The EPSL’s inaugural final four tournament is taking place this weekend with the semifinals tonight and the final on Sunday. As originally announced, the semifinalists would be made up of the winner and runner-up of the Metropolitan Conference, those being Lansdowne Yonkers and New York Pancyprian Freedoms, along with the playoff final winners from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Conferences. As the EPSL announced yesterday, the two previously announced playoff final winners from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Conferences, VA United FC and Connecticut Rush respectively, are not listed as the final four semifinalists.

Protagonist Soccer has learned the situation behind those changes. Connecticut Rush was the Northeast Conference regular season champion and played in the Conference final against Mass United Rush. Mass United won that final 4-0 but last week turned down the semifinal berth due to a congested schedule that included a UPSL playoff run and NISA Independent Cup matches. As such, Connecticut Rush accepted the EPSL’s invitation to take the Northeast berth in the final four tournament.

The Mid-Atlantic Conference slot is somewhat more complicated. As originally announced, the top four finishers would play in the that conference’s semifinals with the winner of the final given the Mid-Atlantic berth in the final four tournament. Steel Pulse FC, the winner of the Mid-Atlantic regular season, did not have time to commit to the conference playoffs due to a congested schedule that included the Maryland Major Soccer League playoffs as well as NISA Independent Cup matches. The Mid-Atlantic Conference final was won by the third-seed VA United FC over second-seed NoVa FC.

It understood that NoVa FC filed a protest following the Mid-Atlantic final claiming VA United had used ineligible players. The EPSL agreed with NoVa FC’s claim and disqualified VA United. As a result, the league quickly scheduled a makeup final on Tuesday between NoVa FC and fourth-place DMV Rangers. The match was held behind closed doors and won by the Rangers in a 5-4 shootout after ending in a 1-1 draw.

These playoff scheduling issues sit within a bigger league picture in which schedule disruptions caused by issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. All three conferences were forced to start their seasons later than originally planned which also pushed the conference playoffs as well as the final four tournament into July rather than June as originally intended. This complicated the schedules of individual clubs which then had to make determinations on competition priorities.

The EPSL has been in planning for the 2021-22 season and it is expected that the schedule will take place over a more conventional term. It is understood that the Metropolitan Conference will likely begin around September 11th. That Conference will also see a new member club promoted from the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. New York Shamrock SC won the CSL’s Division 1 2020-21 season by one point over Manhattan Celtic. As the CSL champion, New York Shamrock was invited to join the EPSL Metropolitan Conference for the 2021-22 season but turned down the invitation. As such, the invitation went to Manhattan Celtic which accepted to become the first team promoted into the EPSL based on competitive merit.

The EPSL’s goal is to have 16 teams in each conference. While competitive relegation is still in their plans, it seems the league is currently focusing on growing the number of teams to a stable number before fully implementing relegation mechanisms.

- Dan Creel