United Soccer Leagues Week in Review 6/14/09

2009 June 15

by Brian Quarstad

League News

Your USL Week in Review links you to all USL-1 news and games from this past week. This week’s USL-1 news is abbreviated again. Next week, USL Week in Review will be back in full swing. I promise!

USL First Division Team of the Week:
United Soccer Leagues named Charleston’s Tyler Hemming as the USL First Division Player of the Week for week 9. The young Canadian returned from Cyprus earlier in the week after making his first National Team appearance for the senior international side, coming off the bench in a 1-0 victory.

Coming into the two-game series against the Aztex, Hemming had seen action in seven of their nine matches on the year and had one assist. His trans-Atlantic trek must have suited him well as he notched a pair of assists in Friday’s 2-0 victory.

Pos Name Team Highlights
G Nic Platter Minnesota Six saves in 0-0 draw at Rochester
D Cameron Knowles Portland Assist in 1-0 win over Montreal
D Cristian Arrieta Puerto Rico Two goals in win, draw against Cleveland
D Matt Bobo Charleston Goal in 2-0 win over Austin
D Brent Sancho Rochester Led team in 0-0 draw against Minnesota
M David Testo Montreal Goal in 2-1 win at Vancouver
M Pato Aguilera Cleveland Goal, assist in loss, draw at Puerto Rico
M Tyler Hemming Charleston Two assists in 2-0 win at Austin
M Jeff Harwell Austin Goal in 1-1 draw against Charleston
M Felix Brillant Montreal Led team in 2-1 win at Vancouver
F Kendall Jagdeosingh Puerto Rico Goal in 2-2 draw against Cleveland

Goal of the Week – week 9

Matt Bobo seals the victory against the Austin Aztex putting the Battery up 2-0 with a powerful header in the 66th minute on Friday, June 5, 2009.
Go to USL Live.com to see this goal and all the goals of the week for 2009.

USL Week in Review video for week 9.

Greg Dalby, midfielder for the Colorado Rapids was on loan to the Carolina RailHawks this weekend and played against the Thunder in Minnesota.

The Thunder also had a guest on Sunday as they defeated the RailHawks. His name was Julias James, defender from the Houston Dynamo who started the game for the Thunder. James is cleared through the 28th of June meaning he could see action on Tuesday against the Thunder’s US Open Cup opponents, the Chicago Fire PDL team. He could also appear away at the Timbers on the 19th and away at the Rhinos on the 27th.

US Open Cup
There were no surprise upsets of USL-1 teams last week in the US Open Cup.

1st Round Matches:
-Tue Jun 9

Harrisburg City Islanders 4-1 Reading Rage

Western Mass Pioneers 3-2 Emigrantes Das Ilhas

Carolina RailHawks 2-1 Richmond Kickers

Wilmington Hammerheads 2-0 Charlotte Eagles

Charleston Battery 2-0 Atlanta FC

Miami FC Blues 2-1 Lynch’s FC

Cleveland City Stars 3-0 St. Louis Lions

Rochester Rhinos 1-1 Pittsburgh Riverhounds – Rhinos advance 4-2 on PK’s.

Minnesota Thunder 3-2 Nebraska 402

Chicago Fire PDL 3-1 Milwaukee Bavarians

El Paso Patriots 2-1 Arizona Sahuaros

Austin Aztex 2-0 Mississippi Brilla FC

Kitsap Pumas 0-3 Portland Timbers

Orange County Blue Star 2-5 Sonoma County Sol

-Wed Jun 10
Ocean City Barons v Crystal Palace Baltimore

Real Maryland FC v Aegean Hawks FC

2nd Round Matches:
-Tue Jun 16

Carolina RailHawks v Wilmington Hammerheads
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary NC
Rochester Rhinos v Cleveland City Stars
Stadium: Marina Auto Stadium, Rochester NY
Harrisburg City Islanders v Western Mass Pioneers
Stadium: Skyline Sports Complex, Harrisburg PA
Miami FC Blues v Charleston Battery
Stadium: Tropical Park, Miami FL
Minnesota Thunder v Chicago Fire PDL
Stadium: National Sports Center, Blaine MN
Austin Aztex v El Paso Patriots
Stadium:Nelson Field, Austin TX
Sonoma County Sol v Portland Timbers
Stadium: Santa Rosa High School, Santa Rosa CA
Ocean City Barons v Real Maryland Monarchs
Stadium: Carey Stadium – Ocean City NJ

Follow all the scores on Tuesday by following US Open Cup.com. You can see the brackets here.

The Minnesota Thunder vs Chicago Fire PDL Second Round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will be audio webcast on Tuesday, June 16th at 7:00 PM from the National Sports Center. To listen live, go to TEAMLINE who will be providing the technical service. The play by play will be provided by Dave Washburn from North Metro TV and yours truly will be doing color commentary.

The USSF Third Round U.S. Open Cup possible pairings were announced.

Aztex keeper Miguel Gallardo seriously injures leg, out indefinitely
The Austin Aztex injuries just keep mounting as keeper Miguel Gallardo is out indefinitely after an injury sustained in Friday night’s loss to Puerto Rico in the 13th minute. The Aztex, who were already thin on the bench, presently only have one keeper rostered. Gallardo came from the Aztex PDL team and has looked impressive this year in making the jump to USL-1.

Leo Gibson Injured
The Cleveland City Stars have been doing a bit better lately. Coach Ron Underwood gave Leo Gibson a new role in a new formation. Gibson started as a striker for the City Stars, but that didn’t last long as he was knocked out cold with a blow to the jaw and face. The former Thunder player is still hurting with headaches and can only eat soft foods for now. As well, both lips were split. It sounds as if Leo was lucky not to have a concussion. No word yet if Gibson will miss any games.

The Carolina RailHawks have released defender Paul Ritchie
The club announced Thursday morning that they were releasing Paul Ritchie.

Timbers defeat Club America Reserves easily
The Portland Timbers easily defeated the Club America Reserves last week, 4-1. Coach Gavin Wilkinson said in retrospect, “I would have hoped they would have been better.”

Jeff DiVeronica is creating a tribute to the Rochester Rhinos who won the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup back in 1999. He’s doing this by revisiting each of the five wins during the title run. This is good stuff.

Although the Minnesota Thunder have never won the US Open Cup, they did have an outstanding run back in 2005, beating three MLS teams before going down to defeat at the Home Depot Center against the LA Galaxy in the semifinal.
The Dark Cloud supporters of the Thunder took a bus to Kansas City for that game. Other supporters drove down in cars. The Thunder defeated the Wizards 3-1. This was a video tribute I did to that famous road trip and win.
Last year, the Charleston Battery came oh so close as they played and lost to DC United in a very tight Championship game ending 2-1 United.
I love the US Open Cup – Let the upsets begin.

CONCACAF Champions League Draw
There will not be two USL-1 teams going deep into the CONCACAF Champions League tournament this year. Why? Because the draw pits Puerto Rico up against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the preliminary round if the Whitecaps should win the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, which it looks as if they will do. Only one of the teams would make it into the group stage.

In a rather bizarre situation, Vancouver teammates Charles Gbeke and Wesley Charles nearly came to blows on the pitch according to USL News. The two exchanged words after a missed two-on-one chance for Gbeke and striker Marlon James and the situation escalated from there. Charles received a straight red card, Gbeke a yellow. Then things got nearly surreal when Gbeke was subbed off. He threw a huge fit on the sidelines kicking the Gatorade bottles and then getting a second yellow and a red card for his sideline behavior. You’ve got to see the video on this one. The incident happens at about 7:35 in the video.

RESULTS THIS PAST WEEK:

Thu, June 11, 2009
7:00 pm Portland Timbers 0:0 Carolina RailHawks @ WakeMed Soccer Park - Game Report – Box Scores
Scoring Summary: None
Attendance: 1473

Fri, June 12, 2009

(Fox Soccer Channel)

8:00 pm Austin Aztex 1:4 Puerto Rico Islanders @ Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium - Game Report – Box Scores
Scoring Summary: PR: Jonathan Steele (Scott Jones) 5
PR: Cristian Arrieta (penalty) 36
AUS: Jean Alexandre 45
PR: Cristian Arrieta (penalty) 70
PR: Nicholas Addlery (Fabrice Noel) 87
Attendance: 4014

11:00 pm Miami FC 2:3 Vancouver Whitecaps @ Swangard Stadium - Game Report – Box Scores
Scoring Summary: MIA: Zourab Tsiskaridze (Walter Ramirez) 10
VAN: Charles Gbeke (Wes Knight) 16
VAN: Charles Gbeke (Wes Knight) 34
VAN: Marco Reda 76
MIA: Richard Perdomo (Walter Ramirez) 78
Attendance: 5288

Sat, June 13, 2009

7:30 pm Rochester Rhinos 0:3 Cleveland City Stars @ Middlefield Cheese Stadium - Game Report – Box Scores
Scoring Summary:CLE: Godfrey Tenoff (Ryan Stewart) 52
CLE: Julian Valentin (Pato Aguilera) 55
CLE: Josh Boateng (Pato Aguilera) 64
Attendance: 1512

7:00 pm Portland Timbers 1:1 Charleston Battery @ Blackbaud Stadium - Game Report – Box Scores
Scoring Summary: CHA: Randi Patterson (Chris Williams) 64
POR: Mandjou Keita (Scot Thompson) 84
Attendance: 3076

Sunday, June 14, 2009

1:35 pm Carolina RailHawks 0:2 Minnesota Thunder @ National Sports Center – Game Report – Box Scores
Scoring Summary:MIN: Brian Cvilikas (Ricardo Sanchez) 13
MIN: Lawrence Olum (Rod Dyachenko) 27
Attendance: 2192

6:00 pm Austin Aztex 0:2 Miami FC Blues @ Lockhart Stadium - Game Report - Box Scores
Scoring Summary: MIA: Diego Serna 22
MIA: Connally Edozien (Paolo Araujo Jr) 30
Attendance: 805

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.

Thur, June 18, 2009

7:00 pm Miami FC Blues at Cleveland City Stars @ Middlefield Cheese Stadium (Bedford)

8:00 pm Charleston Battery at Puerto Rico Islanders @ Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium

Fri, June 19, 2009

(Fox Soccer Channel)
11:00 pm Minnesota Thunder at Portland Timbers @ PGE Park

8:30 pm Carolina RailHawks at Austin Aztex @ Nelson Field

Sat, June 20, 2009

1:35 pm Vancouver Whitecaps at Montreal Impact @ Saputo Stadium

7:00 pm Miami FC Blues at Cleveland City Stars @ Middlefield Cheese Stadium (Bedford)