It was a rough year for the top seeds in the D3 Pro League postseason as the top six teams found themselves eliminated from the postseason early as the Chicago Stingers and New Hampshire Phantoms found their way to the final.

The Miami Breakers dominated the campaign with a 17-1 record on the year, outscoring the opposition 67-21 on aggregate, en route to the regular season title. But in the playoffs, that meant nothing as they fell in their playoff opener to division runner-up Orlando 1-0 in the Southeast Division Final.

Instead the 13th-seeded New Hampshire Phantoms for the second consecutive year navigated their way to the semifinals after finishing second to Rhode Island in the Northeast. The year before, they were third in their division before making the playoff run. The 12-6 Phantoms downed Western Mass 2-1 and bumped the Stingrays 3-2 in the division final. They then blanked a fellow Cinderella side in Central Jersey 3-0 in the league quarterfinals to set up their toughest playoff showdown in fifth-seed Austin, who played host to the final four.

Chicago, meanwhile, faced a stiffer road after knocking off Rockford 3-0 in the playoff opener. They eliminated the league’s second overall seed, Indiana Blast, by a surprising 3-0 score in the North Central Division Final, avenging their upset loss to the Blast from the year before. That win put Chicago in a meeting with fourth-seeded Delaware in the league quarterfinals, where Chicago came out narrow 1-0 victors to advance to a semifinal contest with the previously Orlando side that dispatched the regular season champions.

New Hampshire won an overtime decision against the Lone Stars 3-2 to reach the championship for the first time. Chicago blanked Orlando in the other semi 2-0 to reach the final.

New Hampshire would once again find themselves in overtime tied 2-2, but their surprise run would fall short with the Stingers finding the golden goal in extra time to claim the championship.