United Soccer Leagues Week in Review 5/03/09
I’m making a change in the format of USL Week in Review. Instead of the redundancy of posting game scores and then posting the links again under each team, I’m going to try to simplify things by posting a score, game report link and box score link in the League News section. Team News will consist of non match-related items of interest.
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League News
USL named their First Division Team of the Week:
After his two-goal, one-assist performance in Saturday night’s 3-0 victory against the Cleveland City Stars, the first win in Austin Aztex USL-1 history, Eddie Johnson has been named the USL-1’s Player of the Week. The USL also named defender Ryan Caugherty to the weekly team.
Pos Name Team Highlights
G Scott Vallow Rochester – Shutout in 0-0 draw at Puerto Rico
D Marco Reda Vancouver – Goal in 1-1 draw at Austin
D Cristian Dias Miami – Led team in 2-1 win over Montreal
D Ryan Caugherty Austin – Led team in draw and win
D John Gilkerson Carolina – Led team in 1-0 win over Minnesota
M Martin Nash Vancouver – Goal in 1-0 win over Portland
M Brian Plotkin Carolina – Goal in 1-0 win over Minnesota
M Tsuyoshi Yoshitake Charleston – Goal in 1-1 draw against Minnesota
M Noah Delgado Puerto Rico – Led team in 0-0 draw against Rochester
F Johnny Menyongar Rochester – Two goals in 2-1 win at Miami
F Eddie Johnson Austin – Two goals, assist in 3-0 win over Cleveland
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Martin Nash of the Vancouver Whitecaps smashed a stunning full volley into the net from 25 yards out vs. Portland at Swangard Stadium on Saturday, April 25th. It’s the USL Goal of the Week-3. This will probably be in the running for USL Goal of the Year — it’s a cracker of a shot!
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USL Scoreboard with box scores
Did you know, since the update of the USL website, USL has been continually improving features. I’ve mentioned previously that there’s now a scoreboard which can be found here and seems to have the scores updated pretty quickly after games. Now I see that box scores can be found by clicking on the link. This is great stuff! Lineups, subs and all the stats. You can check out the MN vs. Vancouver game from Saturday evening by clicking here. However, I do wish they would include attendance figures.
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The Portland Timbers drew 8,549 Thursday at PGE Park for the home opener. Fantastic!
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US Open Cup news
U.S. Soccer has unveiled the format and dates for the 2009 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The tournament will begin with the first round on June 9 with all 32 lower division teams taking the field in 16 matches. On June 16, the 16 first-round winners will face off in the second round with eight victors moving into third round. Eight Major League Soccer teams enter the tournament on June 30 in the third round. The quarterfinals will be played July 7, the semifinals will be played July 21 or 22, and the final will be played on Sept. 2.
There are two changes as far as USL qualifying goes. All eight of the U.S.-based USL Second Division clubs will automatically enter the tournament for the first time. For the Premier Development League, all qualifying will be determined by divisions instead of conference. Last year, the Eastern and Central conference sent their top two teams, while the Southern and Western Conferences sent one team from each of their two divisions.
Within the U.S. Open Cup framework, teams compete in one of the following four categories: professional outdoor Division I (Major League Soccer), Division II (USL First Division) or Division III (USL Second Division); or Amateur Division (USL Premier Development League & U.S. Adult Soccer Association).
You can track the US Open Cup here.
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Jason Davis at Match Fit USA came down to a final this week between the Puerto Rico Islanders and the Minnesota Thunder in deciding which USL-1 team he will support. The winner? You’ll have to go and check it out.
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NSC Beer Garden is sign of maturity in marketing
The Minnesota Thunder introduced a new beer garden at their opener in the revamped NSC Stadium. I had a story leading up to the event. What’s unique about this beer garden is that it sets a new direction in marketing that I think is long overdue for all pro soccer teams in the US. Yes, the family market is still important, but the target market should be the 21-45 year old soccer fan, principally males that will consistently come to games and spend money on tickets, concessions and even apparel. The beer garden called the Thunder Lounge is just 15 feet from the action on the field and the three-tiered deck was very busy the whole evening.
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Someone has started a petition to get EA Sports to include the USL in their upcoming FIFA soccer video games. As of Sunday night there were only 336 signatures. Come on USL fans, you’re going to have to do a whole lot better than that! Sign up now!
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RESULTS THIS PAST WEEK:
Thu, April 30, 2009
Carolina RailHawks 0-0 Portland Timbers – PGE Park - GAME REPORT – Box Scores
Fri, May 1, 2009
Rochester Rhinos 3-0 Cleveland City Stars – Middlefield Cheese Stadium (Bedford) - GAME REPORT – Box Scores
Sat, May 2, 2009
Montreal Impact 2-3 Puerto Rico Islanders – Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium - GAME REPORT – Box Scores
Charleston Battery 1-0 Miami FC Blues – Tropical Park Stadium - GAME REPORT – Box Scores
Vancouver Whitecaps 3-2 Minnesota Thunder – National Sports Center - GAME REPORT – Box Scores
Carolina RailHawks 0-2 Portland Timbers – PGE Park - GAME REPORT – Box Scores
IIMS~IMS~IMS~IMS~IMS
GAMES THIS COMING WEEK:
Games times are listed EST. Games all available on USL Live except Friday night game available on Fox Soccer Channel.
Fri, May 8, 2009
(Fox Soccer Channel)
8:00 pm Puerto Rico Islanders at Austin Aztex – Nelson Field
Sat, May 9, 2009
3:45 pm Rochester Rhinos at Montreal Impact – Saputo Stadium
7:00 pm Portland Timbers at Cleveland City Stars – Middlefield Cheese Stadium (Bedford)
7:00 pm Charleston Battery at Carolina RailHawks – WakeMed Soccer Park
Sunday, May 10, 2009
10:00 pm Puerto Rico Islanders at Vancouver Whitecaps – Swangard Stadium
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Team News
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Austin Aztex
Last week I wrote that the Aztex announced General admission seating will be closed for all future Aztex home games and asked IMS readers for an explanation. Several people wrote or commented that fans had paid the general admission seating price and then filed right into the reserved seating area. So why doesn’t Austin just make sure there’s a security person at the entry area? I checked and their regular tickets seem to be a bit on the high side anyway.
Chris Grayson at the Atexan is really putting together some nice info on the team. Pre-game and post game information and links. Check his blog out!
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Carolina RailHawks
The RailHawks have signed defender Brad Rusin, pending USL-1 and USSF approval, the club announced Tuesday. In order to make room for Rusin on the 26-man roster, midfielder Nate Norman has been released. Norman will remain with the club and serve in a community outreach capacity.
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Charleston Battery
No news.
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Cleveland City Stars
Rod Underwood, coach of the Cleveland City Stars, joins Kartik Krishnaiyer in an audio interview on Major League Soccer Talk.
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Miami FC
Uncle Ed interviews Diego Serna.
Kartik Krishnaiyer interviews Ignacio Rodriguez about Miami’s surprisingly good start out of the gate.
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Minnesota Thunder
The Thunder will play an exhibition game on Saturday evening, May 9, against the Chicago Sockers. The game will be held at Kuhlman Field in Edina, MN with a 6:00 p.m. kick off.
IMS interviewed Thunder head coach Don Gramenz.
In anticipation of the Thunder home opener, Inside Minnesota Soccer sat down with former DC United and LA Galaxy midfielder Quavas Kirk. I also talked to newcomer and Liberian native Geoffrey Myers as well as former DC United central midfielder, Rod Dyachenko. Go here to listen to the interviews.
IMS did another interview with central defender Jonathan Greenfield where he talked about his championship indoor season with the Baltimore Blast. He also speaks about the transition from indoor to outdoor play.
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Montreal Impact
No news.
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Portland Timbers
The Portland Timbers acquired goalkeeper Chris Seitz on loan from Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake as the result of a minor injury to starter Steve Cronin Wednesday. Seitz was on loan through last Saturday and played in the Timbers home opener on Thursday and again on Saturday evening. Earlier this season, Seitz was loaned to the Cleveland City Stars for one game.
Oregan Live has a story, saying Timbers midfielder Alex Nimo is trying to show he belongs in MLS. Nimo is on loan to Portland from Real Salt Lake of MLS for the 2009 season.
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Puerto Rico Islanders
No news.
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Rochester Rhinos
Jeff DiVeronica with 10 questions (some are rather silly) with Kwame Sarkodie.
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Vancouver Whitecaps
A re-elected BC Liberal government will team up with Vancouver Whitecaps FC and the Corporation of Delta to build a state-of-the-art National Soccer Development Centre (NSDC) in Delta, Premier Gordon Campbell announced.
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Comments are closed.
Thanks for including the petition!
USL should post stats in a match report form as well! (I suppose me complaining about it means I should probably start doing it for the thunder again
It’s fine and good to have all those stats, but I’d rather see them in a match report type format (no reason not to have both really). I’d like to be able to look at a brief summary of the game’s stats, get an idea of what the match was like, who was subbed, cautioned, etc. without having to navigate a table of data. Maybe I’m lazy, but I just think the stats are put to much more meaningful use when they are presented in a sharp and intelligent way – it also makes the league look better too!
Something like this: http://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/page/MatchReport/0,,10413,00.html
or http://www.premierleague.com/page/MatchReports/0,,12306~44111,00.html
would be appreciated!
Do you know if the Thunder are worried about having the same problem as Austin? I don’t think there was anyone monitoring the sections. I would imagine someone could have paid 5 dollars and sat in the regular stands as well.
I made Manny aware of the issue last Wednesday when I was in the Thunder FO. I explained the Austin situation and said I thought we could have the same problem. The team didn’t seem concerned at this point. That’s all I can tell you.
As far as I’m concerned, it only becomes an issue when we start selling out the stands. At least people are in the building, and if they want to migrate to the empty seats, I don’t really have a problem with that.
It drives me nuts when you see ushers at the Twins game patrolling the terrible corner outfield lower deck sections in the 7th inning of a game in which the stadium is 20% full. Who gets hurt by a handful of people filling in those sections?
If they know they’re going to have a ton of people at a game, then they can post someone to check tickets.
Generally anything positive coming out of the Miami soccer scene (wins, good attendance, franchises not collapsing), but with Diego Serna playing down there I wouldn’t be surprised if they put on a good showing this season.
For those interested (shameless plug), I’ll be tracking 2009 USL I attendance at http://indianapolaso.blogspot.com/