While soccer districts officially started last week, our three area teams received first round byes and will take part in the semifinals Tuesday with the district finals taking place Friday or Saturday.

Division 1 (At Bedford)

Saline (13-1-3) will take part in the Bedford district and will take on the host Mules (8-9-2) Tuesday at 5:00 with second-ranked Ann Arbor Skyline (13-1-2) taking on Pioneer (12-4-2) in the other semifinal.

The Hornets should get by the Mules Tuesday, but the other semifinal will be a battle with Skyline and Pioneer splitting their two regular season contests. Whoever Saline will face in the finals will be a tough draw with Saline going 0-1-1 in two tough games against Skyline and going 1-0-1 in two games against Pioneer. The finals Thursday night will be a battle no matter the matchup.

Should Skyline and Saline make it to the finals, it will be a matchup between the states D1 second and fourth ranked teams for the district title.

Prediction- Skyline over Saline

Division 2 (At Chelsea)

Dexter (7-8-2) moves back to D2 after a couple of seasons in D1 and gets a tough draw in the first round with a Pinckney (11-3-2) squad that comes into the district with the best overall record at 6:00 Tuesday. Dexter’s record is deceiving with four of their losses coming to Saline and Skyline, which are both ranked in the top 4 in D1.

Chelsea (10-6) hosts Adrian (13-4-3) at 4:00 Tuesday in the other semifinal in what should be another battle between teams that split their two regular season game. The Maples came away with the SEC White title after the Bulldogs fell to Pinckney with a Pirates goal in the final minute in the last week of the season. If Chelsea can get past Adrian, they will matchup with Dexter or Pinckney Saturday at noon. Both are teams the Bulldogs split with during the season.

This district is a toss-up. Adrian is the hottest team of the four, going 12-0-2 since its loss to Chelsea early in April. I do have to give the edge to Dexter in the district playing its tougher Division 1 regular season schedule.

Prediction- Dexter over Adrian