This has been one busy week for soccer in the U.S. On a continental level there's the Gold Cup going on, on the national level both USL and MLS seasons are in full swing, and at the local level we have the Open Cup getting into gear as several USL teams waded into the fray. Before we get to that, though, we had a very surprising weekend of USL action.
The biggest shock of the weekend came from Vancouver losing to the California Victory 1-0 at Kezar. Hands up, those of you who can honestly tell me you saw that coming? The Victory outshot the Whitecaps by a fairly large margin and is now becoming a bit of a bogey team for the defending champs. For whatever reason, they can't perform this well against other teams yet they have been able to frustrate the front-running 'Caps. Somewhat surprisingly, though, the Victory managed to record another shutout on the weekend, finishing out a 0-0 draw with Minnesota. These four points for the Victory see them making headway towards climbing out of the basement.
Meanwhile, Minnesota gave the Whitecaps back some of their hurt pride by losing to their hosts 1-0 on Sunday. It's becoming quite concerning for Vancouver considering they had gone 351 minutes from the 82nd minute of their 3-1 win against Rochester until the 74th minute to break the 0-0 deadlock against the visiting Thunder. Luckily for them, they'll have the week off to try and regroup and figure out why they've gone on this bit of a cold streak.
Their southern neighbors in Seattle, though, seem to be heating up after getting 4 vital points from two-thirds of the Southern Derby last weekend. The Sounders managed a 2-1 win at Charleston on Friday and a 0-0 draw with Atlanta on Sunday. They finish up their southern swing with a match at the Railhawks tonight. With so few teams in action this weekend it provides them with a golden opportunity to continue their ascent up the standings.
It's been a banner past few weeks for the Cascadia Cup teams as a whole especially Portland. Well, that is until they got to Rochester. The Timbers went into Montreal, where results have been getting precipitously worse for the Impact, and won thanks to an Andrew Gregor penalty in the 75th minute. Losing the following night against Rochester almost had to be expected considering that the effort in Montreal had to have taken a toll. Regardless, capturing 3 points on a tough road swing like this has to build confidence for the fans and the team.
Montreal may actual be hoping for a road trip to come along sooner rather than later considering that their home form has taken a dip recently. Their latest homestand began with 2 solid wins against Seattle and Miami which was then followed by a not-so-bad draw with Vancouver. Things started to go south when the Impact couldn't keep Minnesota from tying their match late, settling for another draw. Then, you have the match last weekend that ended up in a loss. They're going to try to rebound tonight against a Battery team needing a win to restore some belief after finding themselves slipping quickly towards the bottom of the standings.
Charleston goes into this weekend hoping to take something from Montreal tonight before visiting Rochester on Sunday. They've got to be aiming for similar results to what Portland achieved on their trip as this is the weekend on which they'll play their games in hand on several of the other teams. They are also the only club playing two matches this weekend. A full six points would see them rocket back up the table especially if results go their way. Needless to say, they will have to be a bit stronger in defense than they were against Seattle and, for that matter, Montreal after having lost to the Impact 3-2 earlier this season. Rochester on Sunday will be an even bigger task as the Rhinos will be trying to climb into first in the standings.
Atlanta has almost completed their descent as they now keep company with the bottom three teams in the League. It's not so much their fault as it is other teams passing them while they stand still. They actually lost position despite gaining a point. The Silverbacks will be looking to get back on track against the Victory and return the favor by climbing past some of the inactive teams this weekend. If the Apes win they will pass Portland and Puerto Rico and have the chance to gain further progress depending on what others do this weekend. Looks like their may be some scoreboard watching at the /Max.
Speaking of the Islanders, it was a productive weekend for them in Miami gaining 4 points on the field and taking a chunk of Miami FC's pride with it after scoring 6 goals against a team that seemed to be playing well defensively coming into the weekend. All the scoring in their first encounter was done shortly after the second half kicked off. In the rematch on Sunday, the scoring didn't really pick up until the last half hour when Puerto Rico scored 3 straight unanswered. As a reward, the Islanders are off this weekend while Miami has to travel to Minnesota and try to get things going again after this rough patch.
Taking a look at the standings, it looks like we are going to be in for a yo-yo of a table for the rest of the year. It might be hard to gauge at times but it will all even out in the end. This weekend, though, is a golden chance for some of these clubs to open a gap or gain ground. If it keeps up as it has so far this year we'll probably see teams switch places several times over the next few days even for those not playing matches! Until then, that's the view from here, so get out to the park, logon to USLlive.com, and tune in to FSC for Seattle-Carolina tonight from the confines of SAS Park.
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