This week started on a Tuesday again. The Charleston Battery and the Richmond Kickers played. These are the top two teams in the Southeast conference. The Battery dominated the first half and scored in the 11th minute after they intercepted a clearance and sent it back into Paul Conway who buried it in. The Battery had two other good chances in the first half. The Kickers almost tied it up when Jeffrey had a nice volley with a nicer save by Hudock. In the 50th minute Charleston made it 2-0 when Trout sent a nice header into the box where it was headed in by Henderson for a picture perfect goal. Richmond made it close with a goal in the 63rd minute after Kevin Jeffrey kicked it in after a failed clearance. The 3,313 Battery fans went home happy. Final Score was 2-1 Battery.
On Wednesday the Seattle Sounders and Calgary Storm played in front of 2,899 Seattle fans. In the 13th minute Kyle Smith scored for the Sounders after receiving a nice pass from Callahan. Well at halftime it was 1-0 Sounders. And who knows what happened after that. Ryan Edwards scored his third of the year to make it 2-0 Sounders after shooting in a rebound in the 63rd minute. Bengard had a beautiful free kick fly into the net in the 66th minute to make it 3-0. Soon thereafter the Sounders had another free kick, which was sent to Zach Scott who headed in making it 4-0. In the 79th Smith sent a beautiful thru ball to Sawatzky who was sent on a 60 yard break away that ended up making it 5-0. Again, just a few minutes later, Craig Tomlison did some beautiful moves to get open; he then sent the ball to Sawatzky, who then made it 6-0 with his second goal of the night. Calgary had 5 shots in the game. Seattle now has a secure place in the lead of the North West division well Calgary is stuck to the bottom of that division. Final Score 6-0 Seattle.
The other game was Syracuse Salty Dogs vs. the Virginia Beach Mariners. The match was played in Syracuse in front of 6,729. In the 21st minute Aguilera sent a nice ball to Fenger who beat an offside trap and scored a fairly easy goal. The score was 1-0 at halftime for the Mariners, even though Syracuse had most of the chances. In the 71st minute Syracuse had a good chance off a free kick, the ball was sent into the box where it was headed by Rivas and then either went in or was tapped in by Lyssand. It is hard to tell even though video replay is available. But Syracuse wasn't done yet. In the 85th minute Delgado made a magnificent cross to Valencia who buried the volley into the net. Syracuse had the come from behind win. Final Score 2-1 Syracuse.
The Rochester Rhinos and Virginia Beach Mariners played in Rochester. The match was important to the Mariners because they are fighting Richmond for the final playoff spot in the Southeast. Roland Aguilera made it 1-0 Mariners after he put in a rebound in the 3rd minute. The Rhinos equalized in the 36th minute after Doug Miller made some nice cuts and blasted the ball into the corner of the net, making it 1-1. Aguilera scored his 2nd of the match in the 80th minute after an unexpected shot from about 45 yards out. It was now 2-1 Mariners with not much time left. But the Rhinos didn't give up, 4 minutes into stoppage time Mladenov took a free kick which was blocked, it then went to Commodore and again his shot was blocked but Craig Demmin got the ball into the net to make it 2-2 with only seconds left. Only two minutes into OT Suarez took a Rhino free kick from 35 yards out. Larson, the keeper for the Mariners, managed to stop the shot but he couldn't keep the rebound out, as Doug Miller shot into the open net sending the 10,060 fans to their feet. Rochester won 3-2.
Vancouver needed a win vs. Calgary as they are currently three points out of the playoffs. But it wasn't helping the Whitecaps when Nicolas Zuniga scored and made it 1-0 Calgary. But Vancouver made the 4,073 fans happy with two second half goals (Sulentic and Jordan) to give Vancouver the win 2-1.
Charlotte and Indiana played in front of 1,018 Charlotte fans. Charlotte must start winning now if they want to make a playoff run. The Charlotte Eagles are 4-0 against the Indiana Blast this year after a 1-0 win over them today. Jason Acres scored in the 75th minute, 3 minutes after entering the match.
Minnesota Thunder played the Cincinnati Riverhawks in a battle between the top two teams in the Central Division. Cincinnati is only holding onto the playoff spot by one point so a win would really help them here. John Torres scored in the 12th minute after trapping a cross and shooting it in, making it 1-0 Thunder. The Thunder added to their lead in the 26th minute after Marco Ferruzzi was left open and received a nice pass and put it in the net. And to finish off the game the Thunder made it 3-0. Torres and Morehead were on a 2 on 1 breakaway. Torres touched it to Morehead who shot it in the open net. The Thunder won the game 3-0 in front of 3,102.
Portland and El Paso met for a very important match. The Portland Timbers are trying to keep their spot in the playoffs; they are only 3 points ahead of the Whitecaps. While the Patriots are trying to get into the playoffs, only 3 points behind the Riverhawks. Alcarez started the scoring for the Timbers after putting himself in a good shooting angle and putting it by the keeper. In the 34th minute the Timbers defender Byran Ritchie was called for a handball. Lourence Andrade buried the PK. Morrison gave the Timbers back the lead after lobbing a shot over the keepers head in the 45th minute to make it 2-1 Timbers. Andade scored again in the 49th after the keeper came out to far and allowed the shot to get by him making it 2-2. The Timbers scored the game winner in the 78th minute after a shot by Morrison deflected of Tennyson's knee and went straight into the net. The Timbers sent the crowd of 4,959 home happy with a 3-2 win.
Seattle Sounders met the Milwaukee Wave United in front of 2,457 Sounder fans. Milwaukee needed to win this game; they are currently in a three team playoff race for the final spot and are only three points out. The Sounders are in charge of their division but could strengthen their position with a win. Milwaukee outshot Seattle after a scoreless first half. In the second half Sean-Michael Callahan was sent off for his second yellow card. But if anything that only sparked the Sounders as Sawatsky caught up to a long ball and put it behind the keeper. The Sounders won the game 1-0.
Montreal beat Syracuse in front of 7,764. Montreal and Rochester seem to be running away with the North East division. The bottom three teams are lead by Syracuse. Montreal took an early lead after DeSantis sent a cross into Roberto who sent a diving header into the net. Sebrango increased the lead after he cut inside and unleashed a shot that got by the keeper making it 2-0 Montreal at the half. In the 86th minute Rene Rivas stopped Chris Sutton's shutout after he scored off a corner. The Syracuse Salty Dogs thought they tied it in the 89th minute but the ref already blew his whistle on a foul by the Salty Dogs. Montreal won the game and increased their lead over the rest of the division with a 2-1 win.
The Charleston Battery beat the Toronto Lynx. This increased Charleston's lead over the Southeast division and sent the Lynx into last place in the Northeast. The Battery scored the first and only goal in the 18th minute after Chronopoulos tucked it past the Lynx keeper making it 1-0 Battery. The attendance was 3,035. Both the Lynx and the Battery had some chances but the Battery ended up winning this one 1-0.
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds defeated the Richmond Kickers today for the third time this year. Pittsburgh went 3-0 against the Kickers this year. The Kickers are holding onto a playoff spot and a win would have definitely helped them to increase their lead. The Riverhounds might start to make a playoff run after Ricardo Iribarren was named the coach. He is 1-0 after this win. Aleskey Koral scored in the 7th minute in after a nice volley deflected off a defender and went in. The Kickers tied it again in the 41st minute after Rob Ukrop shot it past keeper Randy Dedini. Riverhounds leading scorer, Thiago Martins, finished off the game with a goal in the 45th minute after a nice header into the net. The crowd was 1,486 and they went home happy after this win.
Sunday saw three very close games. The first one was the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (who are playing back to back games) and the Indiana Blast. The Riverhounds could move into third in the Northeast division with a win, but Indiana is stuck in last. The Blast scored first, but not until the 53rd minute. Jamar Beasley (brother of star DaMarcus Beasley) tapped in a cross from Moussa Dagnogo to make it 1-0 Blast. The Riverhounds tied it up when Jamon Tripoli headed in a corner from Ricardo Villar in the 67th minute. But the Blast took the lead again, this time it was Moussa Dagnogo who scored and Jamar Beasley with the assist. Riverhound star, Thiago Martins, scored in the 88th minute after he dove to reach a ball from Ricardo Villar. Regulation ended and it was 2-2. Riverhounds new coach/player Ricardo Iribarren approached the ref and said something. All we know was he was ejected after that and missed the OT period. But it only took the hounds four minutes to finish the game; Paul Dolinsky scored his first of the season in front of a dozen family members to give the Riverhounds the three points. The Riverhounds won this game 3-2 in front of record Indiana crowd of 5,140.
Another good game was the Seattle Sounders and the El Paso Patriots. The Sounders got started off early with many chances in the first 15 minutes. But they couldn't find the back of the net. The Sounders cause was helped when El Paso's Pablo Cabrera was sent off for his second yellow in only the 25th minute. At halftime it was 0-0 but the Sounders had a 10-2 advantage in shots. The Sounders continued to dominate play and had many chances. Regulation ended, the Sounders outshot the Patriots 21-3! At the beginning of the second OT Darren Sawatzky scored his fourth goal in three games to give the Sounders the win. The Seattle Sounders won 1-0 in front of 2,112.
The day ended with a game between the Portland Timbers and Milwaukee Wave United. 3,901 turned out for this match. Portland had a goal disallowed, Sagare had a shot that went in but Tennyson was called for a push and the goal didn't count. Milwaukee started the scoring with a goal in the 16th minute Josh Timbers shot the ball in the top corner of the net. Portland came back with two quick goals. Alvarez shot in a goal from the six yard line after a pass from Brian Winters. Tennyson gave the Timbers the lead after shooting in a rebound in the 25th minute. Tennyson scored again to give the Timbers a two goal lead with a shot that got by Larkin in the 48th minute. Milwaukee fought back though and scored two goals to tie the game. John Ball scored in the 57th minute and Chad Dombroski scored in the 83rd minute, both off passes from Todd Dusosky. But the Wave United lost the game when as Hugo Alcaraz sent a ball to Bryon Alvarez who buried the shot to give the Timbers the win. Portland is now pulling away from Vancouver for the last playoff spot, while Milwaukee is falling behind in the Central division race. The final score was 4-3 Timbers.
