Well, for those who were rooting for the Charleston Battery: You were not disappointed at all! Charleston Battery 3:0 Minnesota Thunder (Chronopoulos-13th min) (Conway-21st min) (S.Klein-37th min) It was an entertaining game. 3 great goals scored. The Battery truly showed why they are the best in the A-League in this game. Dusty Hudock looked spectacular in goal. Minnesota had some great chances, but again Charleston was superior. But Minnesota didn't get to the final for nothing. Congrats to Charleston and head coach Chris Ramsey on their first ever A-League Championship.
I went to the match last night and the Battery put on a true clinic. If you were there at warmups, the vibes that the Battery had was that of looseness, having fun, but also not being too silly. They were highly motivated for the task at hand and it showed on the scoreboard. It was my first time ever at Blackbaud and it reminded me of back home a bit, Crew Stadium. I sat in what apparently belonged to a season ticket holder, but if they couldn't make it to the match then seats were open. The food selection was nice, especially the LARGE drink. For the 3.25 that I paid, it was worth it (obviously a must on southeastern summer nights!). I've noticed that the Battery are consistent in their making the playoffs and overall organiztion. For instance,they don't just let dogs and cats i.e. pompom girls romp all around the pitch at the half. They let the fans interact in activites (which is always the case in minor league sports).I liked how the players small-talk with fans particularly in warmups. Even the owner can be seen walking and mingling with the people.Class!! As far as the match, early on the jitters were present, typical. However, was it an omen for the Thunder when they almost put in a own goal early in the first half?? Because from then onward their defense got sloppy and later paid for it. Kudos to the Battery goals, particularly to the way that they used the far posts to evade the GK.Some MLS players could take some lessons from last night! Dusty was on his game and from what my ears had heard, he had been hot for the last 3 matches coming into the Championship. It was great to see older fellas like Conway and Phelan get some hardware since they aren't getting younger. They also played with a high intensity as if they were in their 20's!!! Again the way that the Battery warmed up is the way that they performed. Minnesota should keep their heads up for next season because they tend to find their way back into the playoffs if not the finals.
Minnesota had no business being in the final. IMO, no western team was worthy of the finals. The West is very weak. Congratulations to the Battery putting the thunder asunder.
Re: Re: USL A-League Final: Postgame Comments[R] I wouldn't put the West so low in the A-League picture. I mean Minnesota did win the A-League championship in 1999 and the Milwaukee Rampage(now WAVE UNITED) won it all last year. If you're talking about this year, then I understand where you're coming from.
That was a very entertaining game. While Charlston scored three goals, it was their defense that most impressed me. Good individual marking and good team defense. I can't recall any moment when a MN player made it through unmarked, or had a clear go at goal. I also watched Birmingham City/Leeds on FSW. IMHO, the A-League final was much more entertaining. You'd think after watching an EPL match, a match from the US second division would be unwatchable. Hardly. Congrats to Charleston. From all indications, they are a class organization, and deserve their championship.
Re: Re: USL A-League Final: Postgame Comments[R] How can you know how weak the West is? I looked at your schedule, and you didn't play a single Western Conference team at home all season. - Paul
Bleacherbutt is just being a knob. What does he know about the west? Rochester plays in a very easy division, hardly any long distance travel. Even Montreal and Toronto have it harder than Rochester having to travel out west once each year.
I was at the match as well and throughly enjoyed the match. (as all Battery fans did). I think the Battery could have competed with any team in the world last night. The players were so up for the match. Paul Conway was quoted in the local paper as saying he thinks they could have taken AC Milan last night. Phelan commented that this win felt better than winning the FA cup 1988 because they did it as a team. He said it felt like the entire organzation was behind them and it felt good to deliver the goods. Great crowd and while there were some empty seats I know there were several regulars seat holders who stood behind the goals, (as well as the dozens of kids at the playgorund and kid Zone area. 5,711 during College football season is great here in Charleston, especially since we have the smallest market in the A-league. The entire organization should be commended for what they have done. Its is finally being recognized by the fans, both here and overseas, the local press (Huge photo on the above the fold on the front page of the Sunday paper) Congrats to the entire Battery staff on a job well done. Next year we want the US Open Cup as well
I would agree that the East has more strength than the West this year. But there are other issues that the teams in the west face. Travel is one of them. I think MN's problem is they slid at bit at the end of the year. They got to final but weren't in great form. And Charleston had the home crowd.
But to say the west is very weak is basically something a very ignorant and arrogant person would say.
It's my biggest frustration. 1/2 the teams in the league that I've followed for years, I know very little about. Stats and print media aren't enough. And since I don't have FSW, I don't even have the benefit of seeing an occasional game. I have to depend on K-head for all my west coast intel.
I don't have FSW either. I miss the good old days of the A-League game of the week videocasts. They were fun.
I wouldn't say the northeast is easy K-head! Since the teams set their own schedules, Rochester chooses not to travel out West. Although this saves money it's not morally right. Another advantage of having a single table. Equal travel distances for all teams.
What I mean is in distances between their inter-division rivals, and their inter-conference opponents. Syracuse, Montreal, Rochester and Toronto are not exactly great distances apart. This season Vancouver travelled to places such as: Indiana, Cincinnati, El Paso, Montreal and Toronto and this was a good season travel wise. I doubt Rochester travelled even a quarter of that distance. As for choosing schedules, I thought the teams just chose the dates of the games, not their opponents (although inter divison games are a set amount). Although I remember a few years ago when teams from each conference took turns travelling to out east/west each year, Rochester managed to skip out on their turn the last few years. (Last time they were in Vancouver they lost by the way).