I think this will be obvious to anyone who has been looking for it, there will be no NASL Week 2 recap post as I was extremely busy this past weekend (more on where I was on Sunday later). I plan on doing a recap for week 3, and probably a preview if time permits.
Now, I was at Ridley Athletic Complex to watch a spring soccer game on Sunday, where Loyola played Penn State, a game in which the Nittany Lions were heavily favored to win, even though it doesn't matter. The game contained very ugly soccer and lots of referee mistakes, but Loyola scored a goal in the second half (can't clearly remember the minute) and never looked back from there. There were lots of defensive frailties on both sides and some miscommunication between Loyola's midfielders when one took the ball off the other after he won the ball, then proceeded to lose the ball almost immediately.
The Hounds have 2 more spring games, both on Friday; a doubleheader, first against Howard University at 5PM followed by the alumni game. I was going to live tweet the game on Sunday, but Ridley does not have a WiFi connection to which I have access.
So, that's what I was doing, and I hope you can forgive me for not providing some promised content.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Thursday, April 9, 2015
U.S. Open Cup First and Second Rounds Drawn
Here are the results of the draw of the First and Second Rounds of the 2015 U.S. Open Cup:
First Round (all fixtures to be played May 13)
First Round (all fixtures to be played May 13)
West Virginia Chaos (PDL) vs. Fort Pitt Regiment (NPSL)
Western Mass. Pioneers (PDL) vs. Greater Binghamton FC Thunder (NPSL)
Lansing United (NPSL) vs. RWB Adria (USASA)
Miami United (NPSL) vs. SW Flordia Adrenaline (PDL)
Upward Star (NPSL) vs. Triangle Bridgade (USASA)
AC Connecticut (PDL) vs. Virginia Beach City FC (NPSL)
Long Island Rough Riders (PDL) vs. Brooklyn Italians (NPSL)
Michigan Bucks (PDL) vs. Detroit City FC (NPSL)
Chattanooga FC (NPSL) vs. Ocala Stampede (PDL)
Jersey Express (PDL) vs. New York Greek American Atlas (USASA)
Maryland Bays (USASA) vs. Reading United A.C. (PDL)
Global Premier Soccer (USASA) vs. Seacoast United Phantoms (PDL)
Des Moines Menace (PDL) vs. Madison Fire (USASA)
Midland/Odessa Sockers (PDL) vs. Tulsa Athletics (NPSL)
Laredo Heat (PDL) vs. NTX Rayados (USASA)
BYU Cougars (PDL) vs. KC Athletics/Harpo’s FC
FC Tucson (PDL) vs. Chula Vista FC (USASA)
FC Tacoma 253 (NPSL) vs. Kitsap Pumas (PDL)
Sonoma County Sol (NPSL) vs. Burlingame Dragons (PDL)
Ventura County Fusion (PDL) vs. Cal FC/San Francisco City FC
PSA Elite (USASA) vs. Golden State Misioneros FC (PDL)
Second Round (All fixtures to be played May 20)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL) vs. Fort Pitt Regiment/West Virginia Chaos
Wilmington Hammerheads (USL) vs. Ocala Stampede/Chattanooga FC
Richmond Kickers (USL) vs. AC Connecticut/Virginia Beach FC
Rochester Rhinos (USL) vs. Greater Binghamton FC Thunder/Western Mass. Pioneers
RWB Adria/Lansing United vs. Louisville City FC (USL)
Reading United A.C./Maryland Bays vs. Harrisburg City Islanders (USL)
Charleston Battery (USL) vs. SW Florida Adrenaline/Miami United
Charlotte Independence (USL) vs. Triangle Brigade/Upward Star
Michigan Bucks/Detroit City FC vs. Portland Timbers 2 (USL)
Long Island Rough Riders vs. Real Monarchs SLC (USL) OR Real Monarchs SLC vs. Brooklyn Italians
Jersey Express vs. New York Red Bulls II (USL) OR New York Red Bulls II vs. New York Greek American Atlas
Global Premier Soccer vs. Tulsa Roughnecks (USL) OR Tulsa Roughnecks vs. Seacoast United Phantoms
Saint Louis FC (USL) vs. Madison Fire/Des Moines Menace
Midland/Odessa Sockers vs. OKC Energy FC (USL) OR Tulsa Athletics vs. OKC Energy FC
Austin Aztex (USL) vs. NTX Rayados/Laredo Heat
Colorado Springs Switchbacks (USL) vs. KC Athletics/Harpo’s FC/BYU Cougars
PSA Elite/Golden State Misioneros FC vs. Orange County Blues (USL)
Arizona United SC (USL) vs. Chula Vista FC/FC Tucson
LA Galaxy II (USL) vs. Cal FC/San Francisco City FC/Ventura County Fusion
Sacramento Republic FC (USL) vs. Burlingame Dragons/Sonoma County Sol
Seattle Sounders 2 (USL) vs. Kitsap Pumas/FC Tacoma 253
My analysis: Why?
Why do you "reward" a team that has won your tournament multiple times with a trip to Salt Lake City if they beat Long Island? How does the Jersey Express get a home game against an MLS reserve side -- better question, why are the MLS reserve sides in it at all? And why are you making some teams travel further to their First Round game than to their Second Round game? Some of this draw makes no sense, and why isn't US Soccer covering the Open Cup with as much vigor and enthusiasm as the FA does with the FA Cup? This tournament needs to be bigger than what it currently is, but it can't get there without more promotion by the US Soccer Federation. They will argue that not enough money is being raised, but they could have used some of that $90M from the MLS TV deal to financially back the tournament. I think there will be some exciting games, and I can't wait to see if any of those games will be made available either on YouTube or other forms of Internet access.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
NASL Week 1 Recap
FINAL SCORES
CAR 3-1 OTT
ATL 1-1 IND
FTL 0-1 NY
JAX 3-1 EDM
SA 1-3 TB
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tough call this week, but I'd say that Novo gets it due to his effective play earlier in the day.
MAJOR TAKEAWAYS
1. Quality of play is improving little by little.
2. NASL had to set up a separate live stream for the beginning of the 2nd half between San Antonio and Tampa Bay due to problems with ESPN3. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come.
3. Jacksonville Armada are definitely proving me wrong about where I placed them in my predicted end-of-season standings. They played very well in front of....
4. Record crowds showed up in bunches this week. The Armada have a modern era record of 16,164 at evening with a foghorn goal celebration. The Strikers also have a modern era record of just north of 11,000.
5. The production quality is improving overall, but there are a few strugglers still. Atlanta didn't have a scoreboard for 20 minutes, and San Antonio's production quality has not improved over the offseason.
6. Feel very bad for the Silverbacks fans who went out to the game. Indy's goal was a last-minute penalty. Stone cold penalty, but what a way to end your night.
7. The officiating was very trigger-happy when it came to cards this week. Watch this to see if the referees change as the season progresses.
CAR 3-1 OTT
ATL 1-1 IND
FTL 0-1 NY
JAX 3-1 EDM
SA 1-3 TB
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tough call this week, but I'd say that Novo gets it due to his effective play earlier in the day.
MAJOR TAKEAWAYS
1. Quality of play is improving little by little.
2. NASL had to set up a separate live stream for the beginning of the 2nd half between San Antonio and Tampa Bay due to problems with ESPN3. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come.
3. Jacksonville Armada are definitely proving me wrong about where I placed them in my predicted end-of-season standings. They played very well in front of....
4. Record crowds showed up in bunches this week. The Armada have a modern era record of 16,164 at evening with a foghorn goal celebration. The Strikers also have a modern era record of just north of 11,000.
5. The production quality is improving overall, but there are a few strugglers still. Atlanta didn't have a scoreboard for 20 minutes, and San Antonio's production quality has not improved over the offseason.
6. Feel very bad for the Silverbacks fans who went out to the game. Indy's goal was a last-minute penalty. Stone cold penalty, but what a way to end your night.
7. The officiating was very trigger-happy when it came to cards this week. Watch this to see if the referees change as the season progresses.
Lots of Drama in NASL Curtain Raiser
Note: This is a special blog post recapping the opening game of the NASL season. Do NOT expect this type of coverage every week after every game. This is only being done because this is the first game of the season.
SCORING SUMMARY
1-0 (Shipilane) - well-worked team goal that set the Hawks up for success.
2-0 (Novo) - Incredible finish; the interplay around the box was fantastic, but the finish. I can't say anything bad about the finish -- definitely an early candidate for Goal of the Week.
2-1 (Poltronieri) - This is why Ottawa was so bad; they like to play hoofball, and that won't work most of the time. This goal was created using mainly hoofball techniques.
3-1 (Bracalello) - The goal didn't mean much in the end, but it made the result match the performance on the field.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Novo: Nacho Novo is like a fine wine... he ages very well. At 36 years old, the way he tore through Ottawa's defense was incredible... what a shame that he had to come off early due to injury.
MAJOR TAKEAWAYS
1. Expect better streams from ESPN3 for all of the NASL matches.
2. Ottawa's defense was absolutely horrible. There is a reason why I have them where I have them... if they can't defend, they won't go very far in the league. Let's hope they can turn that around very quickly so they can start to help everything else out.
3. Carolina's doing something right with their commentary. I don't know what it is, but the color analyst is very knowledgeable and informative throughout the day on tactics and player awareness.
4. Some of the midfield play by Carolina was superb. Watch the passing and the movement again, and you'll see tons of fluidity in the play. This is nowhere near the quality of Barcelona, but it's as close as I've seen an American professional team come to emulating that style... which is, not really, if in comparison with other sides that try to play that way in Europe.
5. The officiating quality was poor. I remember that Novo's penalty was outside of the penalty area, but no one in the Carolina dressing room was complaining about that, but fair is fair, and Ottawa got what they deserved in my opinion. Also, note the large number of yellow cards issued in the match, and keep track of this referee's assignments in the future to see how consistent he is, and his willingness to give a card against other NASL referees.
Once again, this is a special blog, but this follows the pattern I want to follow for the remainder of the weekend's action, replacing the Scoring summary with a list of final scores. Man of the Match will be replaced by Man of the Week. Midweek games may get this match's treatment, but that's still to be decided.
SCORING SUMMARY
1-0 (Shipilane) - well-worked team goal that set the Hawks up for success.
2-0 (Novo) - Incredible finish; the interplay around the box was fantastic, but the finish. I can't say anything bad about the finish -- definitely an early candidate for Goal of the Week.
2-1 (Poltronieri) - This is why Ottawa was so bad; they like to play hoofball, and that won't work most of the time. This goal was created using mainly hoofball techniques.
3-1 (Bracalello) - The goal didn't mean much in the end, but it made the result match the performance on the field.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Novo: Nacho Novo is like a fine wine... he ages very well. At 36 years old, the way he tore through Ottawa's defense was incredible... what a shame that he had to come off early due to injury.
MAJOR TAKEAWAYS
1. Expect better streams from ESPN3 for all of the NASL matches.
2. Ottawa's defense was absolutely horrible. There is a reason why I have them where I have them... if they can't defend, they won't go very far in the league. Let's hope they can turn that around very quickly so they can start to help everything else out.
3. Carolina's doing something right with their commentary. I don't know what it is, but the color analyst is very knowledgeable and informative throughout the day on tactics and player awareness.
4. Some of the midfield play by Carolina was superb. Watch the passing and the movement again, and you'll see tons of fluidity in the play. This is nowhere near the quality of Barcelona, but it's as close as I've seen an American professional team come to emulating that style... which is, not really, if in comparison with other sides that try to play that way in Europe.
5. The officiating quality was poor. I remember that Novo's penalty was outside of the penalty area, but no one in the Carolina dressing room was complaining about that, but fair is fair, and Ottawa got what they deserved in my opinion. Also, note the large number of yellow cards issued in the match, and keep track of this referee's assignments in the future to see how consistent he is, and his willingness to give a card against other NASL referees.
Once again, this is a special blog, but this follows the pattern I want to follow for the remainder of the weekend's action, replacing the Scoring summary with a list of final scores. Man of the Match will be replaced by Man of the Week. Midweek games may get this match's treatment, but that's still to be decided.
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