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For a week without Philadelphia Union or MLS playing, there sure was a lot of soccer and soccer news. From saying goodbye to MLS Season Pass to the MLS schedule change and packed high school and college postseason schedules, there’s plenty to review.

In the email today:

1. 🗓️ MLS Shifting to Fall-to-Spring Schedule in 2027

Major League Soccer is making the long discussed transition to a summer-to-spring schedule beginning in 2027.

The change from the current spring-to-fall schedule to a format common across many leagues across the globe was approved by the MLS Board of Governors during a meeting on Thursday in Palm Beach, Florida.

“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a news release. “Aligning our schedule with the world’s top leagues will strengthen our clubs’ global competitiveness, create better opportunities in the transfer market, and ensure our Audi MLS Cup Playoffs take center stage without interruption. It marks the start of a new era for our league and for soccer in North America.”

While 91 percent of the new format will overlap the existing one, according to the league news release, one key benefit of the shift will mean the playoffs and MLS Cup won’t compete directly with the NFL, college football or the November international break. It will also mean MLS will no longer be a live sports option during the busy summer travel season and won’t enjoy a window of time in the summer when many other soccer leagues are on a break and Major League Baseball is the only other major sport in season.

Questions about the weather in early December and February/March – particularly in places like Toronto, Montreal and Minnesota – will certainly be asked but the shift will also mean teams won’t have to travel to away fixtures in Texas in the middle of July either. A winter break will be observed from mid-December through early February.

In order to implement the change, the league will stage a 14-game season from February to May 2027 (complete with playoffs, MLS Cup and qualification for U.S. Open Cup, Canadian Cup, Leagues Cup and Concacaf Champions Cup) and then kick off the 2027-2028 season in mid-July. Playoffs will be played in late May 2028.

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🏆 High School State Champions Crowned

The high school soccer season came to a thrilling end in Pennsylvania and Delaware over the weekend as state champions were crowned in girls and boys soccer at Northeastern High School in Manchester, Pa. and two boys champions were crowned at Dover High School in Delaware. Earlier in the week PAISAA awarded their boys and girls soccer champions.

South Jersey champions were also crowned ahead of New Jersey’s state tournament kicking off with semifinals on Tuesday and Wednesday.

PIAA Girls State Champions: Class A: Faith Christian Academy, Class 2A: Archbishop Wood, Class 3A: South Fayette, Class 4A: Central Bucks East

PIAA Boys State Champions: Class A: Bentworth, Class 2A: Lewisburg, Class 3A: Abington Heights., Class 4A: Abington

DIAA Boys State Champions: Division I: Salesianum, Division II: Saint Mark’s

PAISAA Champions: Girls: Episcopal Academy, Boys: Haverford School

Girls South Jersey Champions: Group 1: Haddon Township, Group 2: West Deptford, Group 3: Shawnee, Group 4: Cherokee

Boys South Jersey Champions: Group 1: Haddon Township, Group 2: Seneca, Group 3: Moorestown, Group 4: Southern

3.💧Water Cooler: Schedule Shift

Thoughts on the MLS Schedule Shift.

3. ❄️ Social Post of the Day: Winter in Chester

4. 🔗 Link Roundup

• Legendary high school coach Randy Garber went out a champion on Friday morning when his Abington Ghosts defeated West Chester Henderson in the Class 4A boys soccer final at Northeastern High School. Greg Oldfield talked to some folks you’ll no doubt recognize in this profile.

• Pittsburgh Riverhounds will play FC Tulsa for the USL Championship crown this weekend. Check out our friends at Pittsburgh Soccer Now for all of their coverage of the big event.

• Check out additional coverage of high school soccer.

• RIP MLS Season Pass.

• The USMNT beat Paraguay 2-1 in a friendly at Subaru Park on Saturday night.

• Six teams from the greater Philadelphia region survived the first weekend of the NCAA Division III tournaments. Swarthmore white-knuckled their win in penalties after getting a red card, Penn State Harrisburg is writing their history with a pair of upsets and Johnny can’t stop scoring.

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