Teams are required to fill a roster of 15 players, and the PIAA mandates that all teams play 10 league games to qualify for postseason play.
The remaining C Division teams will play each other twice this season, said league soccer chairman and Frankford athletic director Jack Creighton.
"I hope this is all," Creighton said, concerned that other programs might drop once students reported to school.
The PIAA deadline for completing the required 10 league games is Nov. 20, forcing the Public League to kick off its season before the school year begins. The first games were played last Friday, with school beginning on Tuesday.
This likely serves as the genesis for the cuts: Because of the early start date, schools struggled to file the necessary physicals to make athletes eligible to play. Compounding issues, schools were unable to consider potential freshmen joining a team when the teams submitted their early rosters.
"Don't underestimate the PIAA's role in this," said Jim Taylor, Mastbaum's soccer coach last season before retiring this summer.
"We didn't used to have to start this early. We used to be able to wait for the ninth graders to come in and fill the roster. . . . We're really left scrambling with this."
Mastbaum and Furness drop from the B Division, moving that circuit from eight teams to six.
Audenried, which planned to field its first varsity soccer team after previously having just a JV, was the first team to drop its program.
Contact Evan Burgos at rallysports@phillynews.com.
