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.