If we were using last year's rankings, this bracket has the highest ranked team in the tournament in it. Downplaying the playing of the fourth ranked team in the country is goofy behavior. But, last year's numbers don't carry over. And you need a lesson on expected goal differential if you think this is an easy draw to blow through.
You are downplaying that the other two teams in the YJ bracket are ranked 18 and 28. The other A pool with 91, Top Guns, NXT and Monsters is harder with a tough matchup every game.
Coaches should not care or place any emphasis on goal differential. If your coach is determining their in game strategy and player rotations to protect their rankings then get out while you can. Player development will be an afterthought especially if you are not a starter or split time.
The conversation isn't about what a coach should be focusing on. But make no mistake, every top ten team is absolutely focused on blowing all of the teams out of the water by more than ten goals. The play history shows this throughout. Unfortunately, you can't exist as a top ten team if your focus is on even play time for girls. Benches tighten until the goal differential is maxed out.
But the conversation was about how easy/difficult it would be to move up in the rankings, which absolutely has to do with differential. It's a relevant part of the conversation.
The real question is will YJ be able to defeat Eaglestix again? And will Monster be able to defeat 91 again? YJ will be the highest ranked team in NY next week. This isn't a compliment. It's just that they'll be the only NY team that played this weekend and will have enough games under their belts to be ranked.
