"Underdogs" Win (8/1)

MOON JELLYFISH IN LONG BEACH, CA -- The teams with less rest manged to drive to comfortable wins as the quarterfinals came to an end.  Minnesota United FC, with an extra days rest, scored a minute and a half apart in the first half but saw their lead cut in half on a PK and it looked like the San Jose Earthquakes may just rally again.  But six minutes later MIN scored and then added another insurance goal to win 4-1.  MIN has relished their underdog status despite being one of the undefeated teams in the tourney and the regular season (which includes the group stage matches).  There was no more Wondo magic (who came in after MIN went up 3-1) or lucky golden shorts magic.

New York City FC, who finished 3rd in Group A, was surprisingly the favorite as I guess POR were playing on two days less rest and barely survived FC Cincinnati the shootout.  And NYC stuck first on a PK but POR tied it right before the half with is always a deflater for the leading team.  The second half saw subs Diego Valeri and Andy Polo score, with the latter with a golazo from outside the box past the outstretched GK (who got his finger tips on it) into the upper right corner.  POR's 3-1 win gives the Western Conference two teams and the Eastern Conference two teams in the Final Four.  There is a 3-day break before the Semis begin Tuesday.

Five picked MIN and that was enough to eliminate Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders (even though they had NYC later) and keep Deutschland = Koenig from taking second.  It also gave The Six Foot Box at least third place... but with an asterisk as he could lose the 3rd place tiebreaker to Deutschland = Koenig if the total goals is less than 7 and PHI and ORL win their semifinal matches.  All 8 possible outcomes are now detailed in our Final Four Possibilities format.  No one got POR meaning TarjetaRoja was the only entry to get 2 of the 4 semifinalists (MIN, PHI) but can't get any more points.  Pool Champion Bobby Cee Racer also got MIN to finish the tourney with 76 points.

So the free USPS Priority Mail mailers came in the mail today (3 "mails" in a phrase!) and I can fit a jersey, a hat and a scarf in there.  And will try to stuff other goodies as well for our winner, Rob C (Bobby Cee Racer).  Second place will get a hat and scarf and third will get a scarf.  Vintage NASL stickers, LA Galaxy programs, bangers, cell phone credit card holders, and other things that are small, I'll toss in since there is no weight limitation.

Group A Dominates, First PSO (7/26)

HOUSE CLEANING, CA -- New York City FC came out firing and Toronto FC, who were without Ayo Akinola due to injury (5 goals in tourney) were on their heels most of the match.  An early 5' goal set the mood as NYC got revenge on last year's playoff rematch, 3-1.  The last team to get into the Knockout Round is now in the Quarterfinals.  NYC's win also meant that all 3 Group A vs Group C match-ups went to Group A.  Group A has three teams in the Quarters (ORL, PHI, NYC).

Vancouver Whitecaps FC were huge underdogs hovering around 8.5:1 odds as they could only field 18 players (teams can field 23 like Sporting Kansas City did) using a 3rd-string GK with no backup GK (VAN only made one sub in the match).  With SKC coming out dominating the first half, it was a fun match to watch to see how the young GK Thomas Hasal would do and he did well, saving six shots in the first half and faced 22 shots.  He also ran into the goal net camera hitting it with his head (so adorable) and in the second half had a concussion check (remember, VAN has no backup GK) but he passed and kept the match scoreless.  

In the first penalty kick shootout of the Knockout Round (no Extra Time), VAN missed three (2 saved by Tim Melia who also had 5 saves during regulation) while Hasal made one save and nearly had another, but it wasn't enough as SKC goes to the Quarters winning the PSO 3-1.  Although it would have been nice to see VAN win, the next match also wouldn't have been pretty as SKC could've easily just as won 5-0 if they finished better.  SKC ended with 36 shots, a club record.  Hasal ended with 8 saves in regulation.

In the pool, 9 got NYC and no one got SKC, mainly because it was supposed to be ATL-SKC in the Round of 16 but ATL flamed out.  NYC's win eliminated Go Chivas (14th, 43 pts) from winning the pool (leaving 7) and made TomJ (13th, 44) the first entry to be eliminated from the top 3 prizes.  Bobby Cee Racer (58 pts) built his lead back to 6 points with Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders moving into a tie for second.  Bobby Cee Racer still maintains a big advantage of winning the pool (67.9%) and finishing in the top 3 (93.7%).  

Issue 5.1.4 "Cincy, Montreal, and Vancouver Rally for Spots" (After Group Stage)

Archive

Thursday, July 23, 2020

LAST DAY PROVIDES DRAMA AS ATLANTA, RBNY, AND LA FLAME OUT
Bobby Cee Racer leads by 6 points heading into knockout stage

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) -- While teams like 1A-Orlando City SC, 2A-Philadelphia Union, 1C-Toronto FC, 2C-New England Revolution, 1D-Sporting Kansas City, 2D-Minnesota United FC, 3D-Real Salt Lake, 1F-Portland Timbers, and 2F-Los Angeles Football Club were playing their last match for Round of 16 positioning, most of the others were fighting for their lives.  Some played to get the result like 3B-Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 3A-New York City FC, 3C-Impact de Montreal, and 2E-FC Cincinnati, others just blew their chance including heavy favorite 4E-Atlanta United FC, 4B-Chicago Fire FC, 3E-New York Red Bulls, and 3F-Houston Dynamo. 

NYC beat 4A-Inter Miami CF, who ended as one of two teams without a point, and had to wait three days to find out they made the Round of 16.  MTL edged 4C-D.C. United 1-0 which allowed three other teams (MIN, POR, LAFC) to make the R16 but not them.  MTL had to wait one more day to find out they secured a R16 spot (when RBNY lost by 2).  CIN had just two shots on goal but beat RBNY 2-0 eliminating RBNY and sending themselves into the R16.  CIN had started with a 4-0 drubbing by 1E-Columbus but are now in the Knockout Round.  CLB, meanwhile put ATL out its misery winning 1-0, ATL's third straight 1-0 defeat to finish dead last (24th) in the tournament.  VAN needed a two-goal win and were scoreless against CHI in the 63' when lightning delayed the match 90 minutes.  VAN came out of the delay by scoring twice in 8 minutes to advance to the R16, eliminating CHI who started the tourney with a 2-1 win over SEA. 

Group A is Complete (7/20)

STARGAZING SATURN, CA -- All 24 teams were alive before today but now we have our first elimination.  New York City FC's 1-0 win kept their hopes alive and killed Inter Miami CF, who have lost their first five matches as a franchise, a record.  Each team committed 21 fouls (42 for the match).  Probably the most interesting thing is an ant crawling on the camera at kickoff juxtaposed against the fake virtual Adidas logo.  NYC has 3 points and a -2 GD and will need help to become one of the four best 3rd place teams.

Host Orlando City SC score two minutes after the Philadelphia Union opened scoring getting a 1-1 draw that made them the Group A winners.  Both will play July 25.  

Ugh... Charlotte FC is still one of the possible names.  Please, no more City FCs or FC Citys!  There is hope as a possible early rendition has a crown above the stadium, so maybe Charlotte Crown FC will win.  But I told you Monarchs won't be it.  The announcement is two days away and is exciting nonetheless.

Now the St. Louis expansion club (which now will play in 2023 instead of 2022) will announce their name on Aug 13.  Stars is popular but like Monarchs, it likely won't be it.  I do hope they spell out "Saint" in their name though.  I would compromise and accept The Lou FC being the name.  Kind of cool sounding and does not remind me of a British toilet.  Being the heartbeat of American soccer, I wouldn't be opposed to SC, just not FC (which is already the name of the USL Championship club).

Back to the pool, no one got a chance to pick these two re-scheduled matches but since Group A is done, we can now award 3 points for the 11 who picked PHI and 9 who picked ORL.  5 got both teams while the other 10 got just one.  So no one will be shut out!  The six points for PHI & ORL propel Six Foot Box to the top of the standings with 15 points.  Bobby Cee Racer and Go Chivas move up to a tie for 2nd with 14 points.  5 won't get any points for picking MIA into the Round of 16.  BigRedMessy is last with 8 pts.