Nebraska Teams Hunting Bids on NLQ Championship Sunday
The amount of Nebraska representation warms my heart. I made the trip from Lincoln to Minneapolis for the Northern Lights Qualifier, and I knew I’d see quite a few familiar faces. But the big list of Nebraska teams that have…
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Continue ReadingThe amount of Nebraska representation warms my heart.
I made the trip from Lincoln to Minneapolis for the Northern Lights Qualifier, and I knew I’d see quite a few familiar faces. But the big list of Nebraska teams that have found success has made this reunion even better.
Here’s your Sunday roadmap—or you could call it my roadmap, too. With all these local teams in the spotlight, I needed a plan!
16 Open
One of these teams has found glory at this stage before. The other is looking for redemption.
Nebraska ONE 16 Synergy and Premier Nebraska 16 Gold are both in the 16 Open Gold pools heading into Sunday. It’s a testament to the resilience, consistency, and competitive fire these squads have displayed this year.
But, of course, they’ll be meeting in the same Sunday pool. More on that in a moment.
16 Synergy burst out of the gates with a 3-0 record on Day 1 and backed that up with a strong Saturday start. Wins over Iowa PowerPlex and MKE Sting secured a spot in Gold, despite a narrow setback against 1st Alliance to end the day. Nebraska ONE’s offense is finding a new gear lately, and that might lift 16 Synergy to repeat NLQ bid.
Then, there’s Premier Nebraska 16 Gold. This group had so many close calls in pursuit of an Open bid last year, and that had to give the team extra motivation heading into qualifiers. It certainly looked that way today, as 16 Gold soared to a 3-0 Saturday record with victories over OTVA, FC Elite, and Triple Crown runner-up Houston Skyline. That’s a stacked slate.
Here’s Sunday’s “meta.” Three bids are available with six teams split across two pools. The wildcard of the group is Drive Nation 16 Red, which is in the pool not occupied by the two Nebraska squads. 16 Red has previously qualified in Open. A second-place pool finisher could get a bid without the need for a third-place match, provided Drive Nation finishes in the top two of its pool.
A single Sunday match win could be all it takes for Nebraska ONE and Premier Nebraska to snag a 16 Open bid. Let’s see how it shakes out.
16 USA
Here’s Nebraska Elite’s moment in the spotlight.
Throughout NLQ, Nebraska Elite 16 Koa has always done exactly what’s required to advance. It started with a 2-1 record on Day 1, followed by an identical performance on Saturday.
That yields a bracket quarterfinal matchup with EXCEL 16 National White, a team that has yet to drop a match in Minneapolis. EXCEL survived some dramatics against Premier Nebraska in Saturday pools, and now another Great Plains challenger awaits.
Like 16 Open, three bids are available in 16 USA.
15 Open
Premier Nebraska 15 Gold is moving on to Sunday’s Gold gauntlet in 15 Open, and confidence has to be peaking right now.
In other words, 15 Gold is carrying a perfect 6-0 record into NLQ’s final day. It’s an incredible breakout that we’ve seen from the Premier Nebraska camp at this venue before. Time to finish.
15 Open has a unique Gold format featuring four pools with three teams each. First-place finishers will be placed in the semifinals of a Gold bracket, in which the teams that make the championship match will receive a bid. A third-place match decides the final bid.
Premier Nebraska’s journey begins with matches against NKYVC and Austin Performance.
15 USA
Premier Nebraska strikes again.
Similar to Nebraska Elite’s run to bracket play in 16 USA, Premier 15 Black has kept itself in the hunt through 2-1 records on Day 1 and Day 2. Starting both days with a pair of wins has kept stress at a minimum for now.
But the pressure always ratchets up in bracket play. Luckily, 15 Black has a secure spot in the quarterfinals rather than the “play-in” in the previous round. OT 15 O Semei is the opponent, and a win here would put Premier on the cusp of a bid in the semifinal round. Three bids are in play here, so one more win after that would do the trick.
15 Liberty
Double trouble!
15 Liberty has two Nebraska teams vying for bids, so buckle up for this one. And, like 16 Open, Nebraska ONE and Premier Nebraska are carrying the Great Plains torch.
Nebraska ONE 15 Black quickly established itself as a contender by steamrolling through Day 1 without dropping a set. That incredible run continued with two more sweeps to start Saturday’s slate. Though 15 Black was eventually bested by MKE Sting to end Round 2, a spot in the Gold bracket was already assured. PVA 15 Elite awaits.
Meanwhile, Premier Nebraska 15 Red is coming off a pair of 2-1 rounds to reach the final bracket. But, unlike Nebraska ONE’s 2-1 Saturday record which relegated it to second in its pool, Premier’s 2-1 mark was good enough for first in its pool after a three-way tiebreaker. That puts 15 Red in the quarterfinal round after an opening bye. The winner of MKE Sting versus Roots will meet Premier, and two bids are available.
15 American
Perfection. That’s the goal for Premier Nebraska 15 Silver.
It doesn’t get much better than a 6-0 record with zero set losses through two days. I’ll be keeping close tabs on 15 Silver through Sunday’s action, as this looks like a surefire championship contender. And that’s exactly what it takes to snag a bid here, too—only one bid is available in 15 American.
The journey starts in the Round of 16 against W Revolution 15 Adidas.