A new seeding model for fall soccer
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference announced that, beginning this fall, its boys and girls soccer tournaments will be seeded using a formula that weighs strength of schedule rather than pure win‑loss records.
The approach mirrors the methodology already in place for lacrosse, volleyball and tennis, where opponents’ records and non‑conference results are factored into the ranking algorithm.
Mark Berkowitz, tournament director for both boys and girls soccer, said the previous system often paired teams that advanced only a few rounds, leaving deeper matchups under‑represented.
He explained that soccer teams typically play fewer non‑conference games than lacrosse, making the quality of a league a critical determinant of a team’s true strength.
Why the change matters
The new formula will also adjust the qualification threshold for girls soccer, lowering the bar to 35 percent to ensure sufficient entries in Class S, where only 21 teams qualified last season.
Gregg Simon, a committee member, noted that a three‑year review showed a steady decline in qualifying teams across divisions, prompting the change to preserve a full bracket in every division.
Coaches have voiced optimism that the revised system will better reflect competitive balance, and the CIAC expects the model to gain widespread acceptance.
If the pilot proves successful, the CIAC may extend the strength‑of‑schedule principle to other sports, continuing a trend toward more nuanced tournament seeding across the state.