WEEK 5 - LET'S MAKE A DEAL
And the deal is that this is going to be a consolidated abbreviated half-assed blog because I'm doing it on Saturday morning and the games are tomorrow. So no extensive narrative, but will cover results, standings, team of the week, and a little off-duty get-together I had with the MLS Historical Society.
HOUSEKEEPING
Brad - 'you should see this photo of this girl on one of the teams scoring on a bicycle.'
Brent - 'she's wearing a Food Lion shirt'.
Brad - '*%&*!'
2. There were a lot of Lost and Found items again this week. Please be sure to look around before leaving your sideline, put your name on your soccer ball(s), and pick up any trash -- i.e. leave your sideline as clean as you found it. The field isn't your (or my) desk. I see you.
WEEK 5 RESULTS AND STANDINGS
Highlights:
- Hot and Messi continue their hot streak by knocking off a solid Rebel Alliance team.
- Kick in a Box gave Retired Athletes a scare before RA put the game away late.
- Ronaldo rebounded from their Moat shellacking with a solid performance against a very shorthanded Hangover 86 FC
- Moat and Oozle tied despite Moat playing down a lot of their players.
- Motherlovers handed Look Ma, No Wins another loss.
- PKs continues their dominance by keying on shutting down Ryan Greene in a 6-1 defeat over SIKHE
- Defenders of the Bridge is 2-0 when Chris Whalley shows up. Coincidence? I think not. Pretty huge upset as Netkicks finished at #2 in the league in the Spring.
- All Stars looked to be pulling off a huge upset before a late penalty was buried by Blake Sexton to earn the tie for Misfits.
- I Think We Can Do Better outplayed UAM with Baylen McCarthy and Hunter Orrell proving to be too much for UAM to handle up front.
Who picked PKs and IPAs and Hot and Messi to lead the table after week 5? If you did, you're lying. But both teams have earned it by putting away the teams they're supposed to put away and are now leading the table at 1 and 2, respectively. They are followed by the usual top-of-the-table teams - Misfits, Moat, Motherlovers, Ronaldo, and Oozlekicks. Currently, I Think We Can Do Better sit as the last top of the table team, but all of this is subject to change significantly in the last two weeks, which we'll cover a little later.
TEAM OF THE WEEK - WEEK 5
Hunter Orrell - First game, first goal, first team of the week.
Dara Emami - After a couple of absences, Dara came back for Ronaldo with a brace and one blast off the near post that went in.
Kayson Bell - Has been putting some serious work in for ML this season and it's getting him noticed as he continues to move up the Golden Boot race.
Hannah Broughton - Bagged a great goal off from a far post blast for SIKHE. Continues to impress week-to-week as an organizer as well.
Brendan Fajotina - Has scored 50% of Netkicks goals this season despite being one of the most marked players in the league. Always someone that needs to be accounted for and he's still scorin'.
Anderson Rojas - Coming off a suspension, Anderson helped control the game for All Stars and bagged their only goal to earn a point against Misfits.
Tim Maher - Great goal from a header off the crossbar and continues to improve season-to-season for Kick in a Box.
Mickey Amaro - While the scoreline doesn't scream 'great defense', being short players is always a challenge. The amount of times, 'Mickey keeps blocking shots/Mickey just stuck *insert Ronaldo player name here*/Mickey is a beast' came from the Ronaldo sideline was remarkable.
Paul Ilori - Could have been any number of PKs and IPAs defensive players as they are currently tied with Misfits for the least goals against, but Paul generally gets the assignment of following and marking the other team's best forward and the PKs defense held the leading goalscorer in the league scoreless this week.
Richard Parris - The epitome of sweeper, Rich cleans up the back for Defenders of the Bridge every week and without his defense, they don't pull out the narrow upset over Netkicks.
Sydney Smith - Sydney has been nominated a couple of times this season for Retired Athletes. A few weeks ago she made a great save at the end of the game against Hot and Messi pulling one out of the top corner, but the save she made this week was one of the best I've seen over the 4 MLS seasons. Rolling around on the ground, kicking her leg up, she was like a hockey goalie saving 3-4 shots in a row. Wish someone (ahem - Ryan) got it on camera instead of screaming about how awesome it was.
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Kaylee Pearce of Ronaldo winds one up against Hangover 86 FC.
Ball goes just over Cory Hirsch's outstretched fingers and Matt Epperly of Kick in a Box spikes it in. Goal - Retired Athletes!
Scott Young of Misfits battles for a ball with Joe McCalla of All Stars.
Travis Brown of Retired Athletes makes one of the Saves of the Day early in the Hot and Messi game.
Hannah Broughton of Soccer I Hardly Know 'Er pounds one past Erik Halvorsen of PKs.
Tim Maher of Kick in a Box buries a header off the crossbar against Sydney Smith and RA.
Brad Kirby of Ronaldo McDonaldo readies a volley as Jerald Jorge and Sterling Hopkins go for the block.
Tom Weniger of Oozlekicks challenges the Moat Monsters' Mike Dorsey to a ball at midfield.
The odds are in and Vegas might be losing some money on playoff bets or at least pulling their hair out due to the massive uncertainty in the table over the next two weeks. With 14 teams within 2 points of first and 16 of 18 teams still within reach of the top 9, the next two weekends are going to be exciting!
A small group of people from a few teams were looking for an excuse to drink a couple of beer and talk MLS this week. We met at a local watering hole and took a wild guess at the possible standings after the next two weeks. Honestly, it couldn't have been more fun. We got deep! Not only guessing wins and losses, but took at a shot at guessing the scores as well. We threw in some ties and a couple of upsets to keep it interesting.
I present to you our projected final table. (If you want to refer back to the current standings above, you can see how much things can be shaken up in the next two weeks)
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Final Projected Table
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1
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PKS AND IPAS
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2
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MISFITS
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3
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MOAT MONSTERS
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4
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HOT & MESSI
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5
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OOZLEKICKS
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6
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HANGOVER 86 FC
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7
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REBEL ALLIANCE
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8
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MOTHERLOVERS
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9
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RONALDO MCDONALDO
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10
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DEFENDERS OF THE BRIDGE
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11
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ALL STARS FOOTBALL CLUB
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12
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I THINK WE CAN DO BETTER
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13
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RETIRED ATHLETES
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14
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SOCCER, I HARDLY NEW ‘ER
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15
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UNATLETICO MONROE
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16
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LOOK MA, NO HANDS
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17
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NETKICKS AND CHILL
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18
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KICK IN A BOX
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Biggest mover:
Rebel Alliance finds themselves moving from 11th to 7th in the projected standings. The force must be strong with these guys in the last two weeks if they want a seat at the table with the big dogs. Ending the top 9 in season 1 would be a huge achievement for the upstart Rebels.
Most challenging:
Ronaldo McDonaldo, after competing in three straight top bracket championship matches may find themselves fighting to stay in the top 9. With two tough games against Misfits and All Stars, we predict they scratch and crawl their way in as the 9 seed.
Most interesting:
Look Ma - just one season after besting the field and taking home the MLS trophy, Look Ma is facing an uphill battle to crawl out of the cellar. While they won't be able to defend their MLS Cup crown, they may be able to make some serious noise in the League 2 Cup playoffs.
Switcheroo:
In Brad's preseason projections, he had Netkicks and Chill, Look Ma, and All Stars all in the top 9. Through a mix of great play and favorable schedules, they've been flip-flopped with three surprise teams-- Rebel Alliance, Hot and Messi, and PKs and IPAs. If DOTB has a couple of things fall their way -- they could end up competing for the MLS Cup as well. Going to be a wild ride.
Here is how the playoffs would look if our projections prove to be correct.
MLS CUP Bracket:
LEAGUE TWO Bracket:
THE RACE FOR THE GOLDEN BOOT - FALL 2019
Oooooooooo.. it's heating up! 5 goals separate #1 to #4. Thinking this one may come down to the wire. PKs used three players to rotate and ensure Soccer I Hardly Know 'Er's leading scorer Ryan Greene didn't get one this week. Meanwhile, Chris Sharrett put up a hat trick. Moat's Matt Burleson ends the season with Motherlovers and Netkicks. Ryan Greene ends with Retired Athletes and Misfits. PKs ends with I Think We Can Do Better and Kick in a Box. ADVANTAGE SHARRETT.
(A reminder that there are 3 games left in the Golden Boot standings. We do 8 total games - so 7 regular season games and first playoff game. Tiebreaker is number of games the player was present.
(A reminder that there are 3 games left in the Golden Boot standings. We do 8 total games - so 7 regular season games and first playoff game. Tiebreaker is number of games the player was present.
WEEK 6 @ OOZLEFINCH
Devil Dog Pride will be serving up some devilishly delicious chow with a refreshing beer post-game! Plus we're back on a three hour schedule this week so it won't be as long of a day out there. Hope to see a great turnout at Oozle!
GAME OF THE WEEK
Ronaldo McDonaldo vs. Misfits @ 3 PM
-OR-
Motherlovers vs. Moat Monsters @ 3 PM
Both of these games have huge implications in the top of the table standings. Both feature an old guard (Ronaldo, Moat Monsters) vs. new guard (Misfits, Motherlovers) type atmosphere. Both will probably feature some verbal altercations. It's that time of year where top teams start to fall.
Temples - III
Malibu Ken (Aesop Rock + Tobacco) - Malibu Ken
Priests - Priests
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