After a bunch of rounds, though with the scheduling it's a bit tough to keep up, there are three unbeaten teams left. The Puerto Rico Islanders, which given their CONCACAF Champions League form is not too surprising, the Charleston Battery (lots of ties), and the sleeper - the expansion Austin Aztex. Both the Aztex and Islanders have only played three but they have looked convincing so far. For the Aztex, things came together much to the chagrin of fellow "newbies" Cleveland. The City Stars were thoroughly outmatched in a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Aztex. There was a solid reason for the "outmatching", the City Stars Ryan Stewart was ejected in the 49th allowing Austin's offense to push onward. Moving on...

The past couple weeks had several great individual showings:


Marlon James was the difference in a great battle between Vancouver and the Minnesota Thunder. A hat-trick at any time during the season will generally make the supporters happy, but a hat-trick (including the gamewinner) on your debut? That'll make you an instant hero. His performance earned him Player of the Week and pushed the Caps up to second in the table. James is a 32-year old striker from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but I remember his name from last season at some point when he was one of the Caribbean stars in Malaysia linked to an MLS team I can't remember. During his time with Kedah FA he averaged a goal a game (anyone remember what team it was?). Well, he's certainly on pace to beat that mark this season.


Timbers fans can thank Chris Seitz for his play in a 2-0 win over the Carolina Railhawks. On loan from Real Salt Lake for the weekend, Seitz was there for valuable time and he made the most of it making 9 saves against a pretty potent Railhawks offense. The Timbers shouldn't get used to him though because with Nick Rimando out for 2-3 weeks, it looks like Seitz is going to get his time to shine. Former Kansas City Wizard Ryan Pore provided a goal and an assist to ensure that the home fans would go home happy.


Two Saturdays ago, Eddie Johnson - on loan from Cardiff City (just kidding) - the former Man United youth product I mean, had 2 goals and an assist in Austin's first professional win. The Cleveland City Stars were the victim, a 3-0 rout. Not a bad showing for a guy that has been searching for goals over the past few seasons. His performance earned him Week Three Player of the Week honors.

And lastly - Johnny Menyongar. The diminutive Rochester striker has three goals in 4 games, including 2 in a big 2-1 win over Miami FC a couple Sundays ago. The former Liberian international, despite signing a recent contract extension, has been in good form for the Rhinos early on as they try and reach the USL Championship. Something which they fell narrowly short of last season.

Overall, it's fun to take a look at these names and wonder whether or not they would make the cut on a Major League Soccer squad. Clearly, Seitz would - but more the question mark surrounds Menyongar, Johnson, and a Marlon James. With USL-1 squads looking deeper than ever this year and the reserve division in Major League Soccer done for, it'll be interesting to see how MLS squads deal with rosters when the going gets tough.