Yeah the Flash looked really out of whack tonight. That and Gold were just faster and more intuitive. Whenever Flash passed near goal a Gold player always seemed to have anticipated their moves and was just zipping by grabbing the ball.
Hollywood beats Santa Ana 3-1. Santa Ana's GK was shown a red card for handling outside the box after 10 mins, and were on the rack from then on. First half: Bentil and Whitfield score for Hollywood, Greg Piechota for Santa Ana, 2-1 at half time. Nick Blanco makes it 3-1 five mins into second half. Western Conference Final: Hollywood United Hitmen vs. Sacramento Gold Saturday, June 16th @ Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles Kickoff time TBC
Congrats on the win! I was looking forward to coming to LA for the final, But Flash let us down. You should be able to beat Sacramento easily. They do get to the ball quickly and they have good speed on the right side. Good Luck!
Should Hollywood United or Sacramento win the National Championship, it will be the 3rd consecutive time California wins it. Sacramento won it last year and Sonoma County Sol won it the year before that.
They should just automatically give the national title to whoever wins the Western Conference, and save all those other non-CA teams (poor devils!) from suffering the humiliating defeats they are clearly going to suffer
Makes you wonder if part of the reason the West Division is so good is because there's really no USL Pro or NASL presence in CA right now (the last minute addition of the LA Blues notwithstanding nor probably surviving beyond this year). Leaves teams that otherwise might consider going up a level from doing so as there are several very well run organizations in the NASL West several of them with aspirations to go higher but right now there really isn't any "higher" to go to outside MLS in the state.
I'd say that's certainly possible. Just from watching NPSL this year there are clearly a couple of dozen players who could EASILY succeed at USL Pro level, if there was anything out there beyond LA Blues. We've got at least five. Flash have Larry Emeanua, Ladule LoSarah, their goalkeeper Myers, Nelson Pizarro, and a couple of others who impressed me greatly. Taylor Canel and Greg Folk from Hasental. Carranza, Cabadas and Jeff Neuner from Sacramento. I think we'll continue to see growth at this level too, as more and more teams realize how competitive it is, both financially and skill-wise, with the PDL. I can almost see it growing into a de-facto "USL2 West" as time goes on.
CAMPEONES! Hollywood beats Sacramento 1-0 to win the NPSL West playoff title and advance to the National Final Four. Sacramento is reduced to nine men in the first half, first when Chris Sandoval stamps on Ema Bentil and is shown a straight red, and then when Utodi Madu gets a second yellow for dissent, having previously been carded for a foul. Nick Blanco scored the games only goal in first half stoppage time, a 20-yard screamer into the top corner. Sacramento bunker to a 6-1-1 formation and look to catch Hollywood on a break if they can. Sacramento's keeper Herrera stands on his head and makes six world class saves in the second half to keep Hollywood out; no-one manages to score any more, and it finishes 1-0.
Wow not the most impressive win but good luck to the western rep. Sac must've been playing hard though to hold off Hollywood despite being down two men through regulation.
They defended like their lives depended on it, and their goalkeeper Max Herrera was ridiculous - with any other keeper in goal, we would have won it 6-0. He made one particular save off a shot from Albarran that was flying into the bottom corner, and he just extended everything and fingertipped it round the post. Gotta represent California; looks like it'll be us, Milwaukee Bavarians, Georgia Revolution, and then whoever wins the Northeast (either Brooklyn, FC Sonic or Erie).
Actually, through a quirk in the tiebreaker rules, Jacksonville United go through in the Southeast region with 6 wins over GAs 5 wins.
Rather than start a new thread on the Western Conference - I thought, snce it is still 2011...that I would ask my Q here... What is happening with the Western Conference as far as expansion goes? I just found out that Humboldt County has been given a team for the Northern Division! Any other news?
Lancaster Rattlers have moved to Santa Clarita and are completely rebranding as FC Santa Clarita. There was some murmerings that the Tijuana Xolos were going to buy out San Diego Boca and rebrand as a Xolos U23 team in San Diego, but that seems to have hit a snag and now I'm hearing that Boca are staying in the NPSL and the Xolos are starting a totally new PDL team. There's supposed to be a new team in northern San Diego county, the Tiburones, but there hasn't been a formal announcement of that yet. Beyond that, as far as I know, everyone else is coming back - Hollywood, Flash, Sacramento, Santa Ana, Hasental, and all the rest.
I spoke with a dear friend that works with Xolos as a promoter and he was saying they were blown away on the difference in the amount that the PDL charges and what the NPSL charge so that kind of backed them out a bit. They don't want to use that much money when they are still a new team in the Mexican Premier League and need every penny for that. As of SD Boca it seems to not make up their mind in the moment, i mean why would Boca continue after having such a horrible ending to their season, coaches quit, players talking really bad about the administration and how they got treated but we will see. Tiburones of Oceanside seems to be set, they are officially in the NPSL West Conference for 2012. NPSL made an announcement a while back and i also read an article on the San Diego Union Tribune on them moving up. www.tufcsoccer.com Really hope Xolos come in to join the NPSL. I will keep you updated.
Wait, so they were blown away with how much it would cost to join the PDL as opposed to the NPSL? (I'm assuming NPSL is still the cheaper option as it was a few years ago). Hopefully they give the NPSL another look with or without the dysfunctional Boca participation (particularly given the local derby potential).
the latest rumors on new teams in the west : Rattlers F.C. now F.C. Santa Clarita -officially move is done. new site http://www.fcscprosoccer.com Tiburones of Oceanside approve and is in for 2012 Eureka team is in in the North for 2012 Vegas group waiting to be approved to enter the Southern Calif. Conference 2012 Fullerton Rangers a expansion off of Santa Ana Winds waiting approval 2012 Southern conference could look like this : Boca Flash Tiburones Fullerton Rangers Hollywood United Santa Ana Winds FCSC -Santa Clarita FC Hasental Vegas 9 total team North adds eureka and maybe Oregon might return Sacrament Gold ??? ownership passed away last season no one knows whats happening with them, Rumors I have heard.
Oregon meaning Southern Oregon Fuego? That would be good to see. AFAIK, they still exist as a youth club.
I wonder if they might consider a three-division setup rather than just north and south: SOUTH Fullerton Rangers San Diego Boca San Diego Flash Tiburones FC Tijuana Xolos U23 CENTRAL Hasental FC Hollywood United Las Vegas Santa Ana Winds Santa Clarita FC NORTH Bay Area Ambassadors Eureka Real San Jose Sacramento Gold Sonoma County Sol Southern Oregon Fuego Could be a pretty cool setup. Home and away vs the other teams in your division, plus four/six games against non-division opponents for a 14-game regular season. The three divisional champions qualify for the conference playoffs, plus the best second place team.