The first round of the NISA playoffs are in the books and, honestly, unless you’re a fan of one of the exiting clubs, you can’t be disappointed with the matches we saw over the weekend.

Michigan Stars hosted visiting Syracuse Pulse on Friday at Romeo High School. And though the match was a bit chippy at times (of course it was), Michigan controlled play for the most part for the entirety of match. That lockdown got even tighter when Stars managed to put a goal in off a set piece towards the end of the first half. Steven Juncaj would get the assist when he crossed the ball over the crowd to the waiting head of Iakov Shmelev. Shmelev headed the ball past the Syracuse keeper and into the net for what would prove to be the winning goal of the match. It was Shmelev’s first goal of the season.

The second half was further dominance from Michigan’s impressive defense. With a goal in hand, the team dropped into a compact defensive shape that proved too much for Syracuse to unlock. The talented Minjae Kwak simply could not find the space to work his magic, given the tightness of the Stars’ backline. In fact, it would be Michigan would close out the scoring, when Anthony Bowie would score on a counter. 2 goals has almost always been enough to get a win for Michigan. That proved true on Friday, as Stars would advance to the semifinals this weekend.

The other half of the playoff bracket on Friday was Albion San Diego hosting Maryland Bobcats in southern California. The match was seen as a good one on paper and the reality did not disappoint. Maryland has become a bit of a fan-favorite among NISA circles, but given the travel fatigue and a powerful Albion attack, the visiting side was clearly seen as an underdog. Albion has shown some brilliance and could prove to be a tough out for a certain top-seeded Californian side, but more on that later.

Albion’s first goal would come when Alioune Diakhate was taken down in the box while receiving a pass. It was clearly a foul, but it would prove disastrous as former NAFC midfielder Daniel Vicente would convert the resulting PK and put the home side up 1-0. The second goal was scored by personal-favorite Mayele Malango (recent guest on the Knights Who Say NISA) who one-timed a beautiful cross from a streaking Harold Hanson. The shot was too true for Maryland goalkeeper Felix Anan and it put Albion up 2-0, which is how the match would end.

It’s a tough ending of a promising year for Maryland Bobcats, who have grown their fanbase through solid performances on the field and great game day atmosphere. Hard to not see great things for the Bobcats moving forward, but the offseason awaits.

This weekend we get two amazing matchups in the semifinals. In the perfect geographic result, we get East vs East and West vs West. Chattanooga FC will host rival Michigan Stars in a matchup that has been razor-sharp all season. Every matchup has ended in a draw, except for the season finale, which saw CFC win a close 3-2 match. It will be interesting to see what we get out of this final matchup for 2022 between these two clubs. The other side of the bracket has the top-seeded California United Strikers hosting Albion San Diego. Cal has cruised through the season atop the standings and has to be seen as the favorite to win the NISA title, but ASD has been on a roll to end the season, including a win over this weekend’s foe. Good soccer this weekend!

- Dan Vaughn