2015 Preseason Report #3

We’ll start off this report with the news on how our boys did in their respective CONCACAF Champions League fixtures this week.  Then, we’ll go over everyone’s recent preseason scrimmages.  Here’s how it’s all gone down:

MONTREAL IMPACT  •  The Impact became one of few teams in CCL history to ever have visited Mexican soil and not come home with a loss, after earning a 2-2 draw with Pachuca in the Cuna del Fútbol (Birthplace of Soccer) on Tuesday night.  Montreal’s Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] started and played all 90 in goal, making four saves in the match.  He was busier than that number might make it seem, though, as the hosts clawed and scratched to earn the point.  I guess it stinks that the visitors blew a 2-0 first-half lead, but the fact they didn’t lose is the real takeaway here, highlighted by the two precious away goals.  The home leg of the tie is next Tuesday in Montreal.

DC UNITED  •  The good news about DC’s trip to central Costa Rica is the two away goals they’ll take back home for the second leg of their series with Alajuelense  The bad news is they got beat 5-2 down there.  So there is hope.  A 3-0 DC win would see the Americans advance.  But we all know how those Central Americans play when they’re up – lots of diving and time wasting, deliberately slowly taken free kicks.  It’s not going to be pretty or easy, but stranger things have happened.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] was an unused sub on the night.  The home leg of the tie is next Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

COLUMBUS CREW  •  At the first edition of the IMG Suncoast Pro Classic, played in Bradenton, Floriday, the Crew defeated the Costa Rica U-23 Team last Saturday 2-0 and then drew 1-1  with the Philadelphia Union yesterday, before losing 5-3 in a penalty kick shootout.  The shootout served as the tiebreaker between the two teams, as they would have been level on points (4) after two games played in the tournament.    Against the Ticos, Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed on in the 62nd minute and he played the entire second half of the Union match.  He did convert his penalty during the shootout.  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] did not get any time in goal in either match.  The Crew will play once more in Bradenton, on Saturday against OKC Energy FC of USL PRO in the 3rd place match at 5pm.

TORONTO FC  •  The other team we care about at the IMGSPC (the prefer to call it The Classic) lost its second match down in Bradenton, falling to the New York Red Bulls 2-0 last night.  Last Saturday night, the Reds beat Danish club HB Koge 1-0 and Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] played all 90 minutes.  He didn’t suit up against NYRB because Head Coach Greg Vanney chose to give most of the minutes to the reserves.  Today, the TFC “varsity” scrimmaged their new USL affiliate, TFC II, and won 4-0.  Morrow played a bunch.  Next up for TFC will be a contest at 230pm on Saturday against the Costa Rica U-23 Team that will determine the tournament’s 5th place finisher.

NEW YORK CITY FC  •  Having returned to the States, NYCFC has been taking part in the Carolina Challenge Cup for the past week or so.  Last night, they lost 2-1 to the Houston Dynamo.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] subbed in at right back in the 40th minute and played the rest of the match.  Last Saturday night, this season’s two expansion teams met and it was NYCFC who scored in the second half to earn a 1-1 draw with Orlando City FC.  In that match, Williams started at right back and played all 90, and he almost scored late in the first half off of a corner kick.  NYCFC will play once more during their time in Charleston, against the host Battery on Saturday at 730pm.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  •  The league champs finished off their European tour last Saturday with a 1-0 win in Dublin, Ireland against Shamrock Rovers.  From what I can discern, Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was an unused sub in that match.  LA is now 5-0-1 on the preseason, and will wrap up their regular-season preps with a friendly against San Jose this Saturday.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  •  It’s been a mixed bag for our guys out in Portland through the first two matches of the own Simple Invitational, the preseason tournament that the club is hosting.  The Timbers drew 1-1 with the Chicago Fire last night and lost this past Saturday night, they fell 1-0 to the Vancouver Whitecaps.  Head Coach Caleb Porter has been rotating his players throughout the preseason scrimmages, and as such, Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] got the start and played the first half against the Caps, while subbing on at halftime and finishing the Fire match.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was an unused sub against the Caps, but started and played just the first 28 minutes of the Fire match before subbing out with a hip flexor – however, he did score the team’s only goal with a free kick.  I’m pretty sure he is now Portland’s all-time leading preseason scrimmage scorer, but I don’t have the stats to back that up.  Seems like he has a real knack for getting goals in February.  In the Vancouver match, Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started at center mid, but tore his ACL in a 50-50 ball in the 23rd minute and will be out for who-knows-how long, pending surgery and rehab.  We’ll wish him the best of luck with getting back on the field again.  You don’t want to put a timetable on something like that, but let’s hope that it’s in time for the Timbers’ playoff push.  Portland will play its final game of the Simple Invitational this Saturday at 8pm against Norwegian club Stabaek.

And now, the not-so-MLS news… unlike some of their NASL brethren, the two teams we care about the most haven’t been gallivanting across the globe.  Their more humble owners’ less-deep pockets are keeping such frivolous expenses from ruining the two clubs before they can even start their second seasons.

INDY ELEVEN  •  We haven’t had any preseason updates on the Eleven until now, and they’ve begun their training sessions out in Arizona.  Indy’s first scrimmage of the preseason was a 75-minute affair on Wednesday night, and ended with a 1-0 win for Minnesota United FC.  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] played left back in the second “half.”  Meanwhile, back home, the State House of Representatives voted in favor of the proposal to build a new stadium in downtown Indianapolis.  The Eleven will continue its work in Tucson until Saturday.

OTTAWA FURY  •  Things have been quiet up north, as Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] and his mates have been training and trying to keep warm.

PHOTO CREDIT:  Speas/USA Today Sports Images; Nanchoff/Craig Mitchelldyer

2015 Preseason Report #1

Every team is busy, busy, busy right now, getting ready for the regular season to begin in less than a month.  Here’s the report on who’s doing what and where:

PORTLAND TIMBERS  –  The Timbers kicked off their set of scrimmages at the Desert Friendlies in Tucson, Arizona the right way, with goals in each half to propel them to a 2-0 win over Sporting Kansas City on 31 January.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] and Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] both played the first half and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] played the second half.  Nanchoff scored the Timbers’ second goal with a delightful free kick in the 53rd minute.  A week later, Portland drew 1-1 with the Houston Dynamo.  Nagbe and Zemanski started and played 60, while Nanchoff came in for the final 30.  On Wednesday, 11 February, the Timbers wrapped up their work in the desert with a 0-0 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes.  Nanchoff started and played 60, while Zemanski came on for the final 30 and Nagbe rested.  Portland will return home to continue training in advance of their own Simple Invitational, to be held at Providence Park, 22-28 February.  The other clubs participating will be the Chicago Fire, Vancouver Whitecaps and Norwiegan club Stabaek.

TORONTO FC  –  The Reds started their preseason in Bradenton, Fla., where they took part in some training sessions at the IMG Academy.  They won a scrimmage on 4 February, 4-2 against Montverde Academy but I just can’t find the lineup they used anywhere on the interwebs, and as such, can’t tell you how much Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] played or didn’t play.  Up next was a change in venue to Orlando, where TFC played a couple scrimmages.  There was a 0-2 loss to the New York Red Bulls 5 February, followed by a 0-0 draw with Orlando City SC on 8 February.  Head Coach Greg Vanney started the “veterans,” which mean Morrow was at left back and played 60 minutes against NYRB (after maybe 30 against Montverde?) and at least 45 against the Lions.  TFC is now back in Bradenton for the IMG Suncoast Pro Classic, where they’ll play the USL PRO’s OKC Energy FC (today, 730pm), Danish side HB Koge (Sat, 21 Feb, 12pm), and the Red Bulls (Wed, 25 Feb, 730pm).  They’ll also have a playoff game on Sat, 28 Feb, but we won’t know against whom or at what time until they conclude their group matches.

MONTREAL IMPACT  –  The Impact trained indoors in frigid Quebec for the first part of the month before heading to much, much warmer Mexico.  They had played a scrimmage with their U-18 team before heading south, but there wasn’t much to report on that.  Last Saturday, les Bleus lost 0-1 to Mexico City first division club Cruz Azul and Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] went the distance in net.  Tuesday afternoon, the two teams faced off again and the Impact reversed the scoreline to win 1-0.  Again Bush played 90, and in addition to earning the shutout, he stopped two penalty kicks!  Coming up for Head Coach Frank Klopas’ boys will be another scrimmage against 3rd division team FC Cuautla, in preparation for the Impact’s CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal match with Pachuca next Tuesday.

COLUMBUS CREW  –  After a couple weeks of training south Florida, the Crew  headed to Austin, Texas for the ATX Pro Soccer Challenge.  The Black and Gold went home with a 3-1 loss to FC Dallas and a 1-0 win over the Austin Aztex, new USL PRO affiliate.  On Friday night, Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] and Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] both played the second half, as Head Coach Gregg Berhalter went with his plan of rotating and shuffling lineups over the course of the team’s time in Texas.  For whatever it’s worth, Stuver did not allow a goal during his time in net.  Speas got the second half in Sunday’s win.  Next up for the Crew is a trip back to Florida for the IMG Suncoast Pro Soccer Classic (click the link in the TFC report for more info), where they’ll play London United (18 Feb, 12pm), the Costa Rica U-23 team (21 Feb, 5pm) and the Philadelphia Union (25 Feb, 5pm) before a playoff game on the 28th.

DC UNITED  –  Like the Crew SC, DC spent some time training in Florida before they headed to Austin, but unlike the Crew SC, DC played some scrimmages while in Brandenton.  They drew 1-1 with MLS debutant Orlando City SC on 28 January; drew 0-0 with Swedish side Jönköpings 3 February; and then lost 0-1 to Malmo FF three days later.  Right back Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] played a half in each of the first two games, but none of the third.  The Black and Red was the fourth team in Austin this past weekend and they won the tournament, defeating the Austin Aztex 2-0 and FC Dallas 1-0.  I’m going to go out a limb here and say this is easily the best soccer trophy ever.  Korb did not play deepintheheartof, but he did train.  I can’t find any news on why.  Maybe Head Coach Ben Olsen is saving him for DC’s final preseason match on 20 February with FC Dallas, in anticipation of the upcoming trip to Costa Rica for its CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal matchup with Alajuelense?

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  –  The league champs have been galavanting across Europe for the last week, after starting their work at home.  On 30 January, the Galaxy beat Ventura County Fusion 2-0, then defeated the Seattle Sounders 2-1 on 6 February, before heading to Washington DC to meet President Obama.  In the nation’s capital, they also trained a little and scrimmaged the Georgetown University Men’s Soccer Team 2-1.  We couldn’t ascertain any details about how much and where and when Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] played in any of those matches, but here’s an article on him and his approach to this season.  Once the Galaxy made it across the Atlantic, they visited Stefan Ishizaki’s old stomping grounds in Stockholm, Sweden, where they lost a scrimmage 2-1 to Hammarby.  Walker subbed in for the for Ishizaki and played the final 23 minutes as holding mid.  The team has been doing the bulk of its training in Robbie Keane’s old stomping grounds in Dublin, where they’ll play a scrimmage this upcoming Saturday against Shamrock Rovers.  Head Coach Bruce Arena’s bunch will return home for more training in advance of the season opener.

NEW YORK CITY FC  –  NYCFC began its inaugural preseason in England,  where it got things going with a 2-0 friendly win against Scottish Premier League side St. Mirren.  This past Sunday, the [unsure what nickname to use… the sky blues, maybe?] lost 2-0 to Danish side Brondby.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] subbed in for the second half at right back in the first match, and then started at right back and played the first half of the second.  On 1 February, NYCFC played a closed-door scrimmage with new NASL team Jacksonville Armada, which finished a 2-1 victory for the MLS club.  It was set up with four 24 minute periods and we’re deducing that Williams played the third and fourth quarters, for whatever that’s worth.  The team will now head to Charleston, SC for the Carolina Challenge Cup, where it wrap up the preseason with games against Orlando City SC (21 Feb, 730pm), Houston Dynamo (25, 5pm) and the host Battery of USL PRO (28, 730pm).

PHOTO CREDIT:  Speas/USA Today Sports Images; Williams/NYCFC.com

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 Thirty Report

 

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  L 1-2  @ FC Dallas  •  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] subbed in for the final six minutes with the match tied at 1-1, to do some d-mid work for the tiring Baggio Husidic.  But with four minutes remaining, FCD got its winner and created a fun scenario for the Galaxy over the final two matches – both against Seattle in a home-and-away deal.  The winner of those two games will take home the Supporters’ Shield, as the team in MLS with the best record at the end of the regular season.  The loser will be the #2-seed in the Western Conference and in the playoffs overall.

DC UNITED  W 3-1  @ Houston Dynamo  •  With his team up 1-0 and looking to kill off the game a bit, Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] subbed in on 60″ and saw DC run out with the three points.  Those three points were DC’s first in Houston ever.  Ever!  The win ended a 0-11-1 barren run that dates back to Houston’s inaugural year in 2006.

TORONTO FC  L 1-3  @ New York Red Bulls  •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started at left back and played all 90, contributing the main assist on TFC’s late strike that enabled them to avoid being shutout.

COLUMBUS CREW  W 3-2  @ Philadelphia Union  •  If you call yourself a  Crew fan and didn’t see or hear about this one, go watch the match highlights now.  You’ll be very glad you did.  Down 2-0 at the 75″ mark, the Crew scored three goals in four minutes to take the huge three points the eliminated the Union from playoff contention.  In the absence of first-choice attacking mid Federico Higuaín through a card suspension, Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] filled in and played 83 minutes, subbing off for a defender after the Crew comeback was complete.  No Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] or Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] in the travel team for this one.

MONTREAL IMPACT  D 2-2  v New England Revolution  •  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] started in goal for the Impact and you’d have figured two goals from Marco DiVaio would’ve been enough to see the home side with three points.  But a goal off a deflection in the 69th minute from the visitors’ Lee Nguyen made it 2-2 and that’s how it ended.

UP NEXT
Friday, 17 October
– PORTLAND  v  Real Salt Lake, 10pm – NBC Sports Network
Saturday, 18 October
– TORONTO  v  MONTREAL, 2pm
– DC  v  Chicago, 7pm
Sunday, 19 October
– New York  v  COLUMBUS, 3pm – UniMás
– LOS ANGELES  v  Seattle, 830pm – ESPN2

NASL REPORT
INDY ELEVEN  W 2-0  v Minnesota United FC  •  Well, it turns out that the injury Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] suffered last week against the Cosmos was bad enough that it needed surgery.  Here’s an update from his Mom, who is a blog reader, “Kyle Update: 2nd opinion from the doctor who works on players from the Indianapolis Colts. Surgery will be this Thursday. Kyle will have a plate and three surgical screws inserted in his ankle to prevent the Tibia from ever displacing again. The Fibula is NOT broken. Also, the CT Scan shows a small bone flake/tiny fragment which has slid between the joint; it will be removed without any additional complication. He will not have a plaster cast, but instead a boot for the next 6-weeks.”  The day after the surgery, she wrote back with this report, “He had surgery Thursday morning. They had to put a plate and three screws in at the base of his leg where it connects to the ankle. He will be ready for spring training, per the doctor.”  Oh, by the way, without Hyland, the Eleven won on Saturday night.  (Since Hyland’s season is done, I’m not sure if I’m going to include Eleven reports over these last few weeks of the season.  Maybe.)  Next up:  v San Antonio Scorpions, Saturday, 18 October, 730pm

OTTAWA FURY  L 1-2  @ New York Cosmos  •  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] started as one of the central mids and played all 90 of this one.  The visitors thought they had stolen a point until the home side got a goal deep into injury time.  This match had a little bit of everything, including bad tempers.  The Fury received six yellow cards and an ejection for each team.  This loss, coupled with the Eleven’s win leaves both teams tied on 16 points from 15 matches, one place above the NASL basement-dwelling Atlanta Silverbacks.  Next up:  v FC Edmonton, Saturday, 18 October, 3pm

PHOTO CREDIT:  mlssoccer.com

2014 Week Twenty-Two Report

There was much to celebrate this past weekend.

MONTREAL IMPACT  W 1-0  v Chicago Fire  •  Well, it took until his fourth start this season (and sixth overall), but finally, the Impact played good enough team defense to earn Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] his first career MLS shutout.  He played all 90 and made just two saves in the win.  The Impact are still bottom of the league with 17 points from 23 games.

COLUMBUS CREW  W 4-1  v  LOS ANGELES GALAXY  •   Okay, without looking it up, name the last one of our boys to score a goal in an MLS game this season.  The answer is at the bottom of this blog, but know that Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] is now the most recent one to get a goal after he netted the Crew’s third last Saturday.  And he didn’t waste any time adding to the Crew’s lead, finding the net one minute after he subbed in.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] is still on the DL, recovering from surgery.  The Galaxy’s Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] did not make the trip.  The Crew now sits fourth in the East on 30 points.  The Galaxy is fourth in the West with 37 points.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 1-1  @ New England  •  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] mad his return from a knee sprain by subbing on with 37 minutes left.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] did not make the trip to Foxboro.  Portland is sixth in the West, just two points out of the playoffs.

TORONTO FC  L 1-4  @ Sporting Kansas City  •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started and played all 90 of this smackdown, which showed how wide of a gulf exists – besides the ten points in the standings – that exist between the Eastern Conference’s first- and third-place teams.  TFC has 32 points from 22 games, eight points behind the second place team.

DC UNITED  W 4-2  v Colorado Rapids  •  In the Sunday evening matchup, it was the home side who turned a 1-1 match at halftime, into a bit of a rout by the time it ended.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] was not a part of it, as he recovers from a hammy.  DC is second in the East with 40 points, two behind Sporting and with one game in hand.

NEXT WEEK:
–  Tuesday, 19 August  –
   PORTLAND  @  Alpha United, CCL group 5, 8pm
–  Wednesday, 20 August  –
   DC UNITED  v  Waterhouse FC, CCL group 4,  7pm
   LOS ANGELES  @  Colorado,  9pm
   MONTREAL  @  FAS, CCL group 3,  9pm
–  Saturday, 23 August  –
   MONTREAL  v  New York,  7pm
   TORONTO FC  v  Chicago,  7pm
   COLUMBUS  v  Houston,  730pm
   DC UNITED  @ Sporting KC,  830pm
   LOS ANGELES  v  Vancouver,  1030pm
–  Sunday, 24 August  –
   PORTLAND  v  Seattle, Sunday, 24 August, 5pm – ESPN2

** TRIVIA ANSWER **  This one really tested how much you follow the league and our guys.  Speas’ goal is the first from our bunch this season.  Shocking, I know.  You’d have bet that Darlington Nagbe or maybe even Josh Williams already had one this season, but you’d lose that bet.

PHOTO CREDIT:  Kirby Hines/Columbus Crew

 

2014 Weeks Sixteen, Seventeen & Eighteen Reports

A lot has happened to our fellas over the month (nearly) since I last posted.  In an attempt to get caught up, I’m condensing the reports.  Today, you get three in one!  I hope I haven’t left out anything!  I’ll stay more current with the upcoming weeks, though.

WEEK 16  –  2 to 6 July  

COLUMBUS CREW  D 1-1  @ Colorado Rapids  •  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started and played 72 minutes.

DC UNITED  W 2-1  @ Toronto FC  •  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started and played 90.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  D 2-2  v Portland Timbers  •  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was an unused sub.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 0-1  @ Chivas USA  •  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was an unused sub.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 2-2  @ Los Angeles •  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started and played 82.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was an unused sub.

TORONTO FC  D 1-1  @ Chicago Fire; L 1-2  v DC United  •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started and played 90 minutes in both matches.

 

LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP QUARTERFINALS  –  9 July

PORTLAND TIMBERS  L 1-3 (2ot)  @ Seattle Sounders  •  Nagbe subbed in on 60″ and played 60.  Nanchoff was an unused sub.

 

WEEK 17  –  11 to 13 July  

COLUMBUS CREW  L 1-4  v New York Red Bulls  •  Speas started and played 90 minutes.

DC UNITED  W 2-1  @ San Jose Earthquakes  •  Korb started and played 90.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 1-0  v Real Salt Lake  •  Walker subbed on in the game’s final minute.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 1-2  v Sporting Kansas City  •  Bush was an unused sub.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  L 0-2  @ Seattle Sounders  •  Nagbe started and played 90.  Nanchoff was an unused sub.  The Timbers’ hopes of retaining their Cascadia Cup title from a year ago are all but done.

TORONTO FC  W 4-2  v Houston Dynamo  •  Morrow started and played 90 minutes.

 

WEEK 18  –  16-20 July  

COLUMBUS CREW  L 1-2  v Sporting Kansas City;  W 2-1  v Montreal Impact  •  Speas was an unused sub v Sporting and he subbed on for the final minute of the Impact win.  To explain his absence, Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] has been on the shelf recently after undergoing some surgery.

DC UNITED  W 3-1  @ Chivas USA  •  Korb started and played 90.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 5-1  v New England Revolution;  L 1-2  @ Sporting Kansas City  •  Walker started at holding mid and played 71 minutes v the Revs and subbed in for the final six minutes at Sporting.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 1-2  @ Columbus Crew  •  FINALLY!!!  Maybe Montreal Head Coach Frank Klopas read the blog.  His team is in the Eastern Conference basement and struggling mightily, so why not switch up the keepers?  Not all the poor results were Troy Perkins’ fault, but the move just made sense.  Bush got his first league start of the season and played well enough.  He made two saves and only surrendered the two long-range blasts to the Crew’s Bernardo Añor.  But to be fair, no goalie would’ve stopped those.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 2-1  v Colorado Rapids  •  Nagbe started and played 89.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] returned to training this past week after being down for nearly a month suffering from concussion symptoms.

TORONTO FC  D 1-1  v Vancouver Whitecaps;  D 2-2  @ Houston Dynamo  •  Morrow started and played 90 minutes at left back in both games.

PHOTO CREDIT:  Speas/Daniel Petty, USA Today Sports Images; Nagbe/Portland Timbers, Craig Mitchelldyer; Bush/Montreal Impact Facebook page

 

2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 4th Round Report

Three of our fellas’ teams got into the USOC action this week (two of them, of course, are Canadian, and aren’t a part of the competition).  Here’s how things went down on Tuesday, 17 June for the three teams:

COLUMBUS CREW  W 2-1 (2ot)  v Indy Eleven (NASL)  •  This match had a little bit of everything.  Two goals disallowed (one for each side), loads of missed  chances (more for the Crew), two red cards (both for the Crew), lots of guys cramping up, two overtime periods and a beautiful setting at the University of Akron’s FirstEnergy Cub Cadet Field.  Phew!  Yes, at one point, it was the Indy Eleven vs. the Columbus Nine (credit to Steve Sirk), and until Ethan Finley was brought down in the Indy penalty area in the 115th minute, it looked like we might get a penalty kick shootout, too.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started at center back, just a few miles from his childhood home, and Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started in the playmaker role and the one-time Akron Zip received the loudest ovation during the announcement of the starting lineup.  Williams played the entire match and Speas subbed out after 72 minutes, having contributed the corner-kick assist on the Crew’s first goal.  For Indy, Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] was on the injured list last night, wearing a big immobilizer boot on his left leg, having damaged his ankle during the Eleven’s previous USOC match with Dayton.  Next up:  @ Chicago Fire, Tuesday, 24 June, time TBA

DC UNITED  L 0-1  v Rochester Rhinos  •  Which is more notable: that the defending Cup champion lost its first game in the next year’s Cup for the fourth time ever or that this match was delayed for more than two hours because of stormy weather in the Rochester area.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] was not in the team, as he is nursing a hamstring injury.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 3-0  v Orlando City FC U-23  •  Portland  advanced in style last night and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] played all of it.  Next up:  @ Sporting Kansas City, Tuesday, 24 June, time TBA

PHOTO CREDIT – Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers (Nanchoff)
I can’t believe I didn’t bring my SLR camera with me!  Hence those two up above came from my iPhone.  Decent, but…

2014 Preseason Report • Groundhog Day Edition

The MLS Preseason is officially underway with some of the teams going through their paces down in Florida, while others are out in Arizona and California.  The preseason “friendlies” began this weekend, so here’s a little look at what’s on tap for our boys and their clubs in the next week:

COLUMBUS CREW — Our three fellas who don the Black and Yellow are in  Bradenton, Florida (along with the rest of the team) for the first stage of their preseason.  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] has his hands full post-training, while Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] and Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] are getting used to their new coaching staff.  The Crew’s first preseason scrimmage is against Swedish club Malmö FF on Wednesday, 5 February.

DC UNITED — Head Coach Ben Olson’s squad is also in Brandenton, but they won’t face the Crew in any scrimmages down there.  Their first scrimmage will be on Wednesday, 5 February against Toronto FC.  Not that there was any doubt, but Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] signed a new contract with the club, and of course, as everybody knows, per league policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY — The Galaxy have been training at home, which must be nice in terms of getting back into the players’ and coaches’ daily routines.  Their first friendly will be next Saturday, 8 February against Shirak FC of the Armenian First Division.  Three days later, they’ll play a closed-door scrimmage in Mexico City against Pumas UNAM.  L.A. announced big news earlier this week when it was learned that they will enter a Galaxy II team in USL PRO, giving Head Coach Bruce Arena a great avenue to get some games for the players who aren’t typically members of his gameday roster of 18.  This could apply to our Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe].

MONTREAL IMPACT — The Impact and their new boss, Frank Klopas, have been doing their work indoors up in Montreal for the past week.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] and his teammates will head to Orlando, Florida on Valentine’s Day, where they’ll join the Red Bulls, Sporting KC and Brazilian side Fluminense for friendly matches.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  — Head Coach Caleb Porter and his boys are in Tucson, Arizona, where they’ll look to build off of last season’s appearance in the Western Conference Finals.  They drew 1-1 against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, 1 February.  All of our fellas got into the match, as Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] and Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started and played the first half.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] played the entire second half and picked up a yellow card late in the match for a nasty tackle.  Next up for Portland will be a match with Houston on Wednesday, 5 February.

TORONTO FC — The Reds are in Bradenton, Florida for their preseason sessions and some scrimmages.  They’ll return to Toronto before going to Orlando for the 2014 Disney Classic.  Our Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] spoke with the TFC TV folks last week about his first impressions with his new team. Keep an eye on our twitter (@MLS_Cleveland) handle for news regarding the scrimmages on Wednesday.  I’ll try to post updates every couple weeks in February to summarize the action, and then there’ll be some sort of preview post before the season kicks off in March.

PHOTO CREDIT: Columbus Crew

2013 Recap – Speas, Stuver & Ubiparipovic

Ben Speas  —  Speas had a decent 2013, impressing early and making six of his ten starts  in a row.  He got his goal – a ripper at DC United – and assist during that string of matches, but as the Crew struggled and former head coach Robert Warzycha looked to change the lineup, Speas was moved to a supporting role.  The summer months were a bit of a roller coaster, with an injury robbing him of game-time and the dreaded DNP-CD keeping him down once he was healthy.  And again, the Crew’s uneven form didn’t help.  Still, when Speas played in the Open Cup and reserve games, he played well and created goals.    PREDICTION FOR 2014:  A new head coach with a fresh perspective on the skills Speas possesses, along with a better season overall for the Crew will provide #17 with an opportunity to get consistent, meaningful minutes, which will enable him to put up numbers that will help the team reach the playoffs.

Brad Stuver  —  Stuver spent his first year as a professional footballer as a pool  goalkeeper based in Columbus after getting drafted by Montreal.  He did not play in a league game, but he was called in to be the backup goalie for Real Salt Lake during the Gold Cup and he played in a few reserve games for the Crew.  Before Christmas, the Crew signed him to a contract for 2014, which will at least keep him from bouncing around the country and doing more training than playing this season.    PREDICTION FOR 2014:  Based on a couple things I’ve read, it seems that of the four keepers on the Crew roster, Stuver is the most likely to get loaned to USL affiliate Dayton Dutch Lions.  The Columbus Dispatch’s Adam Jardy figures as much in his early prediction on the Crew’s starting lineup on opening weekend.  (p.s.  Check out where he thinks Ben Speas will end up.)

Sinisa Ubiparipovic  —  Ubiparipovic suffered an injury early the preseason of 2013  and it took him until April to get back to good.  After the slow start, he did not see any MLS action for Montreal in 2013, though he was an unused sub for three matches – two of them being the Amway Canadian Championship games, earning him a Champions medal.  Before going on loan to NASL side Minnesota Kickers in mid-July and got in seven games.  Sad as it is to say, the writing was on the wall and he was released by the Impact in November.    PREDICTION FOR 2014:  I will be extremely happy if I get to report on Ubiparipovic’s MLS exploits this upcoming season, but at age 30, I have my doubts that he’ll get picked up.  Perhaps there’s an NASL or USL team that could use him, but I haven’t seen any rumors heading in that direction anywhere on the internet.  If his MLS career is over, he’ll carry the distinction of being the only Clevelander to have played in an MLS Cup, when his New York Red Bulls lost to Columbus 3-1, and he has career numbers of 76 games played and four goals.

2013 – Week Twenty-One Report

It was another mixed bag of results and stat lines on Saturday for our fellas.  Very few goals for their teams, too.  Here’s how it all went down:

MONTREAL  D 0-0  v FC Dallas

After a scoreless draw at home, the bright side is that Montreal’s defense held steady and didn’t concede any easy goals, as it had in surrendering 12 goals in the Impact’s previous four matches.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was the backup keeper and didn’t get in.  NEXT MATCH: v Sporting Kansas City, Saturday, 27 July, 7pm

COLUMBUS  L 0-2  v New England  

The Crew gave up the three points at home on two goals in second-half stoppage time.  I won’t say it again.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started at right back and Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed in up top for an injured Aaron Schoenfeld in the 36th minute.  Williams gave as good as he got all night long in his tussles with New England’s forwards, but was beaten in the air on the Revs’ first goal.  Speas created numerous chances for the Crew, who registered 19 shots and seven corner kicks in the match, none of which led to a score.  NEXT MATCH: @ Toronto FC, Saturday, 27 July, 2pm – FOX Sports Ohio

PORTLAND  D 0-0  @ Philadelphia

Getting a point in Philly wasn’t the worst thing in the world for the Timbers, and the road draw was their eighth in 11 matches this season.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] played 89 minutes at mid and Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed in at halftime.  NEXT MATCH: @ San Jose, Saturday, 27 July, 1030pm 

DC UNITED  L 1-4  @ Chicago

It figures that Chicago would explode and hit their high-mark for goals this season against DC.  Four is also the most goals DC has allowed in a game this season, which has happened twice.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at center back and did all he could to help stop the bleeding, but there were too many issues for one man to handle.  NEXT MATCH: v New England, Saturday, 27 July, 730pm

SAN JOSE – no game

PHOTO CREDIT: USA Today Sports Images