2015 Week 6 Report

It was a buncha’ draws and losses, and one lone victory last weekend for our fellas’ teams, and our guy did not play in that one win.  [SIGH]  Here’s how our MLS guys did last weekend:

COLUMBUS CREW  D 2-2  @ Vancouver Whitecaps  •  I’m sure the Crew SC viewed last Wednesday night’s draw as a mixed blessing, considering they twice gave up one-goal leads to end up with the point, but the stalemate kept the Black and Gold from losing.  It also slightly cooled off the league’s hottest team.  In the absence of Federico Higuaín, who was suspended after picking up a red card the week before, Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] started at attacking mid and played 70 minutes.  He was able to put a couple shots on goal and took three corners, but that was nothing compared to the Caps’ Pedro Morales, who took all 11 of his team’s corners – none of which created a goal.  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] did not make the trip, as Steve Clark and Matt Lampson were the two keepers that Head Coach Gregg Berhalter chose to take.

COLUMBUS CREW  D 0-0  @ New England Revolution  •  No room for either Speas or Stuver in the team for the Saturday afternoon game in Foxboro, which featured a lot of wind and sun, but few real scoring chances for either team and, obviously, zero goals.  After last year’s playoff series with the Revs, Columbus had to be happy with the shutout.  Also, from the Crew SC’s point-of-view, getting two points from the longest-travel, shortest-turnaround road trip in MLS history is a heckuva lot better than if it had ended with the team on a three-game losing streak.

NEW YORK CITY FC  L 1-2  @ Philadelphia Union  •  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] returned to the  starting lineup and played 81 minutes before being subbed out, which means he maybe could have somehow helped prevent Philly’s stoppage-time winner if he had still been on the field.

DC UNITED  D 2-2  v New York Red Bulls  •  DC thought it had all three points in the bag until a 90th-minute goal from their Atlantic Cup rivals stuck them with just one.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] was an unused sub.  Hmmm… maybe if he’d been subbed in towards the end, he could’ve somehow prevented Lloyd Sam’s equalizer.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 0-3  @ Houston Dynamo  •  It would be careless to talk about a potential “CONCACAF hangover” affecting the Impact on Saturday in Houston.  That for sure wasn’t the case as the visitors outshot their hosts and earned 11 corner kicks.  The Dynamo scored a scrappy goal early, scored on three of the four shots they put on Montreal’s net and rode their luck to victory.  It happens.  It’s a long MLS season and everyone hits a bump in the road or two.  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] was in net and made one save.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  L 0-2  v Orlando City SC  •  When a team plays well and still loses, it frustrates everyone on its side.  The Timbers have six points from six games this season (1 W, 3 D) and have outplayed their opponents for – on my guesstimate – 480 of 540 minutes.  But… yeah, you can finish the rest.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started as a wide mid and played all 90 for PTFC.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 1-0  v Seattle Sounders  •  It was more shelf time for Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] as he recovers from a groin injury that led to surgery, as the home side got its second victory of the season and ended a 270-minute scoreless string in the process.

Next Weekend’s Games
Thursday, 16 April
~ NEW YORK CITY FC  v  Philadelphia, 7pm
Saturday, 18 April
~ DC UNITED  v  Houston, 7pm
~ COLUMBUS  v  Orlando City, 730pm
~ Dallas FC  v  TORONTO FC, 830pm
~ LOS ANGELES  v  Sporting KC, 1030pm
Sunday, 19 April
~ NEW YORK CITY FC  v  PORTLAND, 7pm – on Fox Sports 1

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And now, here’s how the NASL & USL PRO guys did last weekend:

INDY ELEVEN  D 1-1  v New York Cosmos  •  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] subbed on in the 70th minute of Indy’s home opener.  This Saturday, Indy travels to the San Antonio Scorpions for a 830pm match.

OTTAWA FURY  D 1-1  @ ATLANTA SILVERBACKS  •  No Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] for the Fury in this one.  He’s still out nursing an injury.  But, Matt Horth [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] is back!  After  spending 2014 playing in Iceland with Leiknir Reykjavik, he re-signed with the Silverbacks in January (sorry I’m just figuring that out now).  He started as one of Atlanta’s forwards and played 71 minutes before subbing off.  (In week one, he started up top and played 77 minutes against Indy before being subbed.)  So far, this young NASL season, Ottawa has one point from its first two games and Atlanta has two from two.  The Fury hosts Minnesota United FC on Saturday at 3pm, while Atlanta travels to the Carolina RailHawks for a 730pm contest.

PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS  D 1-1  v St. Louis FC  •  Michael Green [Strongsville/Strongsville] started as an outside back and played all 90 of this match.  On Sunday, the Hounds, who are 1-1-1 on the season, host Louisville City FC at 3pm.

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

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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 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

Second post in 24 hours!!

Here’s the same sort of post as the previous one, although it’ll be focusing on our two NASL guys – and one who was in USL PRO last season, but slipped past our radar.

MIKE GREEN  [Strongsville/Strongsville]  •  The 2011 graduate of the University of New Mexico has played the last three seasons with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in USL PRO.  In 2014, Green played in 28 games with 25 starts and he scored four goals.  According to the Hounds’ website, he is still on the team’s roster.  The USL PRO season kicks off 21 March and Pittsburgh plays its first game a week later, at home against Harrisburg City Islanders.  Keep an eye on this space for updates on Green.

KYLE HYLAND  [Bay Village/Bay]  •  After his first season with NASL  newbies Indy Eleven, Hyland did enough to impress his way to a new contract for 2015.  Despite a couple injuries and a surgery that ended his season early, he played in 17 games at left back (with a shift or two at left mid mixed in) and started 12 of them.  He racked up four assists, which is a decent total for an outside back.  The Eleven struggled to find their footing on the field and had an uneven season, which was to be expected in their first year.  Off the field, things went very well, and there are even plans to build a fancy new downtown stadium.  In year two, Hyland and company will aspire to a more consistent set of performances, which should lead to more points and, ideally, a berth in the playoffs.  Indy kicks off its spring season at Atlanta on 4 April, but they have not yet announced their preseason plans.

SINISA UBIPARIPOVIC  [Mentor/Mentor]  •  Our other NASL guy playing  with an expansion franshise had a typically solid season, one with the kind of numbers we’ve come to expect from him based on his time in MLS with New York and Montreal.  Ubiparipovic played 25 games, started 22 of them and contributed four goals and two assists, which is his best season numbers-wise, since 2008 or 2009.  It’s simple – when he plays, he produces.  He’ll be back in Ottawa in 2015.  Seems like they’ve got a good thing going up there, and will look to improve upon a herky-jerky first season.  Ubiparipovic should be a big part of that, if he’s healthy.  At age 31 are his MLS days behind him?  Depends on a lot of things, but his skill with the ball is up there with anyone in any American league.  The Fury’s preseason has begun and will run through March, as the NASL season doesn’t kick off until the first weekend in April, when they at the Carolina RailHawks.

* In doing my homework for these three, I discovered a new site that I dig – us.soccerway.com  I’m not sure who runs it or posts stats, etc. to it, but it’s very helpful for the non-MLS guys.  Lots of good info there that I can’t seem to find easily on the NASL or USL PRO sites.  (Yet?)

** Please let me know of anyone else who may be out there playing in the lower divisions that I might not have included in posts last year.

2014 Week Twenty-Six Report

This past weekend in MLS action, our boys’ teams took a trip to Draw City!  Only two of the games didn’t result in a tie ballgame… and those were both losses, by the way.  However, in CONCACAF Champions League action, it was a different story.  Three games, three wins for our fellas!  Nice!!  Here’s how it all went down:

MONTREAL IMPACT  D 2-2  v LOS ANGELES GALAXY  •  Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] started and played all of this match, which ended the Galaxy’s steam-rolling run
 through the league on a five-game winning streak.  No Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] in the Galaxy travel team for this one.

DC UNITED  L 0-1  @ New York Red Bulls  •  No Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] on the night, still out with a groin strain.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 1-2  @ New England Revolution  •  No doubt with an eye towards the mid-week CONCACAF Champions League contest with New York looming, Bush was given the night off.

COLUMBUS CREW  D 2-2 @ Houston Dynamo  •  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub.  Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] is out recovering from surgery.

TORONTO FC  D 1-1  @ Chicago Fire  •  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] was back from the hamstring injury that had kept him out of action since early August.  If you’re any kind of fan of the league, you’ve already seen the video of the TFC goal that was disallowed at the end of this match.  In case you haven’t seen it yet, here it is.  Terrible call.  Unreal.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 2-2  @ Colorado Rapids  •  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started and played 85 minutes as the Timbers let two points slip away at home.  Again.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  D 1-1  @ San Jose Earthquakes  •  Walker made the subs’ bench for this match, his first appearance in nearly a month!

DC UNITED  W 2-1   @ Waterhouse FC – CCL group 3  •  No Korb.  DC is currently second in the group behind Waterhouse with two games in hand.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 4-2  v CD Olimpia – CCL group 5  •  Nagbe subbed in with 27 minutes left.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] started at wide mid and played all 90.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub.  Portland is currently second in the group behind Olimpia with a game in hand.

MONTREAL IMPACT  W 1-0  v New York Red Bulls – CCL group 4  •  Bush shut out NYRB in a big match that puts the Impact on top of the group.  NYRB has a game in hand right now, so the Canadian “champions” are going to want to keep winning in order to stay there.

UP NEXT:
PORTLAND  v  Vancouver, Saturday, 20 September, 5pm – NBC Sports Network
COLUMBUS  v  New England, 730pm
MONTREAL  v  San Jose, 730pm
Chicago  v  DC UNITED, 830pm
LOS ANGELES  v  FC Dallas, 1030pm
TORONTO FC  v  Chivas USA, Sunday, 21 September, 3pm – UniMás
PORTLAND  v  Alpha United, CCL group 5, Tuesday, 23 September, 10pm – Fox Sports 1
DC UNITED  v  Tauro FC, CCL group 3, Wednesday, 24 September, 8pm – Fox Sports 2

Non-MLS Report
WILMINGTON HAMMERHEADS  L 1-4  @ Sacramento Republic FC – USL PRO Playoffs  •  All things must come to an end, and in the California capital, so did both Wilmington’s stay in the playoffs and the loan spell of Columbus Crew goalie Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] with the Hammerheads.  The visitors fought fiercely to keep their season going, but in the end, the Republic were/was just too much.  Stuver made six saves in the match and over the course of his time in teal (or is it considered more of a sky blue?), he’ll hope his body of work was enough to impress the Crew brass as they look towards next year.

INDY ELEVEN  D 1-1  v FC Edmonton  •  No Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] in this match, as he’s still dealing with a groin tear from the previous week., but the point was much-needed for the Eleven in order to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.  Indy is tied with Ottawa on points, but has played one fewer game, so they’re technically ninth.  

OTTAWA FURY  W 2-0  v Tampa Bay Rowdies  •  The Fury snagged three huge points with this win, as Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] scored Ottawa’s second goal during his 20 minute-shift after subbing in at center mid.  He now has four goals and three assists on the season for the NASL’s eighth-place team.

PHOTO CREDIT:  Bush/cbc.ca; Ubiparipovic/Ottawa Fury

2014 Week Twenty-Five Report

This really has been a tough year for our guys with injuries.  Seems like 2013 really saw a lot of our boys get some good runs in their various teams, and their games developed as a result.  Only two of our MLS guys got in this past weekend.  As the playoffs approach and coaches become more reluctant to change what they’re doing, we’re not likely to see much variation in that regard, even if our hurt guys get back healthy.  We’ll see, though.  Here’s what went down last weekend:

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 6-0  v Colorado Rapids  •  Still no Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe], but that hasn’t stopped the Galaxy from winning five straight.  I guess they don’t need him right now?

TORONTO FC  L 0-2  v Philadelphia Union  •  Still no Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius], who’s out with an injured hamstring, and it looks like TFC could’ve used him.

MONTREAL IMPACT  L 2-3  @ Houston Dynamo  •  Well, it looks like the Impact D that we once knew didn’t go too far.  A week after helping Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic] shut out the Crew, the boys in bleu let Houston put three by him in a road loss.  Bush made three saves to keep things close – Montreal was leading 2-1 after 55 minutes, after all – but that only made his save percentage for the match 50.

DC UNITED  D 0-0  @ Vancouver Whitecaps  •  Still no Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School], who’s out with an injured groin, but this road point was a decent reward for DC.

COLUMBUS CREW  W 3-0  v Chivas USA  •  Still no Josh Williams [Copley/Copley] for the Crew, as he recovers from rib-removal-blood-clot-alleviation surgery, and Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub.  The Crew climbed back into playoff contention with the win.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  D 3-3  v San Jose Earthquakes  •  This match was end-to-end action for all 90+ minutes.  And if it hadn’t been for the stellar performance of Earthquakes keeper Jon Busch, it would probably have been a 7-3 Portland win.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] started and went 90 and Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub in this see-saw goalfest.  Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was not in the team.

UP NEXT
MONTREAL  v  LOS ANGELES, Wednesday, 10 September, 730pm
New York  v  DC UNITED, 8pm – ESPN2
New England  v  MONTREAL, Saturday, 13 September, 730pm
Chicago  v  Toronto FC, 830pm
Houston  v  COLUMBUS, 830pm
Colorado  v  PORTLAND, 9pm
San Jose  v  LOS ANGELES, Sunday, 14 September, 3pm – UniMás

The Non-MLS Report
INDY ELEVEN  W 2-1  v Atlanta Silverbacks  •  The Eleven got its third win of the season, but it came at a cost.  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] started at left back, but then was subbed out in the 17th minute with an injury.  I’ll keep you updated on his status for this weekend’s game.  NEXT  UP:  v FC Edmonton, Saturday, 13 September, 730pm

OTTAWA FURY  D 2-2  v Carolina Railhawks  •  Our man of the weekend would be Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] if we awarded one.  He assisted on both goals, highlighted by this pass (2:33 mark) that made the Fury’s tally in the dying seconds of second-half injury time.  NEXT UP:  @ Tampa Bay Rowdies, Saturday, 13 September, 730pm 

WILMINGTON HAMMERHEADS  L 0-2  @ Rochester Rhinos;  W 4-0 v Dayton Dutch Lions  •  Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] started both, played 90 in both and made three and six saves, respectively, in the two matches.  The split put the Hammerheads in the USL-PRO Playoffs as the #7 seed, and they’ll travel west to take on #3-seed Sacramento Republic FC next Saturday at 1030pm.  (The photo of Stuver is from Wilmington’s game last week at Orlando City, but it’s really cool, no?)

PHOTO CREDIT:  Bush – USA Today Sports Images; Stuver – Neill Worrall, Florida Leisure

2014 Week Twenty-Four Report

Everyone has fewer than ten games left in their seasons, so each contest is now super-important.  Three points lost are three points gained by a conference foe, and a draw is maybe not as good as it is bad… depending on others’ results.  It was a big week with a lot of our boys’ teams moving around the standings a little bit.  All that being said, only three of our MLS guys got and tick.  Here’s what went down last weekend:

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 4-1  v DC UNITED  •  A mid-week clash between two traditional rivals saw no action for either of our boys, but plenty of goals and attacking verve from the home side.  Chris Korb [Gates Mills/University School] was not in the travel squad thanks to a still-dodgy hammy and Kenney Walker [Wickliffe/Wickliffe] was not in the Galaxy XVIII because… well… I can’t seem to be able to dig up anything that has happened to him.  Maybe the other guys at his spot – and there are a few – are just in better form at the moment.  Since getting smoked by the Crew in the middle of last month, the Galaxy have won four straight by a combined score of 13-4.

TORONTO FC  L 0-3  v New England Revolution  •  This loss cost TFC boss Ryan Nelsen his job, which was a weird thing, especially since the Reds were and are in a playoff spot.  Justin Morrow [Cleveland/St. Ignatius] was not available after tearing a hamstring last weekend.

MONTREAL IMPACT  W 2-0  v COLUMBUS CREW  •  Well, I’m honestly very happy for Evan Bush [Concord Township/Lake Catholic], who authored his second shutout in three games, but I was certainly not happy that night as a Crew fan.  Not when an opportunity to cement a playoff spot went wasted.  Bush played well, making five saves along the way.  Truly, he deserved it.  Especially after all the goalfests the Impact’s porous defense has permitted during his four other starts (12 goals allowed).  Nevertheless, Montreal is still in the basement and the Crew are still in the basement of the playoff berths, clinging onto 5th place by the narrowest of margins (a 1-point lead over Philly, who have a game in hand as of last weekend).  Ben Speas [Stow/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] subbed in at mid for the final 14 minutes.

PORTLAND TIMBERS  W 3-0  @ Vancouver Whitecaps  •  They’re all must-win games now, but last Sunday’s was a mustn’t-lose match for the Timbers.  Darlington Nagbe [Lakewood/St. Edward] picked an ideal time to turn in one of his best performances of the season.  He played all 90 and created the Timbers’ final goal of the game with this mazy dribble.  Ben Zemanski [Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy] was an unused sub and Michael Nanchoff [North Royalton/Walsh Jesuit] was not in the team.

DC UNITED  W 2-0  v New York Red Bulls  •  Nice bounce-back, DC.  Very nice.  No Korb, though.  Performances like that will win you the Atlantic Cup every year… which they did by winning the match and despite the fact the two teams will play again in less than a fortnight.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY  W 3-0  @ Chivas USA  •  Galaxy still rollin’ on.  Not a Walker in sight.  Did you see this goal from Robbie Keane?  If not, it is most definitely worth watching.  Pretty sweet stuff from the Irishman.

UP NEXT
Philadelphia  v  TORONTO FC, Wednesday, 3 September, 730pm
LOS ANGELES  v  Colorado, Friday, 5 September, 1030pm – Univisión Deportes
TORONTO  v  Philadelphia, Saturday, 6 September, 2pm
Houston  v  MONTREAL, 830pm
Vancouver  v  DC UNITED, 10pm
COLUMBUS  v  Chivas USA, Sunday, 7 September, 3pm – UniMás
PORTLAND  v San Jose, 445pm – ESPN

 

The non-MLS Report
INDY ELEVEN  D 2-2  v New York Cosmos  •  The Eleven snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat with a 90th minute tally last Saturday night.  Making the win all the more exciting is the fact the Cosmos held a 2-0 lead at the 60-minute mark.  Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] started and played all 90 at left back.  The draw puts Indy in the NASL’s ninth place with eight points.  NEXT UP:  @ Atlanta Silverbacks, Saturday, 6 September, 730pm

OTTAWA FURY  L 0-2  v Tampa Bay Rowdies  •  The Fury surrendered both goals in the first half en route to its fifth loss of the fall season.  Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor] started at offensive mid and played the first half before being subbed out.  Ottawa is now last in the league with five points from eight games.  NEXT UP:  v Carolina RailHawks, Sunday, 7 September, 3pm

WILMINGTON HAMMERHEADS  L 1-3  v Orlando City SC;  D 0-0  v Sacramento Republic FC  •  Brad Stuver [Twinburg/Twinsburg] played all of both matches, as the Hammerheads continue their push towards the USL-PRO playoffs.  He made seven saves against OC and two more against Sac FC.  Wilmington has three matches remaining in the regular season and can lock up a playoff berth by earning at least four points from those matches.  NEXT UP:  v Orlando City, Wednesday, 3 September, 730pm;  @ Dayton Dutch Lions, Friday, 5 September, 7pm;  @ Rochester Rhinos, Sunday, 7 Sepetmber, 405pm

PHOTO CREDIT:  Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA Today

The Non-MLS Report for (most of) August

Yep.  It’s been a while.  But let’s get caught up real quick.  Here’s what our fellas in the NASL and USL-PRO have been up to since August began:

INDY ELEVEN
   L 2-4 v Atlanta Silverbacks (2 Aug)
   D 0-0 v Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (6 Aug)
   L 0-2 @ San Antonio Scorpions (9 Aug)
   L 1-5 @ Minnesota United FC (16 Aug)
Kyle Hyland [Bay Village/Bay] was an unused sub against Atlanta but then returned to his normal starting gig at left back for the Strikers and Scorpions matches.  In the Minnesota United match, he started at left back and subbed out in the 67th minute.  The Eleven is currently eighth in the NASL with seven points from seven matches.  UP NEXT:  v Ottawa Fury, Saturday, 23 August, 730pm

OTTAWA FURY FC
   L 1-2  v Minnesota United FC (2 Aug)
   L 1-2  v Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (9 Aug)
   D 0-0  v San Antonio Scorpions (16 Aug)
Sinisa Ubiparipovic [Mentor/Mentor]  started and played 90 in the loss to Minnesota, scoring the Fury’s only goal and picking up a yellow card in the 61st minute.  He started as one of the center mids and played 90 against both the Strikers and Scorpions.  The Fury is currently last in the ten-team league, with just two points from six matches.  UP NEXT:  @ Indy Eleven, Saturday, 23 August, 730pm

WILMINGTON HAMMERHEADS FC
   L 1-2  v Dayton Dutch Lions (9 Aug)
   L 0-1  @ New York Red Bulls Reserves (15 Aug)
   L 0-2  @ Sacramento Republic FC (20 Aug)
Since being loaned to the Hammerheads of USL-PRO for the remainder of the season, Brad Stuver [Twinsburg/Twinsburg] has yet to win a match or shut out an opponent, but we know that’s not all his fault.  The important thing is that for the first time in his professional career, he’s getting a steady run of games and playing time.  He started and played all of those matches.  UP NEXT:  @ Orange County Blues, Saturday, 23 August, 10pm; @ LA Galaxy II, Sunday, 24 August, 3pm