WEEK 4 - RIVALRY RECAP
When I think of MLS rivalries, I always think of Michael Jackson's video for Beat It where the two rival gangs knife fight in a garage. While there were more cards given out this week than any week in MLS history, I would like to say I appreciate none of you brandishing a knife. Although that would be an innovative way to replace the coin toss during Rivalry Week.
With me not being there, it's a challenge to write the blog. Luckily, a good portion of the captains were kind enough to give me a description of their game and that will be enough for me to cobble together a mosaic of what happened on Sunday. On a side note, it's interesting to get individual captain's recaps because you can definitely see that mediocre soccer is in the eye of the beholder. That the game is viewed through a filtered lens. That both captains blame the ref for the result or that both captains think the other team was up to shenanigans. Maybe it's something in the Ft. Monroe water, maybe it's Rivalry Week or... maybe it's Maybelline.
Other side note... Shout out to Brent Wentworth for covering for me on Sunday. Tough to jump straight into Rivalry Week + having some new refs out there, but Brent covered it without a hitch - so be sure to thank that man in the comments section of Facebook!
With me not being there, it's a challenge to write the blog. Luckily, a good portion of the captains were kind enough to give me a description of their game and that will be enough for me to cobble together a mosaic of what happened on Sunday. On a side note, it's interesting to get individual captain's recaps because you can definitely see that mediocre soccer is in the eye of the beholder. That the game is viewed through a filtered lens. That both captains blame the ref for the result or that both captains think the other team was up to shenanigans. Maybe it's something in the Ft. Monroe water, maybe it's Rivalry Week or... maybe it's Maybelline.
Other side note... Shout out to Brent Wentworth for covering for me on Sunday. Tough to jump straight into Rivalry Week + having some new refs out there, but Brent covered it without a hitch - so be sure to thank that man in the comments section of Facebook!
HOUSEKEEPING
2. No other housekeeping because I wasn't there to see your trash or find anything for the Lost in Found.
WEEK 4 RESULTS AND STANDINGS
Ronaldo McDonaldo vs. Moat Monsters
Apparently, the MLS Historical Society lit a fire under Moat right before they played an undermanned Ronaldo squad. The results were ugly for CR7-Piece Nuggets. Matt Burleson dominated Ronaldo with 6 goals. Yes, that's right. A double-hatty. According to members of RM, Moat pinged passes around like they were Barcelona - keeping possession and tiring Ronaldo out. The loss puts RM in a precarious position as they're just barely holding onto one of the top 9 spots with a tough gauntlet of Hangover/Misfits/All Stars on the horizon. Moat is in a great position at the top of the table. Assuming they get consistent attendance, I'd say they're a favorite for a run to the finals.
Burly takes on the whole Ronaldo McDonaldo team.
Moat Monsters 9 - 2 Ronaldo McDonaldo
Look Ma, No Hands vs. All Stars Football Club
So how did this rivalry come about? Lopez used to play on Look Ma and defected to start his own team. With some heavy recruiting from the defunct Foot Works, Lopez immediately built a competitive squad. Prior to the season, he asked me to make sure they play Look Ma as they hadn't played yet. THIS was that game.
With both teams sitting towards the bottom of the table, it was extremely important for both teams to get a win to keep their hopes of getting into the top 9 alive. Without Anderson Rojas who was out for the game with a red card, ASFC still managed to get plenty of offense with goals from Matt Seaford, Sarah Korecky, Joe McCalla, and Andy Smith. Look Ma pulled one back with a long run by Brian Diamond and a smooth finish, but 1 goal wasn't enough. The result finds last season's MLS Cup Champs at the bottom of the table in a surprising Fall 2019 twist in the Soap Opera that is Mediocre League Soccer.
Matt Kennedy spent the entire offseason working on his high-step march goal celebration.
Final - All Stars FC 4 - 1 Look Ma, No Hands
Soccer I Hardly Know 'Er vs. I Think We Can Do Better
Things you may not know:
- these two teams scrimmage every week
- these two teams came from a split of All Bark, No Bite last season
- Ryan Greene scores goals in bunches (average of 4.333 goals a game)
These two faced off on Sunday with both teams having improved over their previous All Bark No Bite record. With Baylen McCarthy and Hunter Orrell absent for ITWCDB, offense was going to be challenging to muster and sure enough, that proved to be correct as they were only able to get a PK from Gabe Fricke. Meanwhile, Ryan Greene continued his hot streak by bagging another 5 goals for SIHKE and Forrest Hannahs had to jump in goal with their usual keeper absent. Add a dash of Carlos Murillo's playmaking ability and that was a formula for a SIKHE win.
ITWCDB skies to try and bag a header.
Final - Soccer I Hardly Know 'Er 6 - 1 I Think We Can Do Better
Motherlovers vs. Kick in a Box
This season, the competitive side of Kick in a Box and the fun side of Kick in a Box split into two teams inspired by Justin Timberlake, Andy Samberg, and the Lonely Island. Thus, the rivalry.
But on Sunday, only one team was left on a Lonely Island and that was the Lonely Island of Defeat. Kick in a Box couldn't generate much in the way of offense and Motherlovers' firepower up front was too much to handle. And it led to a blow out. Takuya Mataki had a great header, AJ Hurlock had 4 goals, and Kayson Bell/Ryan O'Donnell got one each for ML. Kick in Box's solo goal was from Chase Cali on a run from Matt Epperly. The win puts ML in a good position in the table, but the next three games against Look Ma, Moat, and Oozlekicks are going to define their season.
Have there ever been soccer jerseys with built-in gold rope chains? If not, I think this is going to start a trend.
Final - Motherlovers 8 - 1 Kick in a Box
Misfits vs. Oozlekicks
A terrible foul on Blake Sexton by Jay Coble? A goal from Jay Coble that bounced over the head of Buck Waldrop? Some vocal escalation? Referee controversy? A handball in the box in the closing minutes to give Oozlekicks the tie - this game had it all. And what would you expect from two top of the table teams fighting for a high seed in the playoffs. Misfits has a lot of talent and they're the first to tell you that. Oozlekicks has a lot of talent and is a little less in your face about it. But that's what makes this league great. After two years, teams are developing their cultures and sometimes those cultures clash. And that leads to exciting punch/counter-punch games. Who says draws are boring?
Hot & Messi vs. UnAtletico Monroe
Hot & Messi started hot in this one going up 4-1 before the messy started. UAM scored two late goals to bring it to 4-3 and it would have been a tie if not for a great PK save from Hot and Messi captain Joe Connors.
Hot and Messi voted Dani Robinson at their Team MVP on the day as she scored a goal and brought a lot of creativity for H&M. On the other side, UAM were led by April Stone, Sal Russo, and Fabio Dominguez who had the three goals for UAM. The loss puts UAM in the 15 slot while Hot and Messi jumps up to the 5 slot with upcoming games against Rebel Alliance, Look Ma, and I Think We Can Do Better.
This one got a little tighter than expected at the end.
Final - Hot & Messi 4 - 3 UnAtletico Monroe
PKs and IPAs vs. Retired Athletes
While PKs and IPAs are now 2-0-1 against Retired Athletes and have never lost, this still has the makings of a serious rivalry as all the games have been close. They played each other twice last season - tying in the regular season 5-5 and then RA losing on a last second PK in the semifinals of the playoffs. The rest was history as PKs went on to win the final and the MLS League 2 Cup.
So RA wanted revenge... but Retired Athletes was undermanned in this one with Miguel Ramos and Arthur Gildo playing every minute of the game. Without a full complement of players, this one turned into an uphill battle and PKs prevailed. The game was 1-1 at the half with Haamid Shaikh getting a revenge goal against his former team. But Chris Sharrett and Sam Stachowicz lengthened the lead and sealed the deal in the second half.
Arthur Gildo tried to bring down a tricky ball in the box.
Final - PKs and IPAs 3 - 1 Retired Athletes
Hangover 86 FC vs. Netkicks and Chill
Hangover has been bringing the ruckus this season and it was no different this week against a team they've played a few times in Netkicks and Chill. Hangover came in down players and thought this one may be a bit of a struggle, but apparently they had the right combination because this one turned into a rout. Simie Iriarte continues to put a strong case together for the Golden Gal and Erik Breede was all over the place for Hangover. Brendan Fajotina put in the only goal for Netkicks as they fell to 1-3 on the season. Netkicks has DOTB coming to town next week and is hoping they don't bring the Right Stuff.
Hangover, meanwhile, has a tough schedule to finish out the year with Ronaldo McDonaldo, Oozlekicks, and Look Ma coming to town, but with the way they've been playing, I'd dare to call them the favorite in all three games.
Final - Hangover 86 FC 9 - 1 Netkicks and Chill
Rebel Alliance vs. Defenders of the Bridge
This one was an intriguing one going in for me because Lionsbridge and Chowan coach, Chris Whalley, hadn't played all year for DOTB but figured to be a difference maker when he showed. Rebel Alliance is still new and has a large roster so teams are trying to figure them out. Plus their goalie wasn't there, so Dyrone Bailey had to jump into goal for the first time ever.
And despite not being rivals per say, the teams turned out to be pretty evenly matched. Coach Whalley scored two for DOTB to put them up and Christina Race scored the chicken dinner match winner on a header that resulted in chicken biscuits for everyone. Gerardo Castillo continued his hot streak with another goal for Rebel Alliance and Travis Brown bagged the other one. Dyrone played amazingly with 11 saves in goal for RA and Amy Saunders played strong in the back.
Rebel Alliance heads to Hot and Messi next week and DOTB faces off against Netkicks and Chill.
Dyrone Bailey makes a save for Rebel Alliance in his first game ever playing keeper.
Final - Defenders of the Bridge 3 - 2 Rebel Alliance
Misfits and Moat at the top of the table where I would have put them in the preseason. PKs and IPAs have taken their MLS Division 2 Cup and carried that momentum into the Top 3. Looking at their remaining schedule, it's highly likely they'll stay in the Top 9 to compete for the MLS Cup this season. Hot and Messi is another team that is living up to their potential and sitting in the top 9. Definitely looking for them to stay in the Top 9 as well, which is most likely going to leave one of the usual top 9 teams out in the cold. Is it going to be Ronaldo, Hangover, Oozlekicks? This is the time when absenteeism starts to impact records, so this should be a crazy last few weeks of the season.
TEAM OF THE WEEK - WEEK 4
Matt Epperly - Created Kick in a Box's only goal against ML that Chase Cali finished.
AJ Hurlock - Bagged 4 against Kick in a Box for Motherlovers.
Sarah Korecky - Nice little flick after posting up Joe Ingraham that you can view in the Photos of the Week below.
Haamid Shaikh - Opened the scoring for Retired Athletes vs. his old team PKs.
April Stone - This isn't a mistake. She made TOTW two weeks in a row as both the H&M captain and her own captain highlighted her performance.
Matt Burleson - 6 goals vs. one of the historically stingy defenses in the league. I'd say that gives you Team MVP.
Erik Breede - Everywhere on offense and defense. Plus he bagged a brace in Hangover shellacking of Netkicks.
Chris Whalley - First game for the Lionsbridge FC coach and he jumps straight into Team of the Week. Just how I would have predicted it.
Dani Robinson - Multiple people on Hot and Messi remarked at how dominant Dani was on Sunday. If you get people talking, you show up in Team of the Week.
Brian Diamond - Made a long dribbling run with a finish to bag Look Ma's only goal of the day against All Stars.
Forrest Hannahs - Played solid in goal for Soccer I Hardly Know 'Er in finishing off their rivals I Think We Can Do Better.
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Ryan O'Donnell's Faves
Jason Campbell of Moat Monsters denies Mike Machie's blast.
Sam Huffman of Netkicks steps into block Kevin Rhamy of Hangover's shot.
Chris Whalley of Defenders of the Bridge tries to deny a cross from Katelynn Cioffi of Rebel Alliance.
Dave and Jay are vacationing together at a chateau in Vermont. They'll be back next week.
THE RACE FOR THE GOLDEN BOOT - FALL 2019
I'm thinking Goal Celebrations should be the tiebreaker for the Golden Boot. What y'all think?
Ryan Greene continues to dominate the competition as he almost singlehandedly won the game for SIHKE this week. While Burleson is putting up a serious fight, the competition Moat faces the rest of the season will make it tough for him to catch Ryan. Chris Sharrett of PKs sits in third with Gerardo Castillo and Matt Kraft sitting at 7 goals a piece.
WEEK 4 @ OOZLEFINCH
The Black Pearl will be out there this week so be sure to grab some fish sticks to go with your brew, matey!
GAME OF THE WEEK
Oozlekicks vs. Moat Monsters @ 2 PM
-OR-
Hot & Messi vs. Rebel Alliance @ 1 PM
This is the week where we start to see things clearing up a bit for the playoffs. So I'm struggling in picking the game of the week between Oozlekicks and Moat or Hot and Messi vs. Rebel Alliance. Oozlekicks is coming off back-to-back ties against two of the best teams in the league and Moat has been on fire this season thus far and just bombed Ronaldo McDonaldo last week 9-2. Meanwhile, Hot and Messi is sitting at 3-1 and is threatening for a top 4 spot in the playoffs while Rebel Alliance has surprised everyone as the new team sitting at 2-2. So if you can catch both, I'd recommend it!
Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
Washed Out - Paracosm
Fiona Apple - Tidal
The Antlers - Familiars
Mac DeMarco - Here Comes the Cowboy
No comments:
Post a Comment