Six girls' soccer teams from the Jersey Sports Now region qualified for this year's state playoffs.  Four teams will be playing on the opening day of action, Tuesday, November 4th, while the other two drew byes and will wait until Friday the 7th.

Here is the outlook for the various teams:

North Jersey Section 1, Group 1:

Coming into the season, one publication touted Kinnelon as the favorite to win the state title in this group.  The Colts certainly have the talent and showed the kind of necessary resolve by reaching the Morris County soccer tournament final.  But Kinnelon has also had games this season which suggest a run to a state championship will be a major challenge.

The Colts are the #3 seed in this section, and will play their first game against a team that's already shown it can compete with them.  The #6 seed Verona played Kinnelon to a tie just a couple of weeks ago.

Also in this section, Butler drew the #9 seed and will open Tuesday at #8 Midland Park.  The Bulldogs had to fight hard just to get back to .500 in order to qualify.  It would be nice to see such effort rewarded with at least one state playoff win.

North Jersey Section 1, Group 2:

Pompton Lakes started the season red-hot, but the Cardinals struggled later in the soccer season as their schedule grew more difficult.  As a result, Pompton Lakes ended up with the #12 seed in this bracket, and will open Tuesday at #5 River Dell.   The Cards will have to be road warriors if they are to make any noise in the section.

North Jersey Section 1, Group 3:

Two local rivals are on opposite sides of this bracket, meaning a rematch of their Passaic County soccer final in the sectional title game is a possibility.  But they'll both have to get through some very strong teams to make that happen.

Lakeland is the #2 seed, and drew a first-round bye.  The undefeated Lancers will open state play Friday against the winner of #7 Old Tappan and #10 Tenafly.  If they win that game, the challenge gets much tougher:  #3 seed Roxbury would be their likely opponent in the sectional semifinal.

County runners-up Wayne Valley will be the #5 seed in the bracket.  That means they'll play a first-round game Tuesday against #12 Sparta.  A win there sends the Indians on the road, where they'll probably have to get through two Bergen County soccer powers to reach the final:  #4 seed Ramapo and top seed Northern Highlands.

Non-Public North A:

This section, as usual, features some of the very best teams in the state.  DePaul will have the chance to play one winnable game before the Spartans start to bump into those squads.

The Spartans drew the #6 seed and will open at home on Tuesday against the #11 seed, St. Dominic.  A win there likely sends them on the road to face #3 seed Pope John.  Also waiting in the wings: state soccer superpowers Immaculate Heart and Pingry. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now