The 2019 GCPL regular season came to an end on Wednesday night after the rained out matches from last week’s hurricane were finally played out. With the regular season coming to an end, this meant that the playoffs are here and the battle to hoist the GCPL Cup is on.

This year, the highly anticipated postseason is set to begin and with five new clubs making their GCPL playoff debuts. The path to lifting the 3rd annual GCPL Cup will kick off this Saturday, July 20th with two quality quarterfinal matches on deck.

#3 BOCA Knights FC v. #6 AFC Mobile (7pm at Bossier High School)

The Western conference champions will host the Eastern conference outfit from Mobile in a highly anticipated match up. Both clubs have displayed over the season a knack for scoring goals with quality attacking threats up top. AFC Mobile will look to midfielder and team scoring leader, Arad Lev-Ari, to display some magic for the Azaleas, while the Knights expect Brazilian forward, Rafa Muniz, to lead the attacking front in hopes to advance to the semis. Both BOCA and Mobile will be without their two star players, Quesi Weston and Chisom Ogbonna, due to suspensions.

#4 Louisiana Krewe v. #5 Tallahassee Soccer Club (7pm at UL-Lafayette Soccer Stadium)

The two best defensive units in the GCPL will meet in Lafayette for a quarterfinal battle. Leading the defensive front for the Battle Lions is keeper and Eastern conference June Player of the Month, Hugo Peruzzi, averaging an impressive .77 GAA, the best in the league. Looking to test Hugo and his stout defensive front will be Krewe’s leading scorer and front runner for the GCPL golden boot , Adrian Olivares Rodrigeuz. The Lafayette unit has also impressed on the defensive front with a .80 GAA, thanks in part to defender and Western conference June Player of the Month, Cristian Cubedo. Tallahassee will rely on forward and former Shreveport Rafter, Boneco Bazil, to test the Krewe’s top defender.

The semifinals are set to be played on Wednesday, July 24th.

#1 Northshore United v. Lowest Seed (7pm at Northlake Christian High School)

The second year club claimed the number one seed and enjoyed being crowned regular season champs. Climbing out on top in a grueling 3-way playoff race in the Central conference, Northshore have impressed thanks to stellar season from a corp unit. But the attacking prowess of Zachary Breaux and Mason Morise have contributed heavily to the Covington club. The Ramblers will await the lowest seed that advances from the quarters.

# 2 FC New Orleans v. Highest Seed (7pm at Pan American Stadium)

The kings of New Orleans shined in their first year in the league with some top performances by former Pioneros de Cancún man, Roger Llergo, and CD Vida bound, Jesus Benitez. The Gators led the league in goals scored and displayed a potent style of attack, scoring a total of 42 goals in 10 games. FC New Orleans will have to fill in the void of the players who have returned to their pro clubs, but the NOLA crew has plenty of depth to be up for the task.

The GCPL Cup will be played at a location to be determined by highest seed (pending league approval for hosting). Entry will be $10 for adults and $5 for kids and can be purchased here: https://archive.gcpl.sportzstudio.com/gcpl-store/.

Saturday night’s matchup between Louisiana Krewe FC and Boca Knights FC will be this week’s Third Coast Soccer Game of the Week and the game will be held at UL Lafayette Soccer Stadium in Louisiana. Losing to the Knights in their first game of the season with a close scoreline of 2-1, the Krewe will be looking to defeat Boca this time around.

The early loss in the season must have motivated the Louisiana Krewe to get their act together because they have won their last three straight regular season games. Currently tied for second place with Alexandria PBFC, the Krewe will have a chance to take the top spot in the Western Conference on Saturday night if they can come up with a win against the first place Boca Knights FC.

Backed by Head Coach Joan Oliva, the Krewe from Louisiana will find out if they have improved since their first encounter with the Knights earlier this season. It will be a major test for the men from Lafayette, but they are confident in their starting eleven and feel as if they have what it takes to take down the 4-0-1 Boca Knights.

“We have been competitive in all of our matches so far this season, and we are happy for that,” stated Coach Oliva. “Now we have an opportunity to show if we have really been progressing or not. We are happy with our dynamic, the players are so committed with practices and everybody shares the same vision.”

The Louisiana Krewe have been thriving in the first half of the 2019 GCPL season and are hoping to carry their winning energy into their last five games of the year and into the playoffs if they make it that far. The Krewe continue to grow as an organization with each and every game they play and they have been strictly focused on developing their players.

“Our focus is to develop local talent with the mix of talent from abroad to compete at the next level,” commented Louisiana Krewe Club Director Kevin Mooney. “We also aim to put a quality product on the field so that members from our club and fans can strive to learn and see how the beautiful game is played and hopefully that our fans can take this style of play back to their youth teams. This is not possible without the right person at the helm and Joan Oliva for sure is the man for the job. He has tons of experience in the game, coaching licenses out the wazoo and a passion for the game that is unprecedented. Most importantly he is a players coach and he has a great connection with the players.”

Offensively, the Krewe are very sound and they have some incredible talent in the midfield with Oscar Castellanos at center mid, Dillon Gallet on the wing, and Adrian Olivares at the striker position. Castellanos is good at distributing the ball and finding space off the ball, while Winger Dillion Gallet is a fast player who has a lot of talent and the ability to finish in front of the net. Adrian Olivares is another top player to keep an eye on for the Krewe as he is the “go-to” target man for his teammates with four goals in just five games so far this season.

Per usual, the Boca Knights are in first place in the Western Conference and with a perpetual target on their backs, the Knights have been preparing for another opportunity to make it back to the GCPL playoffs. Even though Boca has been troubled with player injuries, they have still managed to hold onto the number one spot in the West.

“Each game is approached the same. We have a game plan, a focus and a belief in our system,” commented Boca Knights FC Head Coach Sergio Perez Sr. “The team continues to perfect its efficiency, conditioning, strength and team chemistry. These players know that it is each of their responsibilities to be the best they can for their teammates and club, and train that way. Injuries seem to be starting to get a hold of players. The challenge it presents is already worked on regularly and so is the chemistry of the depth of players in the club. This gives us, as a team, the ability to keep quality through a deep depth in our bench.”

Boca has built its club from the top down, something the American soccer landscape has been doing backwards for many years. The Knights philosophy for constructing their club has been based around providing an academy that educates and molds their youth players into skilled athletes.

“The athleticism, skill, and professionalism of Boca FC eventually created multiple requests from the community to provide an academy to teach their youth the same system and qualities displayed by the team,” stated Boca Knight FC Club Director Joseph Winningham. “The club deemed it to be important that everyone regardless of status in life, age or gender, or race or creed or anything else that makes a person unique, be provided with the opportunity to learn and train at the highest level they want to reach. In time, FC BOCA hopes to continue to develop youth and provide unique training opportunities. BOCA is looking to grow and continue to create beneficial relationships locally, nationally and internationally in order to provide as many opportunities as possible for experiences, growth, and training for all levels.”

One of the Knights top players to look for during Saturday night’s matchup is last year’s leading league goalscorer, Quesi Weston. Physically very strong, and fast, center forward Quesi Weston has a great ability to be in the right place at the time. Rafa Muniz is another skilled forward to watch for as he has explosive speed and quick ball handling skills, making him a lethal player with or without the ball. Defensively, Boca FC relies on Abdulah Rayyan to hold down the backfield. Rayyan is a striker’s worst nightmare with the ability to match the speed of just about anyone and his teammates look to him for confidence on the pitch.

Everyone in the GCPL will be interested in this week’s Game of the Week because the match will have a tremendous impact on the Western Conference standings. So, come on out to support these two fearless clubs as they take on each other at the UL Lafayette Soccer Stadium at 7:00 pm on Saturday, June 15th.