There are a lot more matches on the slate this week that mean a heck of a lot in the playoff race. First, though, I have to say hello to Tom A. and Mark C. in Seattle as well as the folks at usldiscussions.com. Thanks to them for making sure to point out that I happened to have forgotten that everybody's favorite club with a killer whale logo is still alive in the Open Cup. It just goes to show it never pays to edit with a little Kentucky Straight by your side.
Anyway, eventually I'm going to get onto the matches that are so important this week but first I want to mention this guy who apparently has a thing for Les Impact but lives in New York. He's been telling me this stuff about the current A-League scheduling being a bit odd. He finds it odd that Montreal has never played El Paso since the merger. I find that odd too. Then he points out that in years past his beloved Impact have played clubs like Seattle and Vancouver one or more times in a given season and none in the next. Then he said he'd like to see clubs move to a more balanced schedule where each club would play one another. Quite an interesting idea that I'm sure I've heard from other fans as well and one I'd like to see worked out one day. Who knows, maybe it could happen this November when the front offices gather in Florida for the annual AOM?
Of course a conversation with an Impact fan from NY would never be complete without them bringing up the idea of seeing promotion and relegation make its way into USL soccer and eventually MLS. What can I say about this beaten horse that hasn't been said already by others in a much more profound way than I? Here's my best attempt: I figure you have to have franchise owners at each level of the USL who will want to implement it before anyone in MLS would ever consider it. Then the A-League teams would need to have a strong fan base that attracts at least 8-10,000 in attendance that could provide some sort of inkling as to how they would do in that department in MLS. Anyway, I could go on running off at the mouth on this topic but I won't.
One last idea I'll discuss that this guy brought up was to have only the division winners make the playoffs. His reasoning is that it makes the divisional races mean that much more as well as making the regular season a little bit more important. I tend to agree with this in principle, however, if a team like Pittsburgh slips by Rochester to get into the playoffs this season in the second spot from that division I'll have to re-evaluate my opinion. Just think, though, I was wondering just the other day which team Long Island fans cheer for in the A-League now and apparently it's the Impact. Way to go Coach Lilley! Also thanks to John in NY for a good segue that takes us right into the important matches this week.
Richmond played a match on the plastic stuff in Syracuse where the Dogs tried to take the physical approach to playing the Kickers. This match had 0-0 draw written all over it. That is until Syracuse finally scored the winning goal in a bang-bang play at first base. New Dogs general manager Tommy Tanner was called safe by the linesman and Syracuse came out of a tight encounter with a victory, which may condemn last year's league finalists to an early end to their Eastern Conference title defense.
Meanwhile, Charleston went to Cincinnati for bingo night or something resembling a raffle. Maybe the Battery should put some cash down and see if they can find some way for Paul Conway and company to start filling up the net again. Let's be honest, this team could be in for a horrendous collapse. After being nearly unbeatable in the early part of the year they're now a team that seems almost incapable of winning. They did manage to get goals from Ted Chronopoulos, Mark Watson, and Chris Goos to pick up a 3-1 win over the befuddled Hawks. One has to wonder if the Battery will stick around for the drawing of tonight's raffle winner or to see if someone calls B12 to complete their card. Then again nearly coughing up a 2-0 lead with moments remaining will likely be more excitement than they're interested in.
All bad church night activity references aside it looks like the defenses for Virginia Beach and Pittsburgh will need some sort of divine intervention after their 4-3 barn burner, not to be confused with a barn raising though they do manage that sort of thing in Pennsylvania, of an offensive display. Just when it looked like the Mariners were a bunch of Ahabs they pulled off an offensive explosion that reminded many of us just why these guys will be dangerous if they can hold off Richmond in the Southeast Division.
Taking a quick look around after the Friday night action and a look ahead at the rest of the weekend's matches you can easily see that the playoff picture is clearing up just a little. Pittsburgh's amazing run at Rochester has taken a hit thanks to Virginia Beach's boost towards the postseason. Meanwhile, Richmond were their own worst enemies yet again as their one real lapse cost them at least a road point at Syracuse. Charleston got a confidence restoring 3-1 victory despite coughing up a bit of a lucky goal to Cincinnati's Jason Cole.
Checking back in on the playoff races, in the Southeast Division Charleston is in while Richmond needs to win at Rochester tonight to stay in contention. Even though the Kickers won there last season in the playoffs, with Rochester needing a win to clinch a playoff spot it's easy to see that the deck is stacked tremendously against Richmond. Virginia Beach has to like its position as the Mariners get to wait out the result in Rochester tonight. They'll know what they have to do as they head into their final two games and with Aguilera and Washington finding their scoring touch again it's beginning to look like an intriguing Charleston-Virginia Beach playoff meeting could happen.
The Northeast is still in doubt but maybe not for long considering that Rochester hosts Richmond tonight and Pittsburgh has only one game left to gain points. Even if Rochester should lose against the Kickers the Hounds will still need to win their final match and have the Salty Dogs beat Rochester in the upstate derby. While not entirely impossible it does seem wholly unlikely. Tough spot, that, for the Riverhounds who have been one of the best teams of late, certainly a stronger team heading into the playoffs than some who have stumbled their way into the playoffs.
Milwaukee and Minnesota made it easy on us by going ahead and locking up their playoff spots early so that's one race done. The Pacific, however, is still a bit muddled as Portland has a shot to gain ground on the Whitecaps who seem to be slipping a little at the wrong end of the season. Seattle also hasn't been setting the world alight as of late. It's also interesting to note that in a match that could provide a preview of playoff meetings to come the Sounders lost at home 2-1 to Minnesota.
As it always seems at this point of each season its come down to the simplest phases of the game and in some cases sheer luck. Over the next week and on into the postseason we'll all enjoy watching whose luck holds out and who goes home thinking themselves unlucky. Keep the mail coming and try to enjoy as much of the playoff excitement as you can.
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