In past year's there's been a thread for USOC predictions. I haven't seen one yet, so I thought I'd throw this out to generate some discussion. I hope folks aren't wagering too much on 2012 PDL Southeast Champs, Ocala Stampede in Tuesday's match vs. the Red Force. Ocala lost last night to first-year NPSL team, Cape Coral.
Minnesota can't play in Blaine in the Open Cup: http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/207236901.html
#USOC100 From @ATLSoccer Nicholson booked in the 31st minute for @Ga_Revolution but Madura makes it 2-0 in the 40th minute.— Daniel Feuerstein (@DFeuerstein) May 14, 2013
Reading handles Lehigh Valley 2-0 tonight on a cool night at Oley Valley High School. Decent crowd for a Tuesday night match away from the usual home venue, very strong performance by Reading who twice hit the post and dominated possession. Goals by Darius Madison (after a nice square pass from Larry Ndjock) and an incredible strike from Steve Neumann, a rocket blasted from a tough angle. Good showing from Neumann, he's a very capable midfielder, perhaps a Graham Zusi if he can polish his restarts, and Mario Pinto showed pretty well too despite not scoring. Ben Sweat and Manolo Sanchez also looked decent, Manolo more so in the first half. Reading is big, fast, and technically savvy. Lehigh Valley played stout defensively but didn't threaten or possess the ball enough. Reading gets to host the City Islanders next Tuesday, it should be another tight Open Cup showdown, although Reading will have played 48 hours earlier and Harrisburg will have a few extra days of rest.
Watched a little bit of the Dayton / River City game. Cameramen were atrocious. Dayton looked better in every facet of the game. Were up 3-0 before 50 minutes. Noticed Austin got a red card and proceeded to score two more goals against their North Texas foes.
I was at the DDL v. RCR match. I was amazed at how bad the Rovers were. They did not look good, at all. I expected a much better side. I understand that they may not have had some of their players, but man...did not look good. Yes, they were probably only together for a week or two, but still... Yes, they were going against a professional side, but these PDL guys are hopeful professionals (or I imagine they would be). Oh well. Final was 3-0. I will be attending the next USOC match on May 21 when DDL host Dearborn Stars SC.
Soooooo....they didn't have all their players, they had only been together a short time and they were playing against pros, but, still, they should have looked in great form? Really?
"I know you only have the one leg, but, man, you should have done better in that ass-kicking contest."
Sounders U-23s win 5-1 against Doxa Italia, who is supposed to be a very good amateur side out of California. Believe it was 5-0 after the first half with one player scoring 4. Not a potential homegrown though. David Geno from East Tennessee State University I believe.
I expected better soccer from them. I didn't expect them to win. I expected them to look better. They had a roster that was loaded with some talent from Louisville, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Evansville, Indiana, and numerous other schools. These guys know how to play soccer. Like any other amateur team playing against a pro team, they live for it and want to "shock and awe." That wasn't done. I looked over their roster and it appears they were only missing one or two players, at most. One would have made a HUGE difference -- Cincinnati freshman striker, John Manga. I hope they take something out of the game, the speed of play and technical ability of the game. The DDL were so much more crisp than any and all of the Division I players that played for the Rovers. You look over the DDL roster, you see NAIA, DII, and DIII all over the place. It is amazing to see how crisp they are. It is extremely important to play quicker and fewer touches.
The article says that they'll try to play the game at Robbie Stadium in Falcon Heights, which is in my opinion actually a pretty great location to watch soccer. It's got pretty limited seating, but that should add to the "packed house" feel. These games, especially the early rounds, aren't big money makers for the home teams anyway, so a smaller crowd might also help to keep overhead down (fewer ticket takers, fewer ushers, fewer concession and gift shop workers). Not a lot of people know where Robbie Stadium is, or even that it exists, so United will have the work cut out for them as far as giving directions, but the venue is actually quite accessible. EDIT: If I remember correctly, there might be an opportunity to bring in a large number of pitch-level seats, like the team does at NSC and the Dome. That sort of seating and standing room tickets (at a slight discount?) might help get the place really rocking.
Also, and pardon my ignorance, but was there a reason some USL PRO teams had to play in the first round while others didn't? At first I thought it was just the new teams (Phoenix and VSI), but then I realized that Dayton and Pittsburgh also had to play.
I think it's because of the strange number of teams. The qualification didn't leave a nice easy even number of teams so that every USL Pro team could wait one more round. They may have used last season's league results (not Cup results, because Dayton did well last year) to determine who had to play in the first round. Pittsburgh and Dayton were the worst teams not from Antigua last year, that was probably it. In other news, the NPSL appears to have gone 1-4-1 (1-5 advancing) against the PDL, with Madison to play Des Moines tonight.
League against league head-to-head to date, for Round 1: NPSL v USASA: 0-1 PDL v USASA: 5-1 PDL v NPSL:5-1 (Des Moines-Madison to play) USLP v USASA: 1-0 USLP v NSPL: None USLP v. PDL: 2-1 So far, no big surprises, unless you thought the NPSL was closer to the PDL than they are. Next round gives us just one NASL-USLP matchup, which in this format means we might only get one for the entire tournament. But it's Tampa v. Tampa, which should be fun at least.
I think these are the standings by affiliation in the first round so far: Record as W-L-T, (Advancement) Home teams: 11-3-3 (13-4) USL Pro: 1-1-2 (3-1) PDL: 10-3-2 (11-4) USASA: 2-5-1 (2-6) NPSL: 1-5-1 (1-6)
And if you add in the prelim round, the NPSL is 2-5-2 (3-6), USSA is 0-0-1 (0-1) and USCS 0-1-0 (0-1). And home teams are 11-4-4 (13-6).
The surprise I thought of was Phoenix FC losing to FC Tuscon. I watched Phoenix FC lose to DDL on Saturday night, and found out some interesting info on PFC. There is no reason they should be losing to a PDL team... I did think the Dearborn Stars beating the Michigan Bucks could've been thought of as a shocker too. The Bucks have always been a tough side and performed decently in the USOC. They also have a loaded roster again this season. But, the Stars are no pushover. I love the controversy that will be following them throughout the tournament.
I noticed this too. The coin toss was none too friendly to the NPSL this year (statement, not conspiracy theory). Personally, I hope the Madison 56ers take out the De Moines Menace tonight. Both teams have had some real quality of late, and I think either will challenge MN United (wherever they play). For me Dearborn Stars over Michigan Bucks was the upset of the evening. The Bucks have traditionally had a lot of success in the USOC, and I fully expected to see them make another run this season. Props to the USASA side for upending them. The fact that they shut them out just adds salt to the wound.
Except that it's soccer, and the ball bounces funny, and on this Tuesday or that Tuesday, it can (and does) actually happen. If nothing that isn't supposed to happen never happened...why would we watch sports? Phoenix shouldn't have allowed Pittsburgh to score a tying goal a couple Fridays ago...but they did. It's just life.
Some attendance figures from last night: RWB Adria at Pittsburgh Riverhounds - 1,400 Chattanooga FC at Carolina Dynamo - 1,221 Phoenix FC at FC Tucson - 910 NTX Rayados at Austin Aztex - 638 VSI Tampa Bay FC at Orlando City U23s - 535 Doxa Italia at Seattle Sounders U23s - 473
I have to say, those are some surprisingly good numbers. I was only expecting 200-300 at House Park last night. I was very pleased to see that many come out. I hope we don't get audience fatigue. With that win, we're now guaranteed a run of five home games in three weeks. ...and, yes, I know. That's only five of the 17 games. Nevertheless, pretty good numbers.