Over the weekend I saw a number of results that made me step back in the tiniest bit of shock. The biggest surprises were courtesy of the Silverbacks and Islanders. First, Atlanta went to Puerto Rico and pulled out a 3-2 win in the dying moments of a back and forth affair. Nothing too big or surprising about that, right? Then, the 'backs and los Islenos arrived for their Sunday matches against Miami and Minnesota respectively. Both teams lost and some could argue it was down to the two of them taking it out of each other two nights before so that the Former Romarios and Magee's Men could each post up nice, resume building wins. Either way, it worked out to be an awful weekend for Puerto Rico.
In the wake of all of that I think the Orange Bowl's becoming quite a tough place to win away matches. It may be a short lived dawn, however, as this weekend Miami FC actually has to go on the road to Montreal and Rochester. No doubt both of those clubs will want to get no less than three points from their South Florida visitors after last week's action. Still, can either or both teams actually break down Miami enough to get the win? I'm thinking yes but it's beginning to look like underestimating this bunch is perilous at best.
It would be a bit of relief, too, if Miami slid a bit this weekend, for the teams around them in the standings, particularly the Rhinos, Seattle, Atlanta and Carolina. Keep in mind, if Miami wins tonight, they'll leapfrog the Impact into second, if only for a day depending on the result in Charleston on Saturday night, and then can further distance themselves from the pack with a win over the Rhinos on Sunday. However, if they lose in Montreal, their match with Rochester takes on a bit of added significance for the chasing pack. Looks like FSC got lucky this week.
I also think that apparently Coach Schweitzer and his boys with the Railhawks are gaining themselves a bit of a reputation around the league. Word has it that several Sounders fans took umbrage to the approach of their visitors to their match on Wednesday. Incidentally, Sebastien LeToux guided the hosts to the 1-0 victory but it seems a bit more focus was on the aggressive play of the team from Cary. It will be interesting to see if this starts to see them pick up more cards down the road or if their style of play will be able to pass muster with the other refs throughout the League.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the continent, a little bit off of it even, the Islanders aren't looking so hot. I don't know if they actually bought into my prediction earlier in the season or if I thought too highly of them but with only 6 points from 7 matches it's clear they need to start winning some games. After losing to Atlanta last Friday in a close game, things didn't seem that bad. However, capitulating to the previously winless Thunder 2-1 at home after being up 1-0 the cracks have begun to show at Ramon Loubriel. Now, they need to go to the Twin Cities this weekend and get a result to begin to get their season back on track. That said, they do still have games in hand on both Rochester and Seattle.
Portland also has a chance to make some legit upward movement in the standings this weekend as they host California on Friday, then get what should be a pretty tired group of Railhawks on Sunday who will just be finishing up their first ever Cascadia swing. I can honestly see the Timbers picking up a minimum of 4 points this weekend and should get all 6 but then again I really didn't think the Thunder could recover from their game with Miami in time to win at Puerto Rico last weekend.
Spare a thought for the Victory, too, who play in Portland Friday night and just can't wait to take the field again at Kezar so they'll welcome the Sounders there on Saturday night. Sooner or later they're going to learn not to do this to themselves. For the California fans, just be patient and understand, we all have to live with growing pains sometimes.
My biggest match of the week, though, will be the Atlanta-Charleston match. Everything points to the Silverbacks walking out of Charleston with a victory. Dan Antoniuk's been on fire so far this season and the Battery can't seem to figure out how to put it in the back of the net more than an average of once a game. They aren't the only ones having a hard time scoring goals but, hey, it's bizarro league where Carolina can score only 4 goals in 7 games and still manage to have two victories.
Honestly, I think the Railhawks are going to be the Bizarro Battery this year if things continue at this rate. Think about it this way, Charleston have played 5 matches, scored 5 times and been scored on 5 times. Carolina's line: 7 played, 4 goals, 5 against. You'd think they'd be close right? Granted, Team Blackbaud does have two games in hand and is only 4 points behind Club Schweitzer but the statistics are funny to look at. Moving along, though, as much as it pains me to say it, I think it's going to be advantage Apes this weekend.
With all of that being said, there's only a couple more things to mention:
1) If you like soccer and you live in the vicinity of either Cleveland, OH or Richmond, VA please hurry and go check out the two top teams in USL2. The City Stars and Kickers look to be playing some excellent ball so far this season and deserve to be noticed for it.
2) Watch FSC, logon to usllive.com and catch your favorite team this weekend.
That's it for me so thanks everyone and have a great weekend!
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