2015 Week 21 Report

Before we get to the weekend’s MLS action, we had a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal earlier in the week.  It went, unfortunately, just like last year’s one octavos de final matchup went for one of our fellas’ teams.  Here’s how everything went since our last posting:

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  L 0-1  @ Real Salt Lake  •  On Tuesday night, RSL knocked the Galaxy out of the Cup by the narrowest of margins.  Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] started in the middle and played 77 minutes before subbing out in favor of a forward as the visitors chased the game to no avail.

COLUMBUS CREW SC  W 1-0  @ Chicago Fire  •  FINALLY!!!  It only took ten games, but Crew SC got its first road win of the season on Wednesday night.  Despite dominating the match, it was the narrowest of margins that earned the three points.  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] was the backup goalie on the night, but Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] did not make the trip to Chi-town.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 5-2  San Jose Earthquakes  •  Walker started and played 82 minutes of this contest that continued LA’s recent roll through the MLS regular season schedule.  It’s now 20 goals in five games and four victories in those games.

TORONTO FC  W 2-1  @ Philadelphia Union  •  TFC can really put on some brilliant performances when they’re in the mood.  It sure helps when midseason MVP candidate Sebastian Giovinco is doing what he has been doing lately.  The Reds were in control from the get-go and are firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.  Justin Morrow [Shaker Heights/St. Ignatius] started at right back and played all 90.

NEW YORK CITY FC  L 0-1  @ New England Revolution  •  The hosts scored early and did the rest with defense.  Still no Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] who is out injured.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 1-2  @ Sporting Kansas City  •  Sporting hasn’t been beaten at home this calendar year.  The Impact put up a good fight, but weren’t strong enough to end the streak.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] made a couple saves and had to deal with three other dangerous shots/crosses.

DC UNITED  L 1-2  @ FC Dallas  •  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] started at right back and then was subbed out at halftime for a forward.  DC Head Coach Ben Olsen must’ve seen something he didn’t like that called for the formation change.  Despite that, FCD scored first and then DC equalized before the home side got its winner in extra time.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 1-1  Vancouver Whitecaps  •  The two sides split the goals, one in each half, and they also split the points.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started and played 83 minutes.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was not in the gameday XVIII.  The Timbers currently find themselves in last place in this season’s Cascadia Cup standings.  It wouldn’t be impossible for them to end up on top, but they’ll need to win their 30 August match at Seattle and then hope the Whitecaps and Sounders tie in their two upcoming games.

COLUMBUS CREW SC  W 3-1  Chicago Fire  •  While the Crew didn’t dominate on Sunday like they did earlier in the week, they were aided by a Fire red card in the second half.  The win was convincing and the three points were well-deserved.  Same roles for Stuver and Speas as on Wednesday.

Next Week’s Matches:
~ Saturday, 25 July
COLUMBUS  v  TFC, 730pm
MONTREAL  v  Seattle, 8pm
Houston  v  LA, 9pm
Dallas  v  PORTLAND, 9pm
~ Sunday, 26 July
NYCFC  v  Orlando, 230pm – live on Fox Sports 1
DC  v  Philadelphia, 5pm – live on ESPN2

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ATLANTA SILVERBACKS  D 2-2  @ Fort Lauderdale Strikers  •  A road point is better than a loss, no?  Even if you’re winning 2-1 until the 90th minute, when a PK for the home side levels things?  I dunno… Matt Horth [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was not in the team for this match.  Next up, the ‘Backs travel to Ottawa for a 7pm kickoff on Wednesday.

CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE  D 0-0  @ Rochester Ragin’ Rhinos  •  Jack Thompson [Hudson/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed on and played 14 minutes.  Next up for Charlotte is a home game on Saturday with FC Montreal at 730pm.

OTTAWA FURY  W 4-2  INDY ELEVEN  •  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] did his normal 90 minutes at attacking mid and he created the opening goal for the home side with a free kick that Rafael Alves headed home.  Indy’s Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] started at left back and played 90.  Judson McKinney [Cuyahoga Falls/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed on in the 77th minute and scored a consolation goal in the 90th minute.  Next up for Ottawa is the Atlanta game on Wednesday, while Indy hosts New York Saturday at 730pm.

PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS  L 1-2  Louisville City FC  •  The teams traded goals in the first half before the visitors got their winner in the second half.  Mike Green [Strongsville/Strongsville] started at forward and played 83 minutes.  Next up is a Keystone Derby trip to Harrisburg on Saturday for a 630pm match.

2015 Week 19 Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTO CREDIT – mlssoccer.com

2015 Week 2 Report

While two of our teams rested, only three of our fellas whose teams played this past weekend got any playing time – one in each match.  Here’s how it all went down:

COLUMBUS CREW SC  W 2-0  TORONTO FC  •  The last time Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] played against the Crew in Columbus on their home opener, he scored the San Jose Earthquakes’ only goal in a 1-1 draw.  On Saturday, his controversial sending-off just before halftime made a bit easier for the hosts to break the game open after the interval, and they sent their black and gold fans home happy.  The victory gives the Crew SC an early lead in this season’s Trillium Cup battle.  Neither of our guys was in the gameday XVIII for the Crew SC, but both Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] and Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] were up early on Sunday morning for the Reserve Team’s game with the University of Michigan.  Speas started as the attacking mid and scored the third goal in the 3-1 victory, and Stuver was the backup goalie to Matt Lampson.

NEW YORK CITY FC  W 2-0  New England Revolution  •  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] started at right back and had an extremely busy 79-minute shift against some of the best attacking talent in the Eastern Conference.  He picked up a yellow card in the 57th minute, but other than that, he acquitted himself well.  A shutout win in the club’s inaugural home opener?  Not too shabby!

PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 2-2  LOS ANGELES GALAXY  •  Let’s hope a disturbing trend from last season it’s back for a sequel.  The Timbers scored first, then allowed an equalizer before going ahead in the game’s final minute, only to let two points slip away on a stoppage-time goal from the defending MLS Cup champs.  It was Darlington Nagbe’s [Lakewood/St. Edward] assist to Fanendo Adi that put PTFC up 2-1.  Throughout the match, he was the Nagbe that everyone wants him to be/knows he can be, creating issues for the Galaxy throughout.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was not in the gameday team for Portland and neither was Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] for LA – a week after starting their home opener.  Hmmm…

Next Weekend’s Games
Wednesday, 18 March
–  MONTREAL  v  Alajuelense, CONCACAF Champions League Semifinal, leg one, 8pm, Fox Sports 2
Saturday, 21 March
–  New England  v  MONTREAL, 3pm
–  Colorado  v  NEW YORK CITY FC, 4pm
–  Sporting Kansas City  v PORTLAND, 830pm
–  LOS ANGELES  v  Houston, 1030pm
Sunday, 22 March
–  New York Red Bulls  v  DC UNITED, 5pm – ESPN2

What’s been going on with our not-so-MLS guys?  Here’s an update:

INDY ELEVEN  •  The Eleven won’t start their NASL season for another couple weeks, so it’s been trainings and scrimmages since they got back from Arizona.  They lost to Indiana University 2-1 in a 9v9 scrimmage (6 March), defeated new USL club St. Louis FC 2-0 (11 March) and tied with the University of Dayton last Sunday 1-1.  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] played the second half against Dayton, subbed on in the 28th minute against St. Louis FC and got the second half at IU.  In other good news, we have another member of our club now playing with Indy.  Judson McKinney [Cuyahoga Falls/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] signed with the Eleven at the beginning of March after spending the past couple years in the USL and MISL and he got a half of playing time in each of the aforementioned scrimmages, putting in shifts at outside back.  Next Saturday, they’ll scrimmage USL PRO side, Louisville City FC.

OTTAWA FURY  •  After a couple weeks of training, the Fury finally got to kick some other guys instead of their teammates when they went to Ontario to scrimmage TFC II on 6 March.  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] played the first half of the 3-2 victory.  A week later, he started and played 59 minutes of a 1-1 draw against the Rochester Rhinos of USL PRO.  On 20 March, they’ll scrimmage FC Montreal, the Impact’s USL PRO team.

PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS  •  The USL PRO Riverhounds have been scrimmaging against college teams for the past two weeks.  I haven’t been able to dig up super-detailed information on lineups and whatnot regarding those contests, but from various tweets I’ve seen, Mike Green [Strongsville/Strongsville] has played in all of those games, but not all of all of those games.

PHOTO CREDIT:  Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers