If you start counting goals, doesn't always give an accurate depiction of a team's quality when it comes to playoff time. High School season is a pretty long stretch with a lot of room for things to happen in between.
Just an example: Team A has a significant number of multi-sport players, and several of their best are still in basketball playoffs when soccer season starts. Team B has all of their major players at the beginning of the season.
In the first or second week of the season, Team B beats Team A (minus their multi-sport athletes) 4-0. A month later in their second meeting, Team A (with all its players now and time to train) beats Team B 3-1. Team B is still ahead on goal differential, even with a 3-goal cap, but does that show they are the better team come playoffs?
