My last preview is the matchup between District 31 champion Columbus Catholic, as they host District 32 champion Miami-Palmetto.  On paper this looks like it should be a relatively easy win for CC, but the two teams did meet late in the season and CC had all it could handle in a 7-5 home win on April 11th.  CC came through a much tougher District in the playoffs, having beaten Belen Jesuit and Gulliver Prep while MP took down Palmer Trinity and Coral Reef.  Interestingly Miami Palmetto did play some of their best games this year in close losses to both Belen Jesuit and Gulliver, so this game has ‘close’ written all over it. I’ve never seen MP play while I was able to catch CC this year, and covered their playoff run last season when their program really made it on the radar with a run to the Final Eight last year.  CC did graduate a lot but also returned a lot of players who got their experience last year.  CC did not garner a win over the higher ranked Florida programs this season that they played, losing to Boca at home, at STA, at Pope and an awful effort at Dwyer, but they did defeat Lake Forest (IL.), the top ranked school in that state. CC’s offense has been up and down all season but their defense looks to have tightened up since their mid-season run of giving up too many goals.  MP’s defense has held every opponent to 7 goals or under so it is easy to see where their strengths lie.  A low scoring game is necessary for MP to pull off the playoff win here. I would favor CC to win a close game due to their tougher schedule preparing them better but the possibility of the upset is here, which is more than I can say for a lot of other first round games.