2015 Week 13 Report

These next couple weeks, there are a ton of games on the slate for our guys.  Three teams doubled up this past week, and looking ahead, a load of international friendlies, MLS contests and US Open Cup 3rd and 4th Round ties will keep everyone busy and hopefully get all of our fellow who are fit a bunch of playing time.  Here’s what went on last week:

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 1-0  Real Salt Lake  •  LA got an early PK and did the rest with a solid effort to grind out the win.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] subbed on for the final eight minutes to help kill off the game.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 1-0  DC UNITED  •  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] played 90 for the hosts and kept the DC defenders on their toes all night long, but for the first time all season, did not draw a foul.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] played 90 for DC.

TORONTO FC  W 3-1  San Jose Earthquakes  •  And the winner is… Justin Morrow [Shaker Heights/St. Ignatius]!!  Winner of what, you ask?  Could be photo of the season, don’t you think?  That IS a fantastic pic, but that’s not I mean.  He’s the first of our men to score a goal in a league match this season!  His 27th minute diving header was truly a thing of beauty.  Textbook.  Yes, he did his usual start-at-left-back-and-play-90 thing, but his team got the win, which was icing on the cake.  No surprise here, but he even made the Team of the Week.  If you’re looking for more video of Morrow, here’s a piece that the TFC folks put together on his visit to an elementary school in Toronto.  Again, what a photo!!

NEW YORK CITY FC  D 1-1  Houston Dynamo  •  No Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] for NYCFC, as the two teams traded first-half goals on that tiny, little Yankee Stadium pitch.

DC UNITED  W 2-1  Philadelphia Union  •  Helluva bounce-back from DC, who got a late goal and a come-from-behind win three days after a cross-country trip and a loss.  Korb didn’t start, but he subbed in to play the final 17 minutes.

COLUMBUS CREW SC  D 2-2  Orlando City FC  •  Goal up, man down, level, goal up, give up a late one for a point.  That’s the quick version of the Crew SC’s trip to Orlando.  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was the backup keeper and Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 0-3  @ Chicago Fire  •  It’s never easy playing at Chicago, as Montreal found out last Saturday night.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] made eight saves and was under pressure from start-to-finish.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 2-1  @ Colorado Rapids  •  All road wins are sweet, but this one tasted just a little bit better than some others.  Nagbe played 57 minutes before subbing out with Portland up 1-0.  The two teams amazingly traded goals after the scoreboard showed 90:00 and the Timbers got the last one.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  D 2-2  @ New England Revolution  •  All the goals came in the first half, with the Revs’ pair sandwiched around the Galaxy’s.  Walker was an unused sub.

Next Week’s Games
Wednesday, 3 June
~ DC v Chicago, 730pm
~ Philadelphia v COLUMBUS, 730pm
~ MONTREAL v Vancouver, 8pm
Saturday, 6 June
~ Philadelphia v NYCFC, 7pm
~ DC v TFC, 7pm
~ COLUMBUS v MONTREAL, 730pm
~ LA v Vancouver, 1030pm
~ PORTLAND v New England, 1030pm

---

Our NASL and USL PRO guys were busy in the Open Cup this past week.

ATLANTA SILVERBACKS  W 2-1  @ FC Chattanooga  •  Matt Horth [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub while his team came back from a late goal to win the tie in extra time on Wednesday, 27 May.  The ‘Backs advance to play at the New York Red Bulls in the 4th Round.  They have the NASL bye week this round.

INDY ELEVEN  L 0-2  Louisville City FC  •  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay]

started at left back and played all 120 minutes, as it took extra time for the new USL PRO club to knock off its northern NASL neighbors.  Could this be the beginning of a tasy I-65 derby?  Three days later, Hyland put in a performance that earned him NASL Player of the Week honors after a 2-2 draw with the visiting Tampa Bay Rowdies.  His goal at the death – the first of his professional career – rescued a point for Indy, and also put him on the NASL Team of the Week.  He played about 100 minutes in that match, which were spread out over about four hours, thanks to a bad weather delay in the middle of the proceedings.  Next up for the Eleven is a Saturday trip to Fort Lauderdale for a 730pm kickoff with the Strikers.

PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS  W 1-0  Tampa Bay Rowdies  •  Mike Green [Strongsville/Strongsville] started at right back and played all 90+ of this victory that sees the ‘Hounds advance to a 4th Round tie against DC United.  On the weekend, Pittsburgh won its Keystone Derby match by the unbelievable scoreline of 6-5.  That is not a typo.  Green started at right back, but subbed out in the 58th minute with Pittsburgh trailing 4-2.  Obviously, he missed out on a lot of the fireworks, but he did have a great seat for it on the bench.  Next up for the ‘Hounds is a Saturday visit from Saint Louis FC and a 730pm kickoff with the new USL PRO side.

OTTAWA FURY  D 0-0  FC Edmonton  •  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] started and played 73 minutes before subbing out of this match, which earned the Fury an important away point.  Next up for Ottawa is a a Sunday trip to Jacksonville to take on the Armada FC in a 4pm start.

PORTLAND TIMBERS 2  W 3-1  @ Tulsa Roughnecks FC  •  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] started, played all 90 and score a pair of goals in T2’s road win.  If getting match fitness and working on sharpening his technical abilities while still clawing his way back into the “varsity” 18 is the challenge, he seems to be rising it nicely.

PHOTO CREDIT:  (Morrow) The Canadian Press, (Hyland) indyeleven.com/Matt Schlotzhauer

2015 Week 11 Report

My creativity tank is nearly dry, so I can’t even muster up something witty for the intro paragraph.  I apologize.  Here’s how things went this past week for our guys:

TORONTO FC  W 3-2  v MONTREAL IMPACT, ACC Semifinal, leg 2  •  While TFC won the match, it was the Impact that advanced to the ACC Final, thanks to the away goals tiebreaker after the aggregate score was knotted at 3-3.  The Reds thought they had it in the bag until a late strike from Dominic Oduro sent les Bleus to   Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started and played 89 minutes before subbing out for TFC and Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was the backup goalkeeper for Montreal.

DC UNITED  W 2-1  v Orlando City SC  •  DC continued its roll at home with this victory – now 18 straight undefeated in all competitions.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] was an unused sub.

MONTREAL IMPACT  W 4-1  v Real Salt Lake  •  Bush was in net for a very strong performance by Montreal, who will hope they’re starting to get on a roll.  He made five saves on the night.

TORONTO FC  D 1-1  @ New England Revolution  •  Morrow started at right back and played 90 as the Reds picked up an impressive point on the road.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  L 1-3  @ Houston Dynamo  •  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started and played 76 minutes before subbing out.  This match certainly wasn’t one for the ages, but the home side finished when it counted most and took the three points.

COLUMBUS CREW SC  L 0-2  @ San Jose Earthquakes  •  While the result wasn’t ideal, one positive is that for the first time all season, Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was the backup goalie for the Crew SC.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] did not make the trip out west.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  L 0-4  @ Orlando City SC  •  Ouch.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] is still coming back from sports hernia surgery.

DC UNITED  L 0-1  v Philadelphia Union  •  The home team scored the game’s only goal in final seconds to earn the points and end the visitors’ eight-match unbeaten run.  Korb started and played 90 in the weekend nightcap.

Next Week’s Games
Friday, 22 May
~ COLUMBUS  v  Chicago, 8pm – live on UDN
~ LOS ANGELES  v  Houston, 1030pm – live on UDN
Saturday, 23 May
~ TORONTO  v  PORTLAND, 5pm
~ New England  v  DC UNITED, 730pm
~ MONTREAL  v  FC Dallas, 8pm
~ Real Salt Lake  v  NYCFC, 10pm

---

Here’s the report on our NASL and USL-PRO guys:

INDY ELEVEN  L 1-3  v Minnesota United FC  •  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] returned to the starting lineup at left back for the first time since early April, and he played all 90 minutes in this match.  Next Saturday, Indy travels way up northeast, as they’ll visit the Fury for a 3pm kickoff.

OTTAWA FURY  •  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] and his mates enjoyed a bye week.  As mentioned above, they’ll host Indy next Saturday at 3pm.

ATLANTA SILVERBACKS  D 1-1  @ Jacksonville Armada FC  •  Matt Horth [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed on as a forward in the 78th minute, but is still searching for his first goal for Atlanta this season.  Just like Indy, the ‘Backs will also have to bust out their passports for a trip north of the border, when they play FC Edmonton at 4pm.

PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS  D 1-1  v Richmond Kickers  •  Michael Green [Strongsville/Strongsville] started at right back and played 77 minutes, as the ‘Hounds now have played to three 1-1 draws in their nine matches this season.  It’ll be a busy week for Pittsburgh, as they have a 2nd Round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup home tie with the West Virginia Chaos on Wednesday for a 7pm kickoff, followed by a trip to Richmond for a 7pm game on Saturday night.

2015 Week 5 Report

On the MLS front, there’s not much more to report this week than there was last week.  I hope this isn’t becoming a trend.  However, the NASL season kicked off this past weekend, and the USL season got going last weekend, so we’ll add in the updates on those fellas.  Here’s what went down last weekend:

DC UNITED  W 1-0  @ Orlando City SC  •  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] was an unused sub for DC in a match that should’ve ended a 0-0 draw, if not for OCFC’s terrible wall integrity on Luis Silva’s DFK in the dying moments.

TORONTO FC  L 1-2  @ Chicago Fire  •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] returned to the lineup for TFC, but for the first time this season, he moved into one of the center back positions.  Really, TFC played well enough to get a point or three out of the game, but unfortunate breakdowns at inopportune moments (not to mention a two-yellow card ejection for defender Warren Crevalle) doomed the Reds in the end.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  L 0-2  @ Vancouver Whitecaps  •  This makes two straight games with no Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] in the travel team for the gameday 18, thanks to a nasty groin injury.  Coincidentally, that also makes two disappointing road losses for the reigning MLS champs.  Just sayin’…

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 3-1  v FC Dallas  •  It was another start at attacking mid and 90+ more minutes for Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward].  He did register an assist on the night, against the team he loves to own, creating Maxi Urruti’s goal with a driving dribble that preceded a layoff to Dairon Asprilla.  He suffered six fouls, which was four more than anyone else on the Providence Park pitch.

Next Weekend’s Games
Tuesday, 7 April
~ MONTREAL @ Alajuelense, 8pm, CONCACAF Champions League Semifinal leg 2 on Fox Sports 1
Wednesday, 8 April
~ COLUMBUS @ Vancouver, 10pm
Saturday, 11 April
~ COLUMBUS @ New England, 3pm
~ NEW YORK CITY @ Philadelphia, 4pm
~ DC UNITED v New York, 7pm
~ MONTREAL @ Houston, 8pm
Sunday, 12 April
~ PORTLAND v Orlando City, 5pm on ESPN2
~ LOS ANGELES v Seattle, 7pm on Fox Sports 1

---

And now for news on our NASL and USL PRO guys:

PITTSBURGH RIVER HOUNDS  W 5-2  v Harrisburg City Islanders; L 1-2  v Rochester Rhinos  •  Pittsburgh opened its season with a convincing win in the PA Derby two Saturdays ago before dropping a fiercely contested match this past weekend at home to the Rhinos.  Michael Green [Strongsville/Strongsville] started as one of the outside backs in both contests, and he played 90 minutes in each.  Next Saturday, the Hounds travel to St. Louis to take on new club St. Louis FC at 8pm.

INDY ELEVEN  D 1-1  @ Atlanta Silverbacks  •  A late, late PK for Indy kept them from going home with a loss in its season opener.  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] was an unused sub.  Next Saturday, the Eleven hosts the New York Cosmos in their home opener at 730pm.

OTTAWA FURY  L 1-3  @ Carolina Railhawks  •  Thanks to another untimely injury, there was no Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] in the travel team for Ottawa’s season opener down in Cary, North Carolina.  Next Saturday, the Fury plays in Atlanta against the Silverbacks at 730pm.

PHOTO CREDIT:  (Morrow) Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images North America, (Nagbe) Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

2015 Week 1 Report

The 20th season of Major League Soccer kicked off this weekend with some very entertaining games, and from our perspective, in the best possible way – all of our field playing guys got in and contributed to their teams’ efforts.  Of the eight who played, six of them started and played all 90 minutes!  Here’s how everyone did this weekend:

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 2-0  v Chicago Fire  •  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] got the start as one of two central mids and he played 63 minutes before subbing out for Baggio Husidic.  The match was tied 0-0 at the time, but there’s no clear line to be drawn from his removal and the goals coming afterwards.  He did a fine job of moving the ball around and harrassing any visitors in possession when they got near him.

DC UNITED  W 1-0  v  MONTREAL IMPACT  •  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at left back and played all 90 for DC.  As usual, the stats won’t show the good work he put in, helping blunt Dilly Duka’s influence on the game.  He even got a front-row seat for Justin Mapp’s horrific elbow dislocation towards the end of the second half.  The Impact’s Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] made two saves in his 90 minutes in goal, and was only beaten by a 1-v-1 50-50 ball with Jairo Arrieta in no-man’s land.  He dealt with everything else cleanly and comfortably.

TORONTO FC  W 3-1  @ Vancouver Whitecaps •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] wins the prize  as our first guy to register an assist in 2015, as his cross from the left side of the box was struck home by Robbie Findley to give TFC a 2-1 lead in the 59th minute.  He made the MLS Team of the Week for his performance, which you’d think should involve a bonus of some kind.  Maybe he gets a supporters’ scarf or some free Tim Horton’s donuts.  I’ll investigate and see what I can dig up.

COLUMBUS CREW SC  L 0-1  @ Houston Dynamo  •  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed on in the 80th minute as the Crew pressed unsuccessfully to tie the game.  He put in two corner kicks, one of which Kei Kamara probably would like to have back again.  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was not in the gameday 18 for this contest.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 0-0  v Real Salt Lake  •  The most important number in this match was 41.  That’s how many fouls the two teams combined to commit.  It’s a wonder the ref’s whistle was still working at the end.  Another crazy number was 10.  That’s how many corner kicks the Timbers’ Jack Jewsbury took, compared to RSL’s zero.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started and played all 90 and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] subbed on with four minutes left.  Nanchoff had a shot on goal in the dying seconds that would have won it, but RSL’s Chris Shuler cleared it away to preserve the draw.

NEW YORK CITY FC  D 1-1  @ Orlando City SC  •  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] became the answer to a trivia question by starting at right back for NYC last Sunday.  (Can you name the only Northeast Ohioan to start in NYCFC’s first game ever?)  He played all 90, making the CLE a perfect 3-for-3 on outside back playing time in week one.

It’s a much lighter schedule next weekend, as five of the teams we care about will be in action – four of them in a pair of head-to-heads.  We’ll be at the Trillium Cup clash down at MAPFRE Stadium, living tweeting the events.  Can’t wait!!
Next weekend’s contests:
Saturday
– COLUMBUS  v  TORONTO, 730pm  [Here’s a nice little story on the Cup from mlssoccer.com]
Sunday
– NEW YORK CITY  v New England, 5pm, ESPN
– PORTLAND  v  LOS ANGELES, 7pm, Fox Sports 1

PHOTO CREDIT:  Jimmy Jeong/The Canadian Press

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.

2014 Week Twenty-One Report

I like the format of putting these reports in the order in which they were played, so we’ll start with the CCL match from last mid-week and then wrap it up with a Sunday game.  Cool?  Here’s how it all went down last week:

MONTREAL IMPACT  W 1-0  v FAS, CONCACAF Champions League, Group 3  •  On Wednesday, 5 August, Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] started in goal, as per usual in these cup competitions, and made two saves in this shutout of the Salvadorans.  In reality, this could’ve been a rout, but three points was the most important thing.  It was an ideal way to start off the 2014-15 CCL for Montreal.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  D 2-2  v San Jose Earthquakes  •  No Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] in this Friday night edition of the CaliClásico, which saw the Galaxy dominate the match but give up leads twice in the first half.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 1-2  @ Philadelphia Union  •  Bush returned to his role as backup keeper to fellow Ohioan Troy Perkins, and the Impact continued their struggles in league play on Saturday.

COLUMBUS CREW  L 2-3  v  TORONTO FC  •  The Crew  continued to do just enough to lose a game to Toronto, surrendering the game-winner just three minutes after drawing level at two goals a piece late in the second half.  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] continued to own his home-state club, though his handball earned the penalty kick that Federico Higuaín put in to make the score 1-1 just before halftime.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started wide left in a five-man Crew midfield and played 64 minutes before subbing out.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] is still out, recovering from rib-removal surgery.

DC UNITED  L 0-3  @ Real Salt Lake  •  The first place team in the East got stuffed by the second place team in the West in this game, as RSL was in control from start to finish.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] got a good look at all three goals from the home side, as he started at right back and played all 90.  I’m not saying they were Korb’s fault – they weren’t – but he was in the box when all three RSL goals were scored.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 2-0  v Chivas USA  •  Of Portland’s Cleveland trio, only Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] mad the team for this Sunday night match, and he subbed in for the final four minutes as a d-mid.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] missed his second straight contest while nursing a knee sprain and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] just wasn’t picked for the gameday XVIII.

NEXT WEEK:
MONTREAL  v  Chicago, Saturday, 16 August, 630pm
COLUMBUS  v  LOS ANGELES, Saturday, 16 August, 730pm
New England  v  PORTLAND, Saturday, 16 August, 730pm
Sporting Kansas City  v  TORONTO FC, Saturday, 16 August, 830pm
DC  v  Colorado, Sunday, 17 August, 830pm

PHOTO CREDIT:  Sam Greene/Columbus Dispatch

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 Thirteen Report

Trillium Cup.  Cascadia Cup.  Two losses.  A draw.  Three wins.  Six guys played.  Three guys did not play.  Here’s how things went down for our fellas and their teams this past weekend.

COLUMBUS CREW L 2-3  @ TORONTO FC  •  Seriously, Sorin Stoica?  I know that a “journalist” like myself should be fair and unbiased and objective, but this Crew fan can’t keep quiet about TFC’s first goal, which came from the spot after a really lame call for a penalty kick after a Tyson Wahl “foul” on Jermain DeFoe, who should really be embarrassed for going down so easily.  Stoica, our Clevelander in the middle, was the one who bought DeFoe’s act and in the end, the Black and Gold Nation will feel that things should’ve ended in a 2-2 draw and they’d still be alive in hopes of retaining the 2014 Trillium Cup that they won last year.  Anyhoo,  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] remains undefeated in his career when playing against the Crew (2 wins, 2 draws) after starting at left back and playing all 90 on Saturday.  For the Crew, Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started and played 90 at right back and Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] got his first action of the season, subbing in for the final 29 minutes as a midfielder.  Speas even picked up an assist on the Crew’s second goal, whipping in the corner kick that Agustín Viana headed home.  Up next for TFC:  Amway Canadian Championship Final, leg 2 @ Montreal Impact, Wednesday, 4 June, 730pm    Up next for CLB:  v Real Salt Lake, Wednesday, 4 June, 730pm; @ DC United, Saturday, 7 June, 630pm

DC UNITED  W 1-0  v Sporting Kansas City  •  DC has as many shutouts this season as it had in all of the 2013 season after Saturday’s blanking of Sporting KC.  Including this one, Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] has started and played 90 in three of those shutouts.  Coincidence?  Nope.  Direct correlation.  Next up:  v Columbus Crew, Saturday, 7 June, 630pm

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  D 1-1  @ Chicago Fire  •  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] started and played 90  as a holding mid for the Galaxy, who earned a point in the heat in Chicago on Sunday.  Next up:  v Chivas USA, Sunday, 8 June, 8pm

MONTREAL IMPACT  W 2-0  v New England Revolution  •  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was the unused backup goalkeeper in this one, but he’ll be back in net on Wednesday as the Impact attempt to defend their ACC title at home against TFC.  It was a good win for the Impact, who broke the Revs’ 5-match winning streak en route to their first shutout of the season.  Next up:  Amway Canadian Championship Final, leg 2 v Toronto FC, Wednesday, 4 June, 730pm

PORTLAND TIMBERS  L 3-4  v Vancouver Whitecaps  •  It was another Cascadia Cup goalfest on Sunday, when the Caps were able to outscore the Timbers in the Rose City.  After leading 1-0 early, Portland gave up four straight, and then got two more back before it was over.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started as a forward and played 90.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was an unused sub.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was not in the gameday 18.  Next up:  v Real Salt Lake, Saturday, 7 June, 10pm

And now for the not-so-MLS news:

INDY ELEVEN  L 1-2  v San Antonio Scorpions  •  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] started and played 90 as the Eleven were minutes away from their first win of the season, when the visitors grabbed their winner.  Next up: @ Atlanta Silverbacks, Saturday, 7 June, 730pm

OTTAWA FURY  W 1-0  v FC Edmonton  •  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] started and played 90 as a center mid.  He and his teammates had to wait until the dying moments of the match to get their winner.  Next up:  @ New York Cosmos, Sunday, 8 June, 5pm

DAYTON DUTCH LIONS  L 0-1  v Rochester Rhinos  •  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was not listed as being a part of the gameday 18 on Sunday for the loss to the Rhinos.  Next up:  @ Orange County Blues, Saturday, 7 June, 10pm

PHOTO CREDITS:  Morrow/Nathan Denette, Canadian Press; Walker/Matt Marton, USA Today Sports

2014 Week Two Report

Hey, sorry for not putting up a preview post on Friday.  Tell you what – before you start reading the report, here’s a one-sentence preview on the weekend: TFC gets it going, while the Timbers & Impact play game two.

TORONTO FC  W 2-1  @ Seattle Sounders  –  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started and played all of TFC’s first match of the  season, which was an impressive win in Seattle.  He even picked up a yellow card in the second half, for a foul that sort of came about because of a double-whiff as he and the Sounders’ Lamar Neagle were going for a ball.  But that was just a slight blemish on an otherwise pretty solid match for him.  Was there a miscommunication that allowed Obafemi Martins to run into the box before creating Clint Dempsey’s goal?  Yes, but it was the first match together for TFC’s new backline.  And, a win is a win.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 0-1  @ Houston Dynamo  –  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was the unused backup goalkeeper for Montreal, as it dropped a second straight contest by the narrowest of margins.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 1-1  v Chicago Fire  –  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started and played all 90, and for good measure,  created the Timbers’ goal in the 79th minute.  His shot was fumbled by Chicago keeper Sean Johnson and then stuffed home by Portland’s Gastón Fernández (from nearly the exact same piece of turf where he scored late to give RCFC a 1-1 draw last weekend).  Of note is the fact that Nagbe has a streak of 50 consecutive starts now.  Not too shabby.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] were both unused subs.

No games this weekend for Columbus, DC United or Los Angeles, but all six of our guys’ teams will be in action next weekend.  Look for the Week 3 Preview before next Satruday’s games kick off.

In other news, former Columbus Crew homegrown product Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] of the North American Soccer League’s Indy Eleven started at left back in his team’s recent exhibition match victory (2-1) against the Tourbeau Soccer Academy.  He even bagged an assist on Pedro Mendes’ second goal of the game.  The NASL season doesn’t start until mid-April, so the Eleven have three more exhibitions lined up over the next couple weeks.  We’ll report any Hyland-centric news that may occur in those matches.

PHOTO CREDIT: sportsillustrated.cnn.com

2014 Preseason Report • Two Weeks Left Edition

Most of our guys’ teams are busy working hard over the course of these two weeks and here’s the news on how things went in their scrimmages this past week:

COLUMBUS CREW  –  On Wednesday, 19 Feb, the Crew beat Toronto FC 3-1 in the opening match of the Disney Pro Soccer Classic.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started at right back and played the first half.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] played the second half at attacking mid.  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] did not play.  Saturday, the Crew beat the Philadelphia Union 1-0.  Williams subbed on in the 62nd minute at right back, but Speas and Stuver did not play.  Next up – on Wednesday, 26 Feb they’ll take on the U-23 team of Brazil’s Fluminense.  Also, thanks to the TFC result, the Crew will get to stick around in Orlando for the rest of the week to play in the DPSC Final on Saturday, 1 March against someone from the other group – Montreal/NYRB/Orlando City/Sporting KC.

TORONTO FC  –  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius]

started at left backand played the first 65 minutes of the Crew loss.  On Saturday, TFC ended up with a 1-1 draw against Orlando City and he played the first 65 minutes.  Here’s an interview with Morrow from this past Friday in which he talks about how things are going for him and for the team over the Reds’ first week in Florida.  Next up – on Wednesday, they’ll play the Union.

MONTREAL IMPACT  –  Last Wednesday at the DPSC, Montreal beat Fluminense’s U-23 team 1-0.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] did not play in that match.  The Impact lost on Saturday to New York 3-0.  Bush started in goal and played the entire match.  Next up – they play Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday, 26 Feb.

DC UNITED  –  While the four above teams were playing in Orlando, DC United was up in Charleston, South Carolina to take part in the Carolina Challenge Cup, where they defeated the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night 2-0.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] did not play in the match.  I still haven’t found out anything about him being injured, but that has to be the case, as every field player that started subbed out after a half or so.  Here’s a post about Korb’s prospects for 2014 from the SBN site blackandredunited.com, but keep in mind that those SBN sites are a little more “fansy” than your standard beat reporter blog.  Next up – DC plays the host Charleston Battery on Wednesday night.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  –  The Timbers kicked off the Rose City Invitational by falling to the San Jose 1-0 on Sunday evening.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] and Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] both started the match against San Jose.  Earlier in the week, Nagbe shared some thoughts about the preseason with timbers.com.  Both started and went the distance.  Earlier last week, Zemanski tried his luck at hockey.  I tweeted out the link, but in case you missed it, here it is again.  I’m no expert, but he doesn’t look terrible with a stick in his hand.  Next up – Portmore United, 5-1 losers to Vancouver Sunday afternoon, on Wednesday night.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  –  The varsity and JV scrimmaged on Saturday night and the big boys won 3-0.  Yes, as you’d probably expect, Galaxy I took Galaxy II to school in what’ll ideally be the first edition of a new preseason tradition for the four-time league champions.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] subbed in for Galaxy I as a holding mid in the 77th minute.  Next up – well, next up for the Galaxy is two weeks of preparation for MLS First Kick, in which they’ll take on Real Salt Lake.

• Hey while we’re at it, here’s a bit about a former MLS Clevelander.  Brad Friedel [Bay Village/Bay] played 90 last Thursday in Tottenham Hotspurs’ 1-0 Europa League loss at Ukrainian side FC Dnipro.  He was voted Spurs’ Man of the Match for his efforts, which see the Londoners still on top of their group with 18 points from six matches.  Friedel, who has made eight appearances this season, has gotten most of his action in the Europa League.  The 42-year-old American goalkeeping legend has kept three clean sheets in those appearances.

PHOTO CREDIT: orlandocitysoccer.com