the NJ Stallions have moved out of central Jersey up north. They'll be playing their home games at De Paul High School in Wayne. They also have an indoor facility for practice and youth leagues in Clifton. I'm gonna have to check it cause I live real close to Wayne. It seems odd they would move closer to the MetroStars but according to their site Clifton is their traditional home. www.njstallions.com
USL franchises in New Jersey are always starting up, moving around, going on hiatus, folding, etc. It must be a nightmare trying to figure out the regional franchise rights. USL has extremely tight restrictions on that. The North Jersey Imperials entered the league in 1994, while the Stallions didn't join until 1996. I don't know where New Jersey played in their first years (they started out as the "New York" Stallions), but the existence of the Imps would have prevented them from playing in North Jersey while the Central Jersey Riptide would have kept them out of the New Brunswick area. The Riptide (actually, their successors the New Brunswick Brigade), folded two years ago, probably triggering the Stallions' move to Memorial Stadium. Then the Imperials folded before last season, opening the door for the Stallions to move north. Anyway, kudos to the Stallions for their longevity. It'll be interesting to see how they do this year without 2-time MVP Julio Cesar dos Santos.
I didn't think the Imperials folded, I thought they just became MetroStars Black. I went to see the Imperials once back in 94 or 95 when they played in Bayonne. All I remember is that they had kick-ins and blue cards... I never went back.
Stallions have no idea they are a horrible orginization who has lost yet another top notch player. They have a son in law GM who does no work. The new field they play on is 60 yards wide and field turf. They lost former coach of the year Robbie McCourt who was their most successful coach ever. From that National Championship team they lost defender of the year Faccilongo and now have lost thier franchise player Julio Cesar Dos Santos. It is a shame that a team with so much promise was dismantled so easily. Former a league all star Jason Cairns has also left the team due to disgust with the lack of professionalism there. They have not had a coach for more than 2 years there. Lets see how long the new guy lasts. Will they ever return to the form that got them to the MLS round of the Open Cup 2 years in a row under coach McCourt? Last year they lost to a PDL team.
Wojtek Krakowiak plays for these guys! Wow, from Herman winner to the D3 Pro League. This guy is the poster child for not leaving college early!
Jersey Shore Boca is a new (actually, "provisional", meaning they play a shortened schedule and are not playoff-eligible) team that started up this year. The other USL team in Jersey is the South Jersey Barons who dropped from D3 to PDL this year. Frieslander, what league do the MetroStars Black play in? About a year ago, I was trying to figure out what had happened to the Imperials; I had heard the announcements about a relationship with the Metros, but I couldn't find a thing (recently) about it. All I know is that, whatever their name is, they are no longer a USL franchise. And BTW, all those experiments with kick-ins, etc are a thing of the past. There is no shoot-out, no blue cards, they even use regular international points (3-1-0) for standings now. Only bastardization is a 20-minute OT.
The MetroStars Black actually play in an amateur league in North Jersey called Champions League. They are not a USL team. I also thought Boca was a PDL team, not Pro Select. As far as I know, the Stallions are the last D3 team left in NJ. That's too bad.
The Flames play there this weekend, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I'll post thoughts afterwards (probably on Sunday).
I'm going to try to go see them. Unfortunately, I can't make it this Saturday (I got Devils tix), but I'll let you know when I see them.
Old articles (before last season), but interesting background info about all the Jersey teams: http://www.oursportscentral.com/story.cfm?storyid=2044 http://www.oursportscentral.com/story.cfm?storyid=2053
Flames results Okay, I was at the game and the Flames won 4-2, but had the lead 4-1, when in stoppage time, the referee awarded a PK that was converted. The game ended immediately after the kickoff whistle. Jenks played but did nothing to stand out in memory. Sorry. You can see the report at: www.westchesterflames.com
boca is a PDL team, coached by former MLS player David Vaudreuil. he also plays for them. not a bad team, showed a lot of promise early even without many of their college players. kevin ara from harvard is on the team. as far as jenks goes, i am going to see new jersey play the freedoms friday so i will also let you know about him.
Writer - and you're not going to come see them play Westchester on Saturday????? Just curious. Let me know if you do want to come up.
Jenks did a decent job in the midfield. nothing spectacular, but was steady, especially in the second half. Was subbed out three minutes into stoppage time and the guy who came in for him, Leeban McGregor, was sent off less than two minutes later!! Stallions won 2-1 in a game that was a double Open Cup qualifier because a postponed game at New York couldnt be reschedued in time. And by the way, 11 total bookings!! 4 red cards--two apiece!! Ugly, ugly game.
Stallions = Joke Under new coach they have not advanced in Open Cup or made the playoffs. They chased their most successful coach and players away and are now not accomplishing anything. The are supposed to be an Italian club and have all Spainsh players. This is the worst orginization in the USL. Why would they get rid of their most successful group and not get rid of the current group of misfits? Other teams in their division must just laugh at them. Once again they will win nothing and completely waste money and make poor decisions. Shame !!!
The Central Jersey Riptide played their games at Raritan High School in Hazlet,NJ for almost 4 seasons. I was at almost every home game for them between 1996 and 1998. I was there when Tomasz Wygonik scored 4 goals on Zach Thornton(NJ Imperials at the time). I was there when their charity match with the old guys from the Cosmos was canceled. I was there when the Polish connection reigned supreme over the USISL. Sadly, Rartian football got better and they didnt want their field messed up. So..Bye bye Riptide. Stallions played in Toms River for a long time as well. Once the Riptide moved, I went to Stallions games for a few years..Julio Cesar was AWESOME. Luis Mendoza had talent,Emmett Izdahl was the GK, and they played at Toms River North.
New Jersey Falcons (PDL I believe) are playing their home games the rex plex in Elizabeth and at Kean Univ in Union....I saw some of the games against Brooklyn a few weeks ago, not too bad..... haven't seen this team talked about much and I figured they are easy enough to get to at either location...
Yep, the Falcons are the new "Polish" team in Jersey following the path of the Riptide. Greg Bajek is the Falcons' coach and GM (and still plays) and seems to have that club on the right track. Their record is only 2-5-1 but they seem more competitive than last season when they ended up 5-12-1 (they were 1-19 the year before, their first in the league). With all the homegrown talent in the area, you'd expect Jersey teams to be among the strongest in the league. But the problem with Jersey PDL teams always seems to be getting players to commit to the team. There seem to be other competitions that take guys away, especially from road trips. As a fan in Vermont, I've seen the various Jersey teams travel up here many times with only 11 or 12 players dressed for games. The Imperials once fielded only ten players vs Vermont in their last season in the league. You certainly can't expect to win like that.
Bajek...another Riptide alumni. I'll have to check out the Falcons to see how many Ex-Riptiders play for them. Riptide had 7 players from the Polish 1st division. And our supersub was Guy Valcourt, the Jamaican living in Brooklyn.