2015 Week 25 Report

There were just a handful of matches this week, as every team played one except for Columbus, which was idle.  Here’s how our fellas did this past weekend:

MONTREAL IMPACT  D 2-2  Vancouver Whitecaps  •  Leg One of the 2015 Amway Canadian Championship Final didn’t end the way the Impact wanted.  It was good they didn’t lose – in fact, they fought back from being down 2-0 to avoid the loss, but it was bad they allowed two road goals to the Caps.  If they can go to Vancouver on the 26th and win by a shutout or by two clear goals, the Voyageurs Cup will remain theirs for the third year running.  Otherwise, no dice.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was the backup keeper for Montreal.

DC UNITED  L 1-3  @ New York City FC  •  Last Thursday night, Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at right back, but left the game with a serious knee injury in the 79th minute and the home side scored twice after that to earn all three points.  After the medical staff checked him out, it was learned that Korb has a torn right ACL and is potentially done for the season.  What an unfortunate thing – yes, for the Eastern Conference leaders, but moreso, obviously for Korb.  We wish him the best of luck in his recovery!

TORONTO FC  L 0-3  @ New York Red Bulls  •  The Red Bulls brought the hammer down on TFC on Saturday night in Harrison, New Jersey.  The bright spot – from our point-of-view – is that Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started and played 90 at center back alongside Justin Morrow [Shaker Heights/St. Ignatius], who went 81 minutes at left back before subbing out.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 2-1  @ FC Dallas  •  Unlike the NYCFC DP trio, the Galaxy’s big three have been on fire since they joined forces over the past few weeks.  Winning in Dallas isn’t easy, but LA made it happen with a total team effort.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was not in the team for this contest.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 1-0  @ Real Salt Lake  •  The Timbers got their goal in the fifth minute of second-half extra time and it came from former RSL fan favorite Nat Borchers.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started and played 82 minutes.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was an unused sub,

Next Week’s Matches:
~ Tuesday, 18 August
LOS ANGELES  v  Comunicaciones, CCL Group D match, 1030pm – live on Fox Sports 2
~ Wednesday, 19 August
COLUMBUS  v  NYCFC, 730pm
DC UNITED  v  Arabe Unido, CCL Group
~ Friday, 21 August
PORTLAND  v  Houston, 1030pm – live on UniMas
~ Saturday, 22 August
TORONTO  v  Orlando City, 4pm
DC  v  San Jose, 7pm
COLUMBUS  v  Sporting KC, 730pm
MONTREAL  v  Philadelphia, 8pm
~ Sunday, 23 August
LOS ANGELES  v  NYCFC, 3pm – live on ESPN

---

Here’s how things went for our NASL and USL guys:

PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS  D 1-1  CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE  •  The ‘Hounds went up in the first half, but then allowed the visitors to equalize five minutes from the break.  Mike Green [Strongsville/Strongsville] started up top for Pitt and subbed out in the 81st minute.  Jack Thompson [Hudson/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub for the visitors.  The two teams will meet again on Saturday down in Charlotte at 730pm.

ATLANTA SILVERBACKS  L 0-1  @ Jacksonville Armada FC  •  The ‘Backs’ trip down I-75 (and then east on I-10) was all for naught, as they fell by the narrowest of margins.  Matt Horth [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub.  Next up for Atlanta is visit from the Indy Eleven for a 730pm match on Saturday.

INDY ELEVEN  •  The boys in blue were idle last weekend, but they’ll play twice this week – Tampa Bay visits on Wednesday at 730pm, and Atlanta will be awaiting the Eleven on Saturday.

OTTAWA FURY  L 1-2  Minnesota United FC  •  A goal from the visitors struck after the 90-minute mark stole two points from Ottawa and ended the Fury’s 12-match unbeaten run, though they do remain in first place this Fall Season.  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] started and played 88 minutes as attacking mid.  Next Saturday, the Fury is idle, but they return to action on the 26th at home against the New York Cosmos.

 PHOTO CREDIT:  Korb/USA Today Sports; 

2015 Week 19 Report

We had two head-to-heads over the USA Birthday Weekend, a weekend that two of our guys will want to put in their rearview mirror ASAP.  Check out the highlights to see what I mean.  Here’s how it all went down:

DC UNITED  L 0-1  @ Seattle Sounders  •  A late goal for the home side sent the visitors flying back across the country lamenting missed chances and the poorly-dealt-with corner kick that led to their demise.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] played all 90 at right back for DC.

COLUMBUS CREW SC  W 2-1  New York Red Bulls  •  A goal in each half gave the Black and Gold all three points.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] and Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] were unused subs for Crew SC.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 1-2  NEW YORK CITY FC  •  The visitors’ Designated Player, David Villa, scored twice to give his team all three points.  The second goal came on a free kick that went past Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] and just inside his left-hand post.  Bush made one save in the loss for Montreal.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] is still out with an adductor strain.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 4-0  TORONTO FC  •  And yet again, the reigning MLS Champs pounded their opponent on their home turf.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] subbed on for the final four minutes of the victory for his Galaxy.  Justin Morrow [Shaker Heights/St. Ignatius] played 90 at right back for TFC.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 1-0  San Jose Earthquakes  •  PTFC got a late, late goal from Jack Jewsbury that was a bit of a goof – he literally closed his eyes, stuck his foot out and hoped for the best – to earn all three points.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] played 84 minutes of this contest before subbing out.  He’s still not 100% after a shoulder injury he suffered the week before at Los Angeles.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was an unused sub.

Next Weekend’s Matches:
~ Saturday, 11 July
Philadelphia  v  PORTLAND, 7pm
MONTREAL  v  COLUMBUS, 8pm
LOS ANGELES  v  Club América, 11pm – International Champions Cup, live on Fox Sports 1 (or 2)
~ Sunday, 12 July
NYCFC  v  TFC, 3pm – live on ESPN2

---

NASL’s Fall Season got underway this past weekend and the USL campaign kept on rolling.  Here’s what those dudes were up to in their games:

ATLANTA SILVERBACKS  L 1-2  @ Tampa Bay Rowdies  –  Matt Horth [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started up top and played all 90 as these two teams traded own goals.  Next up for the ATL is its home opener against Jacksonville Armada FC, Saturday at 730pm.

CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE  L 2-1  v St. Louis FC  –  Jack Thompson [Hudson/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed on at halftime.  Next up for Charlotte is a trip to Louisville to for a 730pm contest next Saturday.

INDY ELEVEN  D 0-0  v Monarcas Morelia;  D 1-1  @ New York Cosmos  –  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] subbed on in the 59th minute of the Eleven’s international friendly against Liga MX club Monarcas.  He started at left back and played all 90 of the draw at the Cosmos.  Judson McKinney [Cuyahoga Falls/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] played the second half against the Mexicans and was an unused sub at New York.  Next up for Indy is a 730pm Saturday visit from the Carolina RailHawks.

OTTAWA FURY  W 2-0  Jacksonville Armada FC  –  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] started at attacking mid and subbed out after 86 minutes.  Next up for the Fury is a visit from Minnesota United FC on Saturday at 730pm.

PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS  W 3-0  v NYRB II  –  Mike Green [Strongsville/Strongsville] started at right back and played all 90.  The ‘Hounds have two games next week, starting with a Wednesday trip to Canada to play TFC II at 8, followed by Saturday’s home game against other Canadians when FC Montreal shows up at 4pm.

PHOTO CREDIT – mlssoccer.com

2015 Week 9 Report

It was another bummer of a week, both in terms of the guys getting P.T. and in terms of the guys’ teams winning.  Here’s how our fellas did last week:

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 2-4  Club América  •  As you probably know by now, the Impact got thumped by their Mexican visitors, just as so many MLS teams have before them.  Nursing the hope created by a 1-1 draw in the away leg last week, and buoyed further by a 1-0 halftime lead (2-1 aggregate), the roof fell in after the break.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was suspended on a well-documented yellow card accumulation and that was obviously a disappointment for both the player and for his teammates.  Finishing as the 2014-15 CCL runners-up is nothing to shake a stick at.  And maybe Bush was the best goalkeeper in the tournament.  I didn’t watch every game to be able to make that assertion, but he certainly played a major role in Montreal going as far as it did.  I’m sure the best is yet to come from him.  Now les Bleus can return their attentions to their MLS responsibilities and to defending their Amway Canadian Championship crown.

TORONTO FC  W 1-0  @ Philadelphia Union  •  I guess if you’re going to go on a seven-game road trip to start the season, a three-game winning streak just before you head back home isn’t too shabby, is it?  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] moved back to the flank and played 90 as an outside back in the victory.  The Reds have just one more road game before they can return to the friendly confines of BMO Stadium – they’ll have the first leg of its ACC semifinal series at Montreal on Wednesday.

DC UNITED  W 2-0  COLUMBUS CREW  •  Who’s playing better right now, DC or New England?  Tough to say, but last Saturday night, the red-hot hosts let their visitors know their undefeated April didn’t impress them too much.  DC got goals in both halves to take care of the Crew SC and continue a 16-match unbeaten streak at RFK Stadium, across all competitions.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at left back for DC and played all 90.  Neither Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] nor Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] were in the travel team to our Nation’s capital.  One more bit of news – I had no idea that this was actually a thing, but Korb was awarded the Hustler of the Week Award by hustlebelt.com as a reward for his efforts in this contest.  Interesting.  You never know what you’ll find on the internet!

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  D 1-1  Colorado Rapids  •  The Rapids scored in the first half and the Galaxy answered late to split the points.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] is still out injured.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 0-0  Vancouver Whitecaps  •  Welllllllll… it was another 90 minutes played for Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward], another team-high in fouls suffered (3) and corner kicks taken (tie-4 with Diego Valeri), as Portland basically dominated its Cascadia Cup rivals from start to finish, but… a simple fact is that he hit the right post (his right/keeper’s left) with a penalty kick in the 31st minute could’ve done him a world of good and given the Timbers all the points.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] and Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] are both still out injured.

NEW YORK CITY FC  L 1-3  Seattle Sounders  •  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] is back and healthy and was an unused sub on Sunday evening in The Bronx.  He got a good look at Seattle’s attackers schooling his teammates, too.

Next Weekend’s Games
Wednesday, 6 May
~ MONTREAL  v  TORONTO FC, Amway Canadian Championship Semifinal, leg 1, 730pm
~ Real Salt Lake  v  LOS ANGELES, 930pm
Saturday, 9 May
~ MONTREAL  v  PORTLAND, 4pm
~ DC UNITED  v  Sporting Kansas City, 7pm
~ COLUMBUS  v  Seattle, 730pm
~ FC Dallas  v  LOS ANGELES, 830pm
Sunday, 10 May
~ TORONTO FC  v  Houston, 5pm – live on ESPN2
~ New York Red Bulls  v  NEW YORK CITY, 7pm – live on Fox Sports 1

---

And now for the not-so-MLS guys’ report:

OTTAWA FURY  •  Last Wednesday, the Fury fell to FC Edmonton last Wednesday in the second leg of the teams’ Amway Canadian Championship preliminary round series by a score of 3-1, which gave the Eddies a 6-2 aggregate victory.  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] started as one of the attacking mids and played all 90.  Back in NASL action on Saturday, the Fury lost 1-0 at the first-place New York Cosmos (one of their eight different home fields).  Ubiparipovic subbed on in the 61st minute, but couldn’t help save the visitors from suffering their first shutout of the season.  Next up for Ottawa is a 3pm visit from the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday.

INDY ELEVEN  •  There’s an odd number of teams in the NASL, which means one team gets a bye each weekend.  Indy’s turn was last weekend, so Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] and the Eleven will be back at it on Saturday when they head to Jacksonville to check out the brand-new Armada’s digs for a 730pm kickoff.

ATLANTA SILVERBACKS  •  The ‘Backs are still undefeated this season (1-4-0, 7 pts.) after a 0-0 draw at Fort Lauderdale.  That’s good enough to see them in 3rd place – tied with the Strikers – after Matt Horth [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed on in the 78th minute.  Atlanta will travel to Minnesota United FC for a 8pm match on Saturday.

PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS  •  The ‘Hounds fell to NYRB II 3-2 last weekend and Michael Green [Strongsville/Strongsville] played all 90 at one of the outside back spots.  Pittsburgh returns to action this Saturday at the Charleston Battery for a 730pm kickoff.

PHOTO CREDIT:  Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports

First post in 2.5 months…

Jeez!!  Yeah, I’m sure that you, my loyal readers, were wondering WTH happened to me.  Not that you care, but blah blah blah wife and kids, holidays, real job getting in the way, I got FIFA and a PlayStation for Christmas and I’m trying to win various leagues, blah blah blah…  So here I am again and I need to figure out where to start.  We’ve got a bit of 2014 playoffs and postseason bits to talk about, as well as getting into some 2015 pre-preseason news and notes, and finally my predictions for our guys for the upcoming campaign.  That really could be three separate posts – and that doesn’t even take into account our NASL duo.  Bottom line is: keep reading this space and paying attention to the tweets.  There’ll be a bunch of upcoming posts.  Okay, I’ll end the stream-of-consciousness and get down to business on a guy-by-guy basis:

Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic]  •  After taking over as the starter  in July, not only did Bush impress the Impact brass enough to get a new contract at the end of the season, but they also let incumbent GK Troy Perkins sign with Seattle as a free agent.  He finished the year with a record of 2-6-5 in 13 starts, recorded three shutouts and made 52 saves, which doesn’t sound great, but remember that Montreal was the league’s worst team in 2014.  Bush became a more consistent, decisive and reliable goalkeeper down the stretch, and if the ten guys in front of him can turn things around, the Impact can get out of the Eastern Conference cellar.

Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School]  •  A regular season that didn’t
end the way that DC United wanted quickly switched into an offseason that Korb wanted, as he survived exposure in the Expansion Draft and had his services retained by the Black and Red.  2014 started with Korb on the shelf, but he ended the year 19 games played/15 starts – 0 goals-3 assists-3 points), which is a solid season that had to feel a whole lot better, despite how it ended, than 2013’s slog.  Will he lock down a starting spot at outside back for Ben Olsen in 2015?  Time will tell, but he’s certainly reliable enough to be given a look during training camp.

Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius]  •  2014 started so promisingly for  TFC and but then the season turned into quite a drama/sitcom/roller coaster ride, ending with the Reds out of the playoffs again.   Morrow, who put together a 31/31 – 0-3-3 season, will hope for a more consistent season from the group in 2015, and just like last year, there’s a buzz around the new DP signings they’ve brought in.  They know what they’ll get out of their left back – solid marking with a little offense thrown in.  Any team that aspires to play free-flowing, attacking soccer would be more than happy to have an outside back like Morrow (and also Korb) on its roster.

Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward]  •  In 2013, the Timbers reached the Western Conference Semifinals after a 14-win regular  season and Nagbe contributed nine goals and four assists.  In 2014, Portland didn’t reach the playoffs and #6 scored once (in the regular season finale, no less) and added seven assists.  There’ll be no doubt that everyone in Stump Town will be looking to erase last season from their memory banks with a return to the postseason and a run at the Cup.  It wasn’t for lack of effort that the team fell short of its goals, but some changes in personnel were made during the offseason and a renewed commitment to the cause should help get 2015 underway on the right foot.  That should be enough to see a rise in Nagbe’s numbers and the team’s points – and possibly the return of his name to the mixer for a USMNT callup.  [Or not.  We all know Klinsmann hates MLS.]

Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit]  •  As the 2014 season ended,  so did Nanchoff‘s contract with Portland, but they picked up the option and he’ll be back in 2015.  He was left unprotected in the Expansion Draft, but nobody stole him, so fans in the Rose City can look forward to more from the crafty lefty.  Though he played in just three MLS matches, he was an unused substitute in 18 more, and a guy doesn’t make the gameday 18 just by looking good in the uniform – not for Head Coach Caleb Porter, at least.  It was in the Timbers’ CONCACAF and US Open Cup matches where Nanchoff showed what his capabilities are.  Let’s hope the league gets to see them this season.

Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy]  •  Is there any shame  in being Federico Higuaín’s understudy?  Not as long as you get a few shifts at right or left wing, from time-to-time.  Speas‘ statline in 2014 read 14/8 – 1-3-5 and you can add in both of the USOC matches he played, getting an assist in each.  He’s a valuable player for the Crew to have, versatile enough to fill a couple different roles and solid enough to hold his own when he starts.  It seems that how he’s used by Head Coach Gregg Berhalter will depend on the opponent, injuries within the team and in-game situation.  [Huh.  I guess that could said for a few other guys as well…]  They guy creates offense and can serve in a mean corner or free kick, and those are skills that Speas will love to show off to the Crew Stadium faithful in 2015.

Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg]  •  Going into 2014, what Stuver needed  most was meaningful playing time, and while he did not get it in net for the Crew, he did get it while on two different loan spells, first with the Dayton Dutch Lions and then with Wilmington Hammerheads FC, both of the USL Pro Division.  These two loan spells were sandwiched around a little clean-up ankle surgery.  He got into two USOC matches with the Lions and then had an 11-game run with the Hammerheads (highlighted by three shutouts and one USL Pro Team of the Week honor) that saw them get into the playoffs.  Looking ahead to 2015, he’ll still have two keepers ahead of him in the pecking order in Columbus, but the gap between Stuver and Steve Clark’s backup, Matt Lampson, has narrowed.  As long as he continues to grow as a professional, he’ll only be an injury away from some serious playing time in the Black and Gold.

Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe]  •  Ho hum.  Another season completed, another MLS Cup title for Walker and his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates, another trip to the White House to meet President Obama. (See him there, second from the far right side of the photo?)  I’m not one of those “MLS-is-fixed” conspiracy guys, but I do know that it is always better for the teams in the league’s biggest cities to be doing well.  You can’t help but marvel at a repeat champion in any sport.  Even though Walker didn’t play a minute of playoff soccer last season, it’s been said before that his role in training sessions, helping push the starting central midfielders to stay sharp, can not be underestimated.  He was an unused sub in the final and will be back again in 2015 to build on 2014’s eight games played with four starts (in MLS games; add on 2 and 1, respectively, in US Open Cup matches).

Josh Williams [Copley/Copley]  •  If you follow us on Twitter,  you know by now that the Columbus Crew traded Williams to New York City FC just before the Expansion Draft back in November.  After a 2014 in which Williams missed half the season recovering from surgery to alleviate a blood clot issue (14/13 – 0-1-1), Crew Head Coach Gregg Berhalter knew that he couldn’t protect him and that he’d be taken for sure in the draft, so he did the best thing he could for his team, which was deal Williams for some allocation money.  This move hurts the Crew (especially if you hate Man City like I do), as it would any team that parts with a starter.  Helluva pickup by NYCFC.  If you project out his numbers, he should be good for 25+ starts, a couple goals and maybe an assist or two.  Too bad they won’t come in Black and Gold.

Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy]  •  Much like his  two Timbers teammates, it was all quiet on the Zemanski front this offseason.  As a reward for a 2014 in which he went 13/7 – 0-0-0 (stats don’t tell his value to the team) he team protected him in the Expansion Draft, picked up his option and he’s under contract for 2015.  No news is good news, as Zemanski comes into camp knowing his role under coach Caleb Porter: play in the middle of the park; if Portland has the ball, keep it moving; if the opponent has the ball, go get it from them.  There’s a lot of mutual respect there, so we can look forward to another solid campaign from #21.

The next post will focus on our two NASL dudes, while the subsequent post will focus more on the all of our fellas’ teams’ preseason efforts, which are well underway by this point in February.

* PHOTO CREDIT DISCLAIMER *  I’ll admit it – I got lazy.  Most of these pics came from team websites, but a few came from Google searches.  I’m not including credits in this and only in this post, but I promise to include them in all future posts.  Promise!!  I appreciate all you hardworking photogs out there do and how hard it is to do it.  I won’t disrespect your efforts again by not thanking you formally in this space.

MLS PLAYOFFS REPORT #1

One game into the two-legged conference semifinal series, one of our teams is near dead, one still has a ways to go and the third has the only one of our boys to see playoff action this season.  As everyone likes to say, “It’s halftime of these semifinal series,” and anything can happen as we head towards next weekend.  This year, a new rule change is that away goals is the tiebreaker.  Here’s a review of how the rule works: After regulation of the second game, if the teams have scored the same number of goals, the team that has scored more goals as the road team advances. If neither team holds such an edge, the series proceeds to extra time (two 15-minute periods played in their entirety) and penalty kicks if necessary.  The away goals rule does not apply to goals scored in extra time. If an aggregate score is tied at the end of regulation of the second game, for example 3-3, and both teams score in extra time, the series is tied, 4-4. The goal scored by the road team in extra time affects only the aggregate score.  Keep all that in mind as you consider our fellas’ likelihood of advancing.  Here’s what went down yesterday and today:

COLUMBUS CREW  L 2-4  v New England Revolution  •  Ufff… hosting the first leg of these ties puts the onus on the away team to at least get one goal – especially now with away goals being the first tiebreaker.  So, the Crew still have some hope next Sunday when they go to Foxboro, but not much.  A little.  They’ll need to win 3-0 to get to the Eastern Conference Finals.  Stranger things have happened, I suppose.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub today.  In case you were wondering, only one visiting team scored three goals in New England, and that was Philly in a 3-1 win.  So…

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  D 0-0  @ Real Salt  •  Not losing the away leg is a good policy, but RSL can still advance with away goals and a draw next weekend in Carson.  Next Sunday, Job One for LA will be to shut out one of the highest scoring teams in the league.  Job Two will be to win.  Seems easy enough.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was an unused sub today.  

DC UNITED  L 0-2  @ New York Red Bulls  •  An away goal would’ve been nice, but this series isn’t over.  Not with the home form DC had this regular season – 11 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses.  Also, they beat the Red Bulls 2-0 and 1-0 at home.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at right back and played all 90.

Here’s the schedule for the second legs of the series:
Saturday, 8 November
  –  DC  v NYRB, 230pm – live on NBC
Sunday, 9 November
  –  COLUMBUS  @ New England, 5pm – live on ESPN2
  –  LOS ANGELES  v Real Salt Lake, 730pm – live on ESPN2

PHOTO CREDIT – DC United Instagram account

2014 Week Twenty-Nine Report

Just a handful of games are left for our boys to play in the regular season.  Montreal has been eliminated from playoff contention, DC and LA are in.  So now, it’s up to the Crew and Timbers and TFC to put up or shut up.  Here’s how it went down this past weekend:

DC UNITED  D 0-0  v Sporting Kansas City  •   Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at right back and played all 90, as the Eastern Conference’s number-one and number-two (at the time) teams did battle in the rain at RFK Stadium.  The win clinched a playoff berth for DC.

COLUMBUS CREW  L 1-2  @ New England Revolution  •  It’s not the end of the world, but the Crew dropped three big points on Saturday night in Foxboro.  They’re still in the playoff chase, sitting fourth in the East.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 3-0  v  TORONTO FC  •  The Angelinos kept on rolling and Robbie Keane scored another golazo and TFC was still TFC.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was an unused sub for LA.  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started at right back for TFC and played all 90.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 2-1  @ San Jose Earthquakes  •  For the visitors, it was “No captain? No problem!” as the Timbers played their first full game without Will Johnson (broken leg) and Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] filled in with aplomb.  So much so that he was named the mlssoccer.com Man of the Match #3.  Not too shabby!  He started at holding mid and played all 90, while Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] went 89 and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was an unused sub.  At this time of year, there’s no such thing as a “quality win.”  They’re all quality.  But, to get two goals after training 1-0 in the second half on the road… that, my friends, is quality.

MONTREAL IMPACT  D 0-0  @ Chicago Fire  •  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] got the call once again for the Impact and he was busy from start to finish, making a season-high eight saves, but not letting anything get past him.

UP NEXT
Wednesday, 8 October
– TORONTO  v  Houston, 730pm
– PORTLAND  v  San Jose, 1030pm
Saturday, 11 October
– MONTREAL  v  New England, 4pm
– Philadelphia  v  COLUMBUS, 7pm
– New York  v  TORONTO, 7pm
Sunday, 12 October
– Houston  v  DC, 3pm – UniMás
– Dallas  v  LOS ANGELES, 7pm – ESPN2

THE NASL REPORT
INDY ELEVEN  D 0-0  v New York Cosmos  •  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] returned to his regular starting spot at left back, and made a huge goal-line clearance to help keep the match scoreless in the 13th minute.  However, he left the game in the 27th minute with an apparent ankle injury.  Ugh.  Poor guy.  At least the Eleven scrapped out a point.  Up next:  v Minnesota United FC, Saturday, 11 October, 730pm

OTTAWA FURY  W 2-0  v Atlanta Silverbacks;  D 1-1  @ San Antonio Scorpions  •  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] sat out the Fury’s mid-week contest with , but he did start against the Scorpions and played all 90 minutes.  Up next: @ New York Cosmos, Saturday, 11 October, 730pm

PHOTO CREDIT:  dcunited.com

2014 Week Twenty Report

Three head-to-head games for our fellas this week, but in only one of them was Cleveland repped on both sides of the ball.  To change it up a bit, we’ll go over the boys’ games in the order in which they were played.  Here’s how it all went down last week:

DC UNITED  W 3-0  v TORONTO FC  •   DC continued its strong form this season in rolling over the guests.  Both of our fellas started and played 90.  DC left back Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] batted 1.000, receiving a yellow card for the only foul he committed on Wednesday night.  TFC right back Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] fouled twice and got fouled once, as his team lost for the second straight match.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 3-1  v PORTLAND TIMBERS  •  The Timbers went up early on a free kick, but then gave up three straight, including two after the half.  No Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] in the team for the visitors and no Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] for the home side, plus a pair of DNP-CD for Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] means a big fat oh-for-Clevelaners in this match.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 0-2  v TORONTO FC  •  It was back to the bench for Impact netminder Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic], but the results didn’t change as the home team gave up a goal in each half to remain in the Eastern Conference basment.  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started at left back and played all 90 as TFC rebounded from their midweek loss to jump back up the standings into third place in the East.

COLUMBUS CREW  D 1-1  @ Chicago Fire  •  The Black and Gold broke a 15-match winless streak in Chicago with Saturday night’s draw, and the point keeps them in playoff contention in the Eastern Conference.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started in place of the suspended Bernardo Añor as a wide mid and put in 66 minutes of good work before subbing off.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] is still out, recovering from surgery.  On Monday, the Crew announced that they have loaned goalkeeper Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] to the Wilmington Hammerheads FC of USL-PRO for the rest of the season, which is a great move for him.  Now he can get a steady run of games, which is all anyone wants.  The embarrassment of riches at the GK spot made it tough for that to happen in Columbus.  Best of luck to Brad down by the seaside in NC.

DC UNITED  L 0-1  @ Houston Dynamo  •  Korb sat out this road loss to nurse/rest a groin injury.

NEXT UP:
MONTREAL  v FAS (CONCACAF Champions League, Group 3 opener), Tuesday, 5 August, 730pm
LOS ANGELES  v San Jose, Friday, 8 August, 1030pm – NBC Sports Network
MONTREAL  @ Philadelphia, Saturday, 9 August, 7pm
COLUMBUS  v  TORONTO FC, Saturday, 9 August, 730pm
DC UNITED  @ Real Salt Lake, Saturday, 9 August, 10pm
PORTLAND  v Colorado, Saturday, 9 August, 1030pm

PHOTO CREDIT:  Nick Turchiaro/USA Today Sports Images (both photos)

2014 Week Four Report

It was a mixed bag this past weekend.  One guy’s team won in a fingernail destroyer, a couple more teams tied and the rest lost, but worse still was the fact that one of the boys was injured.  Here’s what went down on Saturday, 29 March:

MONTREAL IMPACT  D 1-1  @ Philadelphia Union  •  After ceding his post to young Canadian backstop Maxime Crépeau last week, Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] returned to his usual duty as Troy Perkins’ understudy on Saturday.  As such, he was an unused sub.  NEXT UP:  v New York Red Bulls, Saturday, 5 April, 4pm

DC UNITED  D 2-2  v Chicago Fire  •  Well, the bone bruise that Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] suffered during the preseason has evidently taken a turn for  the worst, or at least, hasn’t gotten better to the point that everyone was hoping.  It was announced earlier in the month on dcunited.com that the club’s right back has undergone arthroscopic knee surgery to fix some cartilage damage.  Good news is, the recovery time is much less than if he’d torn a ligament.  Bad news is, there’s someone in his spot and he’s going to have to work extra hard to get it back.  NEXT UP:  v New England Revolution, Saturday, 5 April, 7pm

TORONTO FC  L 0-3  @ Real Salt Lake  •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started and played 90 for TFC, as RSL handed them their first loss of this young season.  NEXT UP:  Trillium Cup, Game 1 @ Columbus Crew, Saturday, 5 April, 6pm

PORTLAND TIMBERS  L 2-1  @ FC Dallas  •  To add injury to insult, not only did the Timbers’ four-game winning streak against FCD come to an end on Saturday night in Frisco, Texas, but starting forward Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward], who scored four of his nine goals against the Hoops in 2013, limped off at halftime and did not return.  We’ll see what the nature of the injury was and how he responds to treatment during the week.  For the fourth time in as many games, Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] were both unused subs.  NEXT UP:  v Seattle Sounders, Saturday, 5 April, 3pm – NBC Sports Network

COLUMBUS CREW  W 2-1  @ Seattle Sounders  •  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started and played all 90+ minutes of the Black and Gold’s late-show victory against the ten-man Sounders.  What a dramatic win that one was!  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was not in the traveling squad for this match.  The Crew is now 3-0-0 for the first time ever in club history.  They’ll put that on the line on Saturday when they host their rivals from Ontario in the first game of the Trillium Cup series.  NEXT UP:  v Toronto FC, Saturday, 5 April, 6pm

And now for some not-so-MLS news:

L.A. GALAXY II  D 1-1  v Sacramento Republic FC  •  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] started and played all 90 at one of the center mid spots on Saturday night.

DAYTON DUTCH LIONS  L 0-3  @ New York Red Bulls Reserves  •  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was an unused sub in this match.

INDY ELEVEN  •  Host the Chicago Fire on Tuesday, 1 April in their final preseason match.  Rest assured that whatever Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] does in relation to that match, we’ll retweet whatever info is available.

PHOTO CREDIT:  Brad Mills/USA Today Sports

2013 Recap – Bush, Hyland & Korb

EVAN BUSH — Bush was one of two of our guys to have won hardware in 2013, as his  Montreal Impact won the Amway Canadian Championship last May and earned their country’s berth in the CONCACAF Champions League.  At the start of the season, Head Coach Marco Schällibaum named Bush as the team’s de facto “cup keeper” and true to his word, he played Bush in all eight of the Impact’s cup games, giving up eight goals and authoring four shutouts.  He also got one league game and   PREDICTION FOR 2014: Without wishing for an injury to the Impact’s starting keeper Troy Perkins, this one seems easy – 2014 will be a lot like 2013 for Evan Bush.  He’ll get the ACC games and the reserve league games, but barring a serious dip in form or an injury, he’ll most likely be the backup in Montreal again.

 

KYLE HYLAND  —  Hyland never got any first team action, nor did he make the Crew’s gameday roster of 18, but (by my count) he did play in ten of the Crew’s reserve league

contests and scrimmages.  That number would have been greater if he hadn’t been sidelined an injury midway through the campaign.  But all-in-all, 2013 was an incredible learning opportunity for Hyland, who admits as much in this recent feature article from the Indy Eleven website.  The kid is a hard worker, has a great deal of talent and a sweet left foot.  His Crew career may be over (who knows what the future holds?) but his pro soccer career is just beginning.    PREDICTION FOR 2014: Hyland will win the starting left back spot for Indy and will have a solid season.  I know, I know… that’s not much of a prediction, but I’m going with it.

 

CHRIS KORB — Korb was the other trophy-winner among our bunch, as DC United defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.  Over the last two  years, Korb has proven himself to be a very reliable right back for DC – both in good times (2012) and in bad (2013).  He’s tough in one-on-one situations and loves to get forward to put balls into the box.  His 30 league starts in 2013 are the second-most among our guys, and when you add in four more USOC starts, it really was a solid season for Korb, despite his team’s poor form.    PREDICTION FOR 2014: Korb will remain the starter at right back for DC and the team, with the injection of new talent acquired this offseason, will not finish in the basement again.

2013 – Week 31 Report

Again with the tardy post.  But it’s enabled me to report on one of our boys getting his hands on some major hardware.  Here’s the story on :

DC UNITED  W 1-0 @ Real Salt Lake – Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final  

Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] (middle of photo, with #22 on his shorts) started at right back and played all of DC’s third US Open Cup win in team history.  The title, DC’s 13th in club history, comes with a prize bigger than the trophy that’ll go into the case – a berth in the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League.  This Cup win is Korb’s first with DC and just to make sure his name would go into the Cup record book, he picked up a yellow card in the 80th minute for dissent.

Here’s how things went on the weekend:

COLUMBUS CREW  W 4-2 @ Houston Dynamo

Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] subbed in with five minutes left to mark his return to action after missing four matches with a concussion.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub.  The Crew really needed this win, as they continue their push towards possibly taking over that final Eastern Conference playoff berth.  NEXT MATCH: v Sporting Kansas City, Saturday, 5 October, 730pm

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES  W 1-0 @ Chivas USA

Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] was an unused sub for this edition of the MiniCaliClásico (that’s what I call it).  The Quakes needed the win, as they are just below the playoff line in the Western Conference, and with some help next week, they could jump over someone to get in.  NEXT MATCH: v Colorado Rapids, Wednesday, 9 October, 1030pm

MONTREAL IMPACT  D 2-2 @ Chicago Fire

Nothing pretty on this night in Chicago, as these two teams cling to the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.  The Impact had to come from behind to get the draw, and maybe that was just, given the terrible gaffe that led to the Fire’s second goal.  Watch the highlights.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was an unused sub as the backup goalie.  NEXT MATCH: @ Houston Dynamo, Friday, 4 October, 830pm

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 1-0 v Los Angeles Galaxy

Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started up top and played all 90, as the Timbers moved into third place in the West, four points ahead of their visitors.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub.  NEXT MATCH: @ Vancouver Whitecaps, Sunday, 6 October, 8pm

DC UNITED  L 1-4 @ Toronto FC

Korb not only sat out this one, but he didn’t even make the trip up north, so as to keep him fresh for the Open Cup Final.  Looks like that plan worked.  NEXT MATCH: v Chicago Fire, Friday, 4 October, 730pm – NBCSN