Fonseca and its not hard to see why. Rye has been in the limelight all year as a top small school. The MLK win really blew things up. Rye beat Harrison 1-0, but that was five weeks and 13 games ago. I see Harrison giving Rye all it can handle before the Garnets gratefully escape with their lives. Rye 4, Harrison 3, OT

Class B
No. 6 Dobbs Ferry at No. 3 Rye Neck: They met allllll the way back on Sept. 11, the second game of the season. Rye Neck won 1-0 despite 15 saves from Dobbs goalie Jacob Lowy, who seems to have lost his job to Rohtas Wadera (though if it’s through injury or performance or contraction of typhoid or something else I don’t know). Dobbs had some trouble with 6-10 Croton in the first round. Rye Neck, on the other hand, has been reeling off notable wins. Rye Neck 3, Dobbs Ferry 0

No. 7 Albertus Magnus at No. 2 Hastings: A defensive crackdown of late by Hastings was highlighted by a 5-0 win over Albertus. It was an eyebrow-raising result also because it was the first time the teams had seen each other since Albertus beat Hastings 1-0 in a very controversially officiated game. The Yellow Jackets were furious after that one. Even though the anger wasn’t directed at Albertus, it sure looks like they channeled it in that direction during the 5-0 romp. Can they do it again. Yes, but not to such a degree. Hastings 2, Albertus 0

No. 5 Irvington at No. 4 Edgemont: Excluding Byram Hills B, Edgemont hasn’t beaten a winning team since Sept. 17. Irvington isn’t exactly cruising either, though. Both have losing records against their common opponents. Will a combination of Justin Orden and a grueling schedule be enough to push Edgemont through? Irvington 2, Edgemont 1

No. 8 Briarcliff at No. 1 Bronxville: Briarcliff won its first rounder on an own-goal by Put Valley. It’s been outscored by opponents this season. As opposed to Bronxville, which has outscored opponents by 52 goals. This appears to be the biggest mismatch of the second round. Bronxville rolls. Bronxville 4, Briarcliff 0

Class C
No. 7 Tuckahoe (3-11) at No. 2 Valhalla (12-6): I’ve included the records for Class C because they haven’t started their playoffs yet. What the records show is three losing clubs that wouldn’t be in the playoffs if there weren’t automatic berths in C. Will one pull an upset? Possibly. Tuckahoe did take Valhalla into OT once, though that was a weaker Viking team. Valhalla 3, Tuckahoe 1

No. 6 Hamilton (3-9-1) at No. 3 Solomon Schechter (7-6-2): Which Schechter is going to show up, the one that tied Hamilton 2-2 or the one that beat Hamilton 5-1 the next game? I’m guessing the latter but I could be wrong. There’s a first time for everything. Schechter 4, Hamilton 2

No. 5 Haldane (5-10-2) at No. 4 Blind Brook (8-8): How did Blind Brook go from championship contender to barely holding on after seven straight losses? Haldane has to be reveling in the Trojans’ struggles. It lost to them 4-2 in September when they were winning games. Still, the defending champs have enough left in them to pull this out. Blind Brook 1, Haldane 0

What did we learn from Round 1 of the playoffs?

We learned that the difference between the haves and have nots in Class AA was huge. Seeds 1-8 all won, and handily. They outscored the eight lower seeds by a total of 26-3. Only three scores were closer than three goals. (Two of them, strangely enough, were by Fishkill and Arlington, the top two seeds).

We learned that upsets were not happening in any class. Only one lower seeded team moved on when No. 14 Beacon beat No. 3 Lourdes. That’s it. Nineteen games, one upset. If you want to be generous and give Briarcliff an upset win over Put Valley we can do it, even though Briarcliff was seeded higher (due to the Westlake fiasco). Even so, that’s a tiny number for a sport that’s supposed to have some randomness to it.

We learned that Byram Hill’s road to a championship is no longer paved with gold. Maybe silver. Keeper Josh Weiner’s head had a brief and unpleasant meeting with someone’s knee, knocking him out for at least the rest of sectionals. Jesse Stoopler, who played well in his place, will fill in. The rest of Class A has been looking for a crack, any crack, in Byram’s fortifications. Did they just find one?

We learned that Harrison can score on anybody. Lakeland hadn’t let up more than two goals since Sept. 24. Goalie Dan Foci had carried the Hornets into the playoffs. In comes Harrison and, led by Andre Fonseca, puts up a five-spot. Since Sept. 27 the Huskies have scored at least two goals every game, averaging 4.7 over that span. Rye shut them out last time. If Rye does it again I’d be impressed.

In Tuesday’s paper, you will read about the John Jay – Suffern game. Suffern ended up advancing in PK’s, 4-2 after 110 mins of scoreless soccer. Here are the other games we have information about. I’ll link the game story on tomorrow’s blog.

Also, be sure to check back for my Wednesday preview…packed quarterfinal action.

The following games, we don’t have information about: JJEF vs. Fox Lane, R.C. Ketcham vs. Scarsdale. Players/parents/supporters of Fox Lane and Scarsdale, feel free to let us know about the game.

Class AA

Mahopac 4, Saunders 0: In a Class AA first round game at Saunders, Carly Villanova scored three goals. Monica D’Ippolito had six saves for the No. 11 seeded Indians. Jessica Negron had 15 saves for the No. 6 seeded Blue Devils.

From JG: Despite the seeds, this is NOT a surprise. Mahopac played a much tougher schedule than Saunders.

North Rockland 3, Ursuline 1: In a Class AA first round game at North Rockland, Francesca Kentimenos scored three goals. Aeisha McDavid scored for the No. 14 seeded Koalas.

From JG: Kentimenos, a sophomore, has an phenomenal shot, perhaps the best in the section.

Arlington 2, Yorktown 1: In a Class AA first round game at Arlington, Patricia Kaishian scored for the No. 10 Cornhuskers. Gabrielle Lawrence had 12 saves.

From JG: Another tough loss for the ‘Huskers, who played tough schedule all year and still had winning season.

Mamaroneck 3, White Plains 1: In a Class AA first round game Mamaroneck, Amanda Tuck had two goals and an assist for No. 5 Mamaroneck. Stephanie Velez had a goal and an assist. Emily Masseo scored for No. 12 White Plains.

From JG: Mamaroneck wins the rubber match and surprisingly gets to host second-round game because of Suffern-John Jay result.

Horace Greeley 4, Clarkstown North 1: In a Class AA first round game at Horace Greeley, Sophia Orlander had two goals. Natalie Rosen and Jordyn Davis both scored for the No. 2 Quakers. Jillian Plotkin scored for the No. 15 Rams.

From JG: Surprising that Greeley gave up a goal. It almost never does.  

Class A

Eastchester 4, Lakeland 1: In a Class A outbracket at Lakeland, Emily McMahon had two goals for the No. 9 Eagles. Brianna Barca and Justine DiDonato also scored. Meghan Tremblay scored for the No. 8 Hornets.

From JG: Eastchester’s win over Rye clearly gave this team some great momentum.

Hen Hud 2, Pelham 1: In a Class A first round game at Pelham, Kelly Hanly scored the winning goal off a throw-in from Kayla Mancusi (one goal) 25 minutes into overtime. Jane Ruocco scored for the seventh-seeded Pelicans.

From JG: An overtime win in the playoffs. Nothing better. 

Class B 

Albertus Magnus 1, Edgemont 0: In a Class B outbracket at Albertus Magnus, Caitlin Frawley scored in the first half. Caitlin Hoffer had 11 saves in the shutout. Erica Kresch had 12 saves for the No. 10 Panthers.

From JG: Albertus Magnus as a No. 7 seed just seems strange. Very solid team.

Pleasantville 6, Hastings 3: In a Class B first round game at Pleasantville, Caitlin Casey had a goal and two assists for No. 8 Pleasantville. Lindsay Golfeather and Tina Elliott each had a goal and  assist. Kari McWalters, Julia Salinaro and Catherine Smyth had a goal each for the ninth-seeded Yellow Jackets.

From JG: Pleasantville gets the opportunity to try to pull of the upset of the girls soccer season if it beats Nanuet.
Other games

Holy Child 3, Horace Mann 3: At Horace Mann, Charlotte Knobloch (two goals) scored the tying goal for the Gryphons with five minutes left off a corner kick. Morrin Carlin had  the other goal.

Fieldston 2, Rye Country Day 1: At Fieldston, Jenna Frank scored for the Wildcats.

Girls Soccer
Quarterfinals

I’ll have my preview up Tuesday night/Weds. morning with my thoughts on all 12 of these games. You guys can start now. What do you think about these games?

Class AA
No. 8 R.C. Ketcham at No. 1 John Jay-East Fishkill
No. 7 Arlington at No. 2 Horace Greeley
No. 11 Mahopac at No. 3 North Rockland
No. 13 Suffern at No. 5 Mamaroneck

Class A
No. 9 Eastchester at No. 1 Somers
No. 10 Hen Hud at No. 2 Byram Hills
No. 6 Beacon at No. 3 Rye
No. 5 Pearl River at No. 4 Our Lady of Lourdes

Class B
No. 8 Pleasantville at No. 1 Nanuet
No. 7 Albertus Magnus at No. 2 Rye Neck
No. 6 Dobbs Ferry at No. 3 Briarcliff
No. 5 Westlake at No. 4 Bronxville

No. 6 Dobbs Ferry completed the first round with a 2-1 comeback victory over No. 11 Croton. Chris Bucci took a feed across the box from Domenico Lodolo with a minute left and beat his man for the winning goal. Logan Rosenberg had Dobbs’s first goal on a penalty kick. He was tripped in the box on a breakaway.

Croton took the lead in the first half on a Matt Migliorelli score. The Tigers had the better play over the first 20 minutes before Dobbs found its feet. They acquitted themselves well for a 6-10 team that wasn’t even supposed to be in the playoffs until the whole Westlake thing went down.

Dobbs travels to No. 3 Rye Neck tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.

I’ll be back later with a first-round wrapup.

I was at Suffern-John Jay, where Suffern advanced on penalty kicks 4-2 after 110 mins. of scoreless action. Here are the other scores we have so far…If the time of the game is listed, that means we do not have the game in yet. If any of those coaches are reading, please call The Journal News hotline.

Girls soccer
Section 1 tournament
Class AA first round

Mahopac 2, Saunders 0

North Rockland 3, Ursuline 1

Suffern 0, John Jay 0, Suffern advances on penalty kicks, 4-2.

Mamaroneck 3, White Plains 1

Horace Greeley 4, Clarkstown North 1

John Jay-East Fishkill 4, Fox Lane 0
Arlington 2, Yorktown 1

R.C. Ketcham 1, Scarsdale 0
Class A
Outbracket

Hen Hud 2, Pelham 1, OT

Eastchester 4, Lakeland 1

Class B
Outbracket

Albertus Magnus 1, Edgemont 0

Pleasantville 6, Hastings 3

Other games:

Holy Child 3, Horace Mann 3

Fieldston 2, Rye Country Day 1

Don’t forget to vote for the Gameface of the Week. My vote’s going to Allie Piscina of Hackley, who looks like she’s about to break 14 cement blocks with her forehead. You can do it Allie!

Class AA

No. 8 White Plains at No. 1 John Jay-East Fishkill, 2:30 p.m.
No. 7 New Rochelle at No. 2 Arlington, 2:30 p.m.
No. 6 Scarsdale at No. 3 Ossining, 2 p.m.
No. 5 John Jay at No. 4 Horace Greeley, 3 p.m.

Class A

No. 8 Pelham at No. 1 Byram Hills, 2:30 p.m.
No. 7 Keio at No. 2 Pearl River, 2 p.m.
No. 14 Beacon at No. 6 Hen Hud, 5 p.m.
No. 5 Harrison at No. 4 Rye, 5:30 p.m.

Class B

No. 11 Croton-Harmon/No. 6 Dobbs Ferry at No. 3 Rye Neck, 2:30 p.m.
No. 7 Albertus Magnus at No. 2 Hastings, 3 p.m.
No. 5 Irvington at No. 4 Edgemont, 2:30 p.m.
No. 8 Briarcliff at No. 1 Bronxville, 2:30 p.m.

Class C

No. 7 Tuckahoe (3-11) at No. 2 Valhalla (12-6), 2:30 p.m.
No. 6 Hamilton (3-9-1) at No. 3 Solomon Schechter (7-6-2), 2:30 p.m.
No. 5 Haldane (5-10-2) at No. 4 Blind Brook (8-8), 2:30 p.m.

The last first rounder kicks off in 20 minutes. No. 6 Dobbs Ferry hosts No. 11 Croton, which replaced Westlake in Class B.

As soon as that’s over we can talk about the second round. Not that the trash talking hasn’t started already.

I’ll update this post with each new result that comes in.

First up is No. 6 Scarsdale, which beat No. 11 Ketcham 4-0. The Raiders scored all their goals in the second half, by four different players. Santiago Rigby had a goal and assist. Andres Penfold, Adam Rose, and Sho-Kono Villanueva also found the net. The defense was tight, allowing four shots on goal. Villanueva in particular played his best game of the season.

Fordham Prep won its CHSAA city quarterfinal with Xaverian today, 2-1. Although the Rams outshot their opponent 18-6, they found themselves tied at 1-1 with 10 minutes left. But two minutes after it was tied it was untied by Jeff Horn. The Rams move on to the quarterfinals to play old nemesis Regis, who they barely beat out for an Archdiocesan playoff spot. That’s at St. John’s on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. (Rumor is Iona Prep lost today, but I’ll comment on that when it becomes official.)

No. 1 Byram Hills beat No. 16 Sleepy Hollow 2-0 in Class A. The big story here is Byram losing goalkeeper Josh Weiner to a concussion. Five minutes into the game he and a Sleepy player were going for a 50-50 ball when he took a knee to the temple and collapsed. He lay on the turf for five to 10 minutes, conscious but not lucid. He’ll be OK, but he is out for a prolonged period. Coach Matt Allen guessed it would be the length of the playoffs. If so, that makes senior backup Jesse Stoopler the last line of defense. The 6-foot-3 Stoopler actually played quite a bit for a backup, logging 500 minutes. He only allowed one goal, though it was all against mostly weak competition. That won’t be the case anymore, starting with No. 8 Pelham on Tuesday.

No. 4 Rye beat No. 13 Nyack 3-0 in Class A. Andrew Klokiw had a goal and assist. Other than that I don’t have much info. Rye’s hosting No. 5 Harrison on Tuesday.

OK, this is what we will do each day for the rest of the season before playoff days.

Every game, my thoughts, and a prediction. Let’s get it started. Everyone contribute.

Class AA first round

No. 16 Fox Lane (7-6-1) at No. 1 John Jay-East Fishkill (17-0): Fox Lane got its playoff win, beating  Mount Vernon in an outbracket game. No one beats John Jay East Fishkill it seems. Most teams don’t come close. Stunning upset wouldn’t even begin to describe what this would be if Fox Lane wins.  The Foxes will rightly be loose. Fox Lane’s best result was probably its 1-1 draw with John Jay (Cross River). The pick: JJEF

No. 15 Clarkstown North (9-7-2) at No. 2 Horace Greeley (14-1-1): Greeley, the defending sectional champions, have had another amazing season despite returning only four starters. Their defense of the sectional title begins here, and this is a team that almost never has a misstep. Basically, Greeley never even gives up a goal. Harrison scored three on Greeley; no other team scored more than one. The pick: Greeley

No. 14 Ursuline (8-7-1) at No. 3 North Rockland (13-3): As a 14th seed, Ursuline can be dangerous, and many of  North Rockland’s players are inexperienced. Ursuline has some talented players, like Kerri Ann O’Connor and Aeisha David, but North Rockland is probably too deep and too skilled. North Rockland’s three losses have come against truly elite teams, so it should move on to the quarters. The pick: North Rockland

No. 13 Suffern (9-7-2) at No. 4 John Jay (12-3-2): To me at least, this is one of the more interesting first round games and perhaps one of the actual possibilities for an upset, though not likely. Here’s why: Suffern has played teams of John Jay’s caliber all season. OK, the Mounties haven’t beaten any of them, but the level of competition shouldn’t intimidate them. Suffern lost to North Rockland by two goals each time. Is that really close? Not really. But it’s not a blowout. John Jay has had a great season. Its the only team to beat Greeley and it also tied Somers. The pick: John Jay

No. 12 White Plains (6-4-4) at No. 5 Mamaroneck (11-4-2): The teams played twice and split, each winning at home. The thing is, White Plains beat Mamaroneck when it played without its best player, Stephanie Velez. Still, Mamaroneck only beat White Plains 2-1 with Velez, so expect a good game. Mamaroneck enters the playoffs on a five-game winning streak. The pick: Mamaroneck

No. 11 Mahopac (10-7-1) at No. 6 Saunders (11-5-2): There is just no comparison between the level of competition these teams have faced throughout the season. Mahopac has wins over Mamaroneck and Scarsdale to its credit;  Saunders doesn’t have wins of that quality. Mary Lynch, Carly Villanova and Sarah DeMarzo make Mahopac tough to stop. Saunders is led by Lizbeth Barerra. The pick: Mahopac

No. 10 Yorktown (10-7-1) at No. 7 Arlington (12-6): Perhaps Yorktown has turned the corner, entering the playoffs with three straight wins after a tough season against a very, very hard schedule. With Samantha Russo and her 14 goals, Yorktown can be a dangerous team, but it hasn’t quite had that signature win against an opponent like Arlington to predict a win for Yorktown. The pick: Arlington

No. 9 Scarsdale (9-6-2) at No. 8 R.C. Ketcham (9-6-1): These teams played before on Sept. 17 and Ketcham won 2-1. Scarsdale’s leading scorer, Charlotte Miller, had the Raiders’ goal in that game. Becky Bruce had an assist. Scarsdale is young, but there is talent. Both these teams played tough schedules. Expect a close one. The pick: Scarsdale

Nanuet’s Lauren Kahn leads the 18-0 Nanuet Knights into the playoffs with her area-leading 43 goals.

In Friday’s notebook, I gave a general outline of the playoffs with the favorites and the contenders. Rather than doing something similar on the blog, here’s what I’ve decided to to:

Every day there is a playoff game (for this week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday), I will preview all the games right here on the blog. Be sure to look for it.

For those of you who want my specific predictions as to how the playoffs will turn out, I’ll offer them here. I give these with predictions with one rule: No one can say I didn’t give a team a chance, and no one can say that “no one” gave a specific team a chance, because I don’t speak for the rest of the world (though that really would be cool).

These are simply predictions, they are only my predictions, and by predicting one team will beat another, it in no way shape or form means that I think a team “doesn’t have a chance.” It’s a tired cliche, so let’s all avoid using it from here on forward.

Everyone feel free to contribute. Give a prediction and a quick reason for why you think you’re right.

Class AA

First round

John Jay-East Fishkill defeats Fox Lane

Horace Greeley defeats Clarkstown North

North Rockland defeats Ursuline

John Jay defeats Suffern

Mamaroneck defeats White Plains

Mahopac defeats Saunders

Arlington defeats Yorktown

Scarsdale defeats Ketcham

Quarters

JJEF defeats Scarsdale

Horace Greeley defeats Arlington

North Rockland defeats Mahopac

Mamaroneck defeats John Jay

Semis

JJEF defeats Mamaroneck

North Rockland defeats Greeley

Finals

JJEF defeats North Rockland

Class A

Outbracket

Pelham defeats Hen Hud

Eastchester defeats Lakeland

First round

Somers defeats Eastchester

Byram Hills defeats Pelham

Rye defeats Beacon

Pearl River defeats Lourdes

Semifinals

Somers defeats Lourdes

Byram Hills defeats Rye

Final

Somers defeats Byram Hills

Class B

Outbracket

Albertus Magnus defeats Edgemont

Pleasantville defeats Hastings

First round

Nanuet defeats Pleasantville

Rye Neck defeats Albertus Magnus

Briarcliff defeats Dobbs Ferry

Bronxville defeats Westlake

Semifinals

Nanuet defeats Bronxville

Briarcliff defeats Rye Neck

Final

Briarcliff defeats Nanuet

Class C

Outbracket

Valhalla defeats Blind Brook

Haldane defeats Tuckahoe

Semifinals

Solomon Schechter defeats Valhalla

North Salem defeats Haldane

Final

North Salem defeats Solomon Schechter

Every result has come in except for Dobbs Ferry-Croton-Harmon.

Pelham 1, Spring Valley 0: In a Class A first round game at Pelham, Selim Gjaka scored with three minutes left in the game. Erich Heintzen had seven saves for the No. 8 Pelicans. Ramon Lopez had nine saves for the No. 9 Gryphons. Pelham will play the No. 1 Byram Hills/No. 16 Sleepy Hollow winner on Tuesday.

Pearl River 3, Eastchester 0: In a Class A first round playoff game at Pearl River, Pat Keane, Chris Relihan and Kevin Loeffler scored. Graham Fortunato had six saves for the No. 2 Pirates. Colin Gick had 9 saves for the No. 15 Eagles. Pearl River hosts Keio on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Ossining 4, Poughkeepsie 1: In a Class AA first round game at Ossining, Sebastian Forero scored two goals. Jeffrey Zhinin and Marcel Jorge each added a goal for No. 3 Ossining. Ossining will host the winner of No. 6 Scarsdale and No. 11 Ketcham on Tuesday in the second round.

Hen Hud 2, Tappan Zee 1: In a Class A first round game at Hen Hud, Gonzalo Oliviera and Diego Villa both scored. Bobby Sincero had eight saves for the No. 6 Pirates. Tom Griffin scored and John Leonard had 11 goals for the No. 11 Dutchmen. Hen Hud will play No. 14 Beacon on Tuesday in the second round.

Briarcliff 1, Putnam Valley 0: In a Class A first round game at Briarcliff, Kevin Lewis had six saves for the No. 8 Bears. Bill Brunke had 12 saves for the No. 9 Tigers. Putnam Valley scored on themselves in the first half. Briarcliff faces No. 1 Bronxville Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.

Arlington 3, Mahopac 1: In a Class AA first round game at Arlington, Matt Pagano scored off a pass from Greg Shannon in the second half. Brendan Synan had 11 saves for the No. 15 Indians.

White Plains 3, North Rockland 0: In a Class AA first round game at White Plains, Ozzie Torres scored twice. Ronald Bonilla made three saves for No. 8 White Plains. Brian McNicholas had six saves for the ninth-seeded Red Raiders. White Plains will play at No. 1 John Jay-East Fishkill on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Albertus Magnus 6, Nanuet 1: In a Class B first round game at Albertus Magnus, Terrence Michalak had two goals for the No. 7 Falcons. Four other players added a goal each. Tom Murtaugh scored for No. 10 Nanuet. Albertus Magnus will play at No. 2 Hastings on Tuesday.

Harrison 5, Lakeland 2: In a Class A first round playoff game at Harrison, Andre Fonseca had two goals and two assists. Bryan Merlos had a goal and an assist for the No. 5 Huskies. Brian Bermeo and Mike Kociuba scored for the No. 12 Hornets. Harrison faces the winner of the Rye/Nyack game on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.

John Jay 4, Lincoln 1: In a Section 1 Class AA first round game at John Jay, Eric Pierre-Louis had two goals. Andres Vargas had a goal and an assist. Ian de Ruiter also scored for the No. 5 Indians. Omar Aguilar scored for the No. 12 Lancers. The Indians will play at No. 4 Horace Greeley on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Keio 2, Port Chester 1, OT: In a Class A first round game at Keio, Kazumasa Ikenaga scored his second goal nine minutes into overtime to lift No. 7 Keio. Andres Romero tied the game for No. 10 Port Chester with a minute left in regulation. Keio travels to No. 2 Pearl River on Tuesday.

New Rochelle 4, Suffern 0: In a Class AA first round game at New Rochelle, Francesco Sandoval had a goal and two assists for the No. 7 Huguenots. Arturo Barajas broke a scoreless tie midway through the second half. New Rochelle travels to No. 2 Arlington on Tuesday.

Check back by 11:30 am Sunday for a comprehensive girls soccer preview that will have analysis and predictions. It will all be there.

It’s gone from bad to worse for what was once one of the feel-good stories of the season. Westlake has been removed from the playoffs after it was discovered that the ineligible player participated in one additional game that originally believed. That brought the forfeiture total to seven, which was enough to knock the Wildcats below the 40% mark necessary to qualify for sectionals.

When the revelation of an ineligible player arose, coach Nick Romeo pored over his schedule in an effort to report all games that player had been involved in. The team had no official bookkeeping so it was ll by memory. He found six, but apparently missed one. Croton-Harmon remembered seeing that player in a game that was not reported, which Westlake won. Romeo went back to check and found a photo that showed the ineligible player on the field with a Croton player. That was Croton’s proof.

Croton didn’t bring it up to be spiteful; that one extra win was enough to get the Tigers into postseason. Although just 6-10 overall, they are 6-6 against Class B. They will take Westlake’s place as the No. 11 seed and travel to Dobbs Ferry today for a first-round game.

In the span of two days Westlake has gone from 12-4 league champs to 6-10 and out of the playoffs. What a crushing blow to a bunch of kids that have been looking forward to this week all season. Romeo called an emergency team meeting last night with players and parents to break the news. You can imagine the sinking feeling in that room. One clerical oversight and a whole season down the drain.

It’s one thing to have your seed knocked all the way down. At least you still get a chance to fight your way out of the hole. You still control your destiny, even if the road is longer. But this; this is a feeling of helplessness, that no matter how bad you want it and how hard you’re willing to play doesn’t matter.

Class AA

The favorite: John Jay-East Fishkill. In one of the toughest leagues, Fishkill was one of two sectional teams (Byram was the other) to go undefeated.

The challenger: Arlington. Always an elite program, Arlington’s only loss was to Fishkill. But in the rematch the Admirals earned a 0-0 tie, proving they could play with the big boy.

The darkhorse: Scarsdale. Like everyone in League 1-A, Scarsdale has been tested against playoff caliber opponents all season. And right now it’s red hot.

Best first-round matchup: Suffern at New Rochelle. The best team in Rockland has been winning of late, but is it a function of better play or a shaky league schedule? If it’s the former, the Mounties can hang with New Ro.

Difference-maker: J.P. Arenas, White Plains. Though he’s been passing well, Arenas hasn’t found the net in the month of October. North Rockland is no pushover in the first round, but especially with Fishkill looming in round two, White Plains needs him to play top soccer.

Class A

The favorite: Byram Hills. The defending state champion is unbeaten for the first time since 1982 and hasn’t lost to a Section 1 team in about 985,649 games.

The contender: Rye. Last year Rye was the only Byram opponent not to lose. This year the Garnets played them close twice but couldn’t close the deal. Will the third time be a charm?

The darkhorse: Keio. Kaz Ikenaga is scoring in bunches. Keio, the longtime Class C king, has a ton of playoff experience and wants to prove it can hack it in Class A.

Best first-round matchup: Eastchester at Pearl River. Really, you say, a No. 15 seed with a losing record makes for a good game? Eastchester is better than its record, and very used to playing top teams. Port Chester at Keio is also a good one.

Difference-maker: Bryan Merlos, Harrison. The junior middie has explosive dribbling and shooting ability. Harrison’s flown a little under the radar, but don’t be surprised to see Merlos lead them to some big wins.

Class B

The favorite: Bronxville. The Broncos have the most explosive scorer in the class, maybe the section, and were ranked tops in the state all year.

The contender: Hastings. The defending champion has found its stride and riding a very tough defense.

The darkhorse: Westlake. The Wildcats went from an overrated No. 2 seed to an underrated No. 11 seed. If properly motivated its not impossible to see them making a run to the finals. And what better way to find motivation than the blow they were dealt by the forced forfeiture of six games.

Best first-round matchup: Westlake at Dobbs Ferry. Dobbs was set to host Putnam Valley before the Westlake decision came down. Westlake beat Put Valley twice, meaning Dobbs moved up one seed and, as the prize, gets a tougher opponent.

Difference-maker: Brian Rogers, Bronxville. If Rogers keeps lighting up the scoreboard, Bronxville will win its coveted sectional championship.

Class C

The favorite: North Salem. Clearly the best team in the class. Only losses were to Class AA teams.

The contender: Valhalla. The Vikings were falling apart in early October before suddenly snapping to life with two wins over Blind Brook and one over Rye Neck. They lost 3-1 to North Salem in early September but were missing a few players to injury.

Difference-maker: Brian Span, North Salem. Span would be a top player in the bigger classes too. he could become a household name if he takes North Salem deep into states.