Well, I chose to stay close to home, spend less money and watch a match that ended with the awarding of a trophy...and I got to go to that "soccer oasis," Lusitano Stadium. The match was quite thrilling and pretty well played. How the W. Mass. Pioneers managed to top the table in the regular season with that anemic strike force is beyond me. Neil Krause is a big boy who is used as a target forward; unfortunately, most of the time he either doesn't get up to head the ball, heads it aimlessly and weakly, or traps the ball directly to the feet of an opponent. Not that he begins to shoulder all the blame. At about the 60th minute I thought, "hmmm, they really need to just work on possession to eat up some time and slow this game down" (it had started to get extremely chippy at that point). Then I realized that I couldn't remember the Pioneers ever stringing three passes together all game. So I started watching and counting, only to be severely disappointed to be right. Fortunately for the Pioneers, the Charlotte Eagles were just as bad at holding possession; although, when they did get forward they pressed harder and were more organized. The real standout player on this team is Omar McFarlane. On the few occasions when the play went through the midfield, it went through him on (I hope you're seated) the LEFT wing. He was always double teamed and usually triple teamed. Most of the time he broke free and made a run at goal. I imagine he would cross more often if he had teammates making runs, but he usually took a decent shot instead. He is left-sided to a fault as he missed one golden opportunity that would have been on frame had he pulled it back to his right foot. He's only 22 and American, perhaps the Revs should consider giving him a look, Benfica did (or at least I assume it is the same player although that thread lists him as a U20 and from Connecticut). The Pioneers goals were both real crackers and the tying goal in the dying minutes was simply pathetic. Still, it is sad that the Pioneers didn't get to hoist the hardware. One fun note, if you recorded this match, you can watch for a ball that goes out of play and off the railing of the far stands somewhere around 5 minutes into the second half. Notice the man in the Pararguay jersey moving from left to right on your screen. He stops just in the nick of time, and the words out of his mouth are "my beer!" which he ably saves from demise.