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

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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 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

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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

2014 Week Fourteen Report

It was a very busy week for our fellas, leading up to the two week break that MLS is taking during the First Round of the World Cup in Brasil.  Lots of games, lots of minutes for the guys and lots of goals (zero were scored by our guys).  Here’s what went down over the first couple weeks of June:

MONTREAL IMPACT  W 1-0  v Toronto FC, (2-1 agg.) Amway Canadian Championship, leg two;  L 2-4  @ DC United  •  On Wednesday, 4 June,  the Impact brought a 1-1 scoreline back home with them from the first leg in Toronto and thanks to a volley from Felipe, Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] and company won the second leg and their second straight ACC crown.  Bush (seated just to the left of the cup) made two saves in the victory, and then he returned to his backup goalie role for the loss at DC United the following Saturday.  Next up:  v Houston Dynamo, Sunday, 29 June, 730pm

TORONTO FC  L 0-1  @ Montreal Impact, (1-2 agg) ACC, leg two;  W 1-0  v San Jose Earthquakes  •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] played all of leg two of the ACC final at left back.  Four days later, Morrow started on the bench and subbed in at outside mid for the final nine minutes when the Reds put that ACC loss behind themselves with a league win at home over San Jose.  Next up:  @ New York Red Bulls, Friday, 27 June, 8pm

COLUMBUS CREW  D 0-0  @ DC United  •  On Saturday, 7 June, these two sides played to a scoreless draw for the first time ever.  You read that right – in 58 MLS league matches over 18-plus years of history since the league began in 1996, these two teams had not ever played a match against one another that ended as a scoreless draw until that night.  Wow.  That being said, DC did earn (was awarded) a penalty kick in second-half stoppage time and woulda’/coulda’/shoulda’ taken the three points right there, but Crew goalie Steve Clark held strong to make the save on Fabián Espíndola’s shot.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started at midfield and played 77 minutes before subbing out.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] was an unused sub and got a front-row seat to witness history… though I’m sure he’d have preferred to have played in it.  Next up:  Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 4th Round v Indy Eleven, Tuesday, 17 June, 730pm – match to be played at the University of Akron FirstEnergy Stadium;  v FC Dallas, Saturday, 28 June, 730pm

DC UNITED  D 0-0  v Columbus Crew;  W 4-2  @ Montreal Impact  •  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] was not in the gameday 18 for either of these two matches, which ended a streak of six straight starts for him.  Next up:  Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 4th Round @ Rochester Rhinos, Tuesday, 17 June, 705pm;  v Seattle Sounders, Saturday, 28 June, 7pm

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  D 1-1  v Chivas USA  •  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was an unused sub on Sunday, 8 June when the two StubHub Center occupants shared the points.  Next up:  @ San Jose Earthquakes, Saturday, 28 June, 1030pm – NBC Sports Network

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 3-1  @ Real Salt Lake  •  Maybe more impressive than the fact that the Timbers ended an 11-game winless streak against RSL with this win was the fact that they did it on the road and impressive fashion.  It wasn’t like they scabbed in three goals to eke out the victory.  No, sir.  Portland even fought back from a goal down to get the win, so hats off to them!  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started as a mid and played 88 minutes before being subbed off.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was not in the 18 and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was an unused sub.  Next up:  Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 4th Round v Orlando City U-23s, Tuesday, 17 June, 1030pm;  v Sporting Kansas City, Friday, 27 June, 11pm

PHOTO CREDIT:  canadasoccer.com

2014 Week Eleven Report

Lots to report from last week.  So much so that it’s taken a couple extra days for me to compile everything.  Here’s how it all went down for our guys:

COLUMBUS CREW  D 3-3  @ PORTLAND TIMBERS,  W 2-0  @ DAYTON DUTCH LIONS  •  It was the match that had the potential to bring together more Clevelanders than any other, and in the end, three guys played a part.  Out in Portland on Saturday night, the Crew fell behind early and then fought back with a couple goals from Federico Higuaín to take a 2-1 lead into the lockerroom at half.  The first of those goals broke a 334-minute scoreless drought for the Black & Gold.  After the break, the scoreline went to 2-2, then 3-2 for the visitors before the hosts got the final goal with ten minutes to go.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started at right back for the Crew and played all 90.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] did not make the trip.  For the Timbers, Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] and  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] both started as midfielders, with Nagbe playing all 90 and Zemanski getting subbed off in the 75th minute.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was an unused sub for the Timbers.  In the friendly match with Dayton this past Tuesday, Speas started and played all 90, while Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] played the second half in goal for the Lions.  Up next for CLB:  v Chicago Fire, Saturday, 24 May, 730pm    Up next for PDX:  @ New York Red Bulls, Saturday, 24 May, 7pm

DC UNITED  D 1-1  v MONTREAL IMPACT  •  These two Eastern Conference rivals shared the points on Saturday night in a statistically very even match thanks to two second-half goals.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at right back and played all 90 for the home side.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was an unused sub for the Impact.  Up next for DC:  v Houston Dynamo, Wednesday, 21 May, 830pm;  @ New England Revolution, Saturday, 24 May, 730pm    Up next for Montreal:  @ Colorado Rapids, Saturday, 24 May, 9pm

MONTREAL IMPACT  W 4-2  v Edmonton FC, Amway Canadian Championship Semifinal, 2nd Leg  •  Last Wednesday, the Impact took full advantage of having the second leg of the series at home, winning in convincing fashion to advance on aggregate (5-4) to next week’s ACC Final.  Bush started in goal and played all 90.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  L 0-1  @ Houston Dynamo  •  The Galaxy just couldn’t find a way through the Dynamo to create the decisive chances they needed/wanted, and ended up dropping the points at BBVA Compass Stadium.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was an unused sub.  Up next:  v FC Dallas, Wednesday, 21 May, 1030pm; v Philadelphia Union, Sunday, 25 May, 8pm

TORONTO FC  W 2-1  @ Vancouver Whitecaps, Amway Canadian Championship Semifina, 2nd Leg;  W 2-0  v New York Red Bulls  •  After being down 2-1 to the Whitecaps after their home leg of the semifinal round of the ACC, Toronto FC turned the tables on Vancouver and beat them by the same scoreline last Wednesday, which tied the two teams on aggregate goals 3-3.  That led to 30 minutes of scoreless extra time before the visitors won the ensuing penalty kick shootout 5-4, with the difference being a save TFC goalkeeper Joe Bendik made on Vancouver’s Kekuta Manneh.  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] sat out the match to earn some deserved rest.  On Saturday, Morrow started and played 90 at left back, as TFC improved to 4-4 in league games on days that end in ‘-y.’  The Reds got their goals in the first half and then did the rest of the work on defense to earn the three points.  Up next:  @ Sporting Kansas City, Friday, 23 May, 830pm – NBC Sports Network

And now for the not-so-MLS guys news…

INDY ELEVEN  L 2-4  v OTTAWA FURY  •  In the first-ever matchup between two brand-new teams containing players from the Cleveland area in the latest incarnation of the North American Soccer League in the 2014 season, it was the visitors that came out in front, and Sinisa Ubiparipovic’s [Mentor/Mentor] Fury getting the road win – the Fury’s first – over Kyle Hyland’s [Bay Village/Bay] Eleven.  Both players started and played 90 minutes, but Ubiparipovic got subbed out just before the full time whistle.  BTW, I just noticed that after the Fury’s previous match – a 1-1 draw with Tampa Bay on 10 May, Ubiparipovic was voted Player of the Match.  Up next for Indy: @ New York Cosmos, Saturday, 24 May, 7pm; US Open Cup 3rd Round @ Dayton Dutch Lions, Tuesday, 27 May, 7pm  (The winner of this match will play the Columbus Crew in the 4th round!!)     Up next for Ottawa: v San Antonio Scorpions, Saturday, 24 May, 7pm

DAYTON DUTCH LIONS  W 2-0  @ Schwaben AC, Lamar Hunt US Open Cup 2nd Round; L 3-5  @ Harrisburg Islanders  •  Last Wednesday, the Lions advanced to the 3rd round with this victory.  Stuver played all 90 in goal.  Incidentally, Clevelander Mark Blades [Lakewood/St. Ignatius] captained the USASA side and played all 90 in the center of the park.  Last Saturday in Harrisburg, Stuver was the backup goalie.  Next up:  v Sacramento Republic FC, Sunday, 25 May, 5pm;  US Open Cup 3rd Round v Indy Eleven, Tuesday, 27 May, 7pm

PHOTO CREDIT: Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

 

2014 Week 9.5 Report

I have the time, so here’s what went down last night for our three guys who were in action:

COLUMBUS CREW  L 0-1  @ Houston Dynamo  •  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started at right back and then subbed out in the 77th minute for Adam Bedell as the Crew pressed to get a goal to tie the match.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] did make the two-game road trip, but was not in the gameday XVIII again.  After starting 3-0, the Crew is now 3-3-3 and hasn’t scored a goal in nearly 250 minutes.  Ugh.

AMWAY CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, SEMIFINALS, 1st LEG  

TORONTO FC  W 2-1  v Vancouver Whitecaps  •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started at left back and played all 90 as the Reds got goals from their two big-money signings, Michael Bradley and Jermain Defoe to win the home leg.  But the Caps’ away goal could be invaluable to them in the away leg in a week’s time.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 1-2  @ FC Edmonton  •  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] started and played all of this one, and just as for Vancouver, going home with a road goal could be crucial for the defending Voyageurs Cup holders when these two teams take to the Stade Saputo pitch next Wednesday.  Montreal thought they were in great shape, with the scoreline 1-1, but a second-half stoppage-time goal from the Eddies gave the hosts the win.

2013 – Week Thirteen Report + Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup 3rd Round Report

Since MLS has taken a break for a couple weeks to comply with the FIFA calendar, I decided to combine our fellas’ results into one big report.  We’ve got last weekend’s league games, along with the Open Cup contests the American teams played mid-week.  Since the Impact boys got their own Canadian Championship update, I only included their MLS match from last weekend.  I linked to the match previews as well.  Here’s how the teams did this past week.

COLUMBUS CREW  D 2-2 @ New York Red Bulls; W 2-1 v Dayton Dutch Lions

Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started at right back and went the full 90 in the draw with NYRB and then got the night off for the US Open Cup match.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] came on late in the NYRB match, playing the final 28 minutes up top.  He started and played all 90 against Dayton on Wednesday.  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] was not in the gameday roster of 18 for either match this past week.    NEXT MATCH: v Houston Dynamo, Saturday, 1 June, 730pm – Fox Sports Ohio

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 2-0 @ DC United; W 5-1 v Wilmington Hammerheads

Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] recovered from a sprained ankle that knocked him out of the Vancouver match the previous week to start and score against DC last Saturday.  He also started and played the first half against Wilmington mid-week.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub in the victory at DC United and then started and played all of the US Open Cup win.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was not in the team for either match, but should be closer to full strength in his recovery from a heel bruise.    NEXT MATCH: no game this weekend

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES  L 0-1 @ FC Dallas; L 0-1 @ Charleston Battery  

Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] started at left back and played all 90 on Saturday in Texas and played another 90 on Tuesday in South Carolina.  NEXT MATCH: @ Real Salt Lake, Saturday, 1 June, 930pm

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 4-0 v Seattle Sounders; L 0-2 @ Carolina RailHawks

Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was not in the team for the win over the Sounders, but played 90 as a holding mid in the USOC loss to Carolina.  NEXT MATCH:  v New England Revolution, Sunday, 2 June, 430pm – NBC Sports Network

DC UNITED  L 0-2 v Portland Timbers; D 0-0 @ Richmond Kickers (L 2-4 on penalties)

Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at right back and played all 90 against Portland, then started at right back and played the first 113 minutes of DC’s loss to Richmond, but he received a second yellow card and was ejected in the first overtime.  That’ll mean he’ll be suspended for DC’s first USOC match next year.  NEXT GAME: @ Chicago Fire, Sunday, 2 June, 5pm

MONTREAL IMPACT  D 2-2 @ Vancouver Whitecaps, Amway Canadian Championship leg two (Impact wins on away goals rule)

Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] and Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] didn’t have a game last weekend, but were busy winning a trophy mid-week.  Read all about that in the blog post just below this one.  NEXT GAME:  @ Sporting Kansas City, Saturday, 1 June, 830pm

PHOTO CREDIT: Charleston Battery

Amway Canadian Championship Final Leg 2 Report

Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] and Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor]  and all of their Montreal Impact teammates are Canadian Champions and they’ll be playing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup this fall.  On Wednesday, he started and played all 90 of the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship Final, which ended in a 2-2 draw out in Vancouver and gave the Impact the Voyagers Cup trophy via away goals rule.  Ubiparipovic was an unused sub in the match, which saw the visitors twice fight back to tie after going down a goal.  Bush could do nothing to stop the first goal – maybe no goalkeeper could have – but he ended up with four saves for the match.  He played every minute of the Impact’s four ACC contests and allowed just four goals.  The ACC crown is the Impact’s first since they won the inaugural edition back in 2008.

PHOTO CREDIT – John May/ProstAmerika

2013 – Week Eleven-and-a-half Report

Everybody had games this weekend, and since I’m getting this out so late (due to the birth of our second child on Sunday), I’ve also tacked on a mid-week game preview for anyone who’s playing tonight.  So… here’s how everyone did on Wednesday night:

DC UNITED

Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] played 90 at right back as DC lost 2-1 to FC Dallas deep in the heart of Texas.  That makes a streak of seven consecutive losses for the boys from the Capitol City, a club record.    NEXT WEEK: v Sporting Kansas City, Sunday, 19 May, 5pm

PORTLAND TIMBERS

The boys in green are red hot right now, unbeaten in nine after Sunday’s 3-0 rolling of Chivas USA at home.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started in his usual attacking midfielder/forward role and played 71 minutes, picking up the secondary assist on the Timbers’ second goal of the match.    Birthday boy Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed in at mid in the 74th minute helped the home side keep its foot on the gas pedal to see out the victory.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] did not make the gameday 18.    NEXT WEEK: @ Vancouver Whitecaps, Saturday, 18 May, 7pm

SAN JOSE

Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] returned to his role as a starter and played all 90, but this time as a center back in the absence of Jason Hernandez.  Not that there’s any correlation between his positional shift and the result of the game – which saw the visitors get a 4-0 whipping on the turf up in Seattle – but the Sounders are in a great run of form right now.  There’s no reason to believe that such a defeat was part of some downturn in the Black n’ Blue’s fortunes.  That was the Earthquakes’ biggest defeat in any game in which Morrow has played.    NEXT WEEK: v Colorado Rapids, Saturday, 18 May, 1030pm

MONTREAL

Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was the backup keeper as the Impact got a late winner from Mateo Ferrari that canceled out his earlier own goal, as les Bleus defeated Real Salt Lake 3-2.  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] is not yet ready for game action and was not a part of the gameday roster.  Tonight, the Impact begins play against Vancouver in the two-legged Amway Canadian Championship Final Round.  I think the smart money goes on Montreal right now.  They’re very tough to beat at home and smart enough to grind out a draw on the road.  My prediction: Montreal wins, 4-1 on aggregate.    NEXT WEEK: v Vancouver Whitecaps, Wednesday, 15 May, 730pm – Leg One, Amway Canadian Championship Final

COLUMBUS

Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] played his standard 90 at right back, but the Crew could not get things going in a 2-0 home loss the Colorado Rapids.  Those 5280 Boys are a bit of a bogey team for the Crew, as the Black & Gold has gone 2-6 against Colorado since 2010 and been knocked out of the playoffs by them twice.  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] and Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] were not in the 18.  This Saturday kicks off the 2013 Trillium Cup competition between Toronto FC and Columbus.  The Crew brought the trophy back to Columbus last year.  Will they be able to retain it?    NEXT WEEK: @ Toronto FC, Saturday, 18 May, 5pm

LOS ANGELES

Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] has yet to see league action for L.A.  Last Saturday and for the first time ever, the Galaxy lost 3-1 to Vancouver.  This week, the defending league champs head east for a pair of games with Eastern Conference foes.  Here’s the match preview and also lagalaxy.com’s Three Points.    NEXT WEEK: @ Philadelphia, Wednesday, 15 May, 730pm; @ New York Red Bulls, Sunday, 19 May, 1pm – ESPN2

* PHOTO CREDIT – Portland Timbers (no photog name credit on their Facebook page for this pic)