LD Update: NASL & USL Pro Holiday Game Night; CONCACAF Futsal

The Fourth of July holiday festivities were a celebratory affair Wednesday night around the lower divisions as the home teams in all five games went home happy as winners. The San Antonio Scorpions used Puerto Rico's loss in Minnesota to expand their league lead to four points. Meanwhile, the big result in USL Pro was Dayton getting a second victory, moving within striking range of making a jump past Charlotte and Pittsburgh to the middle of the table.

LD Update: NASL & USL Pro Game Night; Honors; US Futsal tops Canada

The Holiday slate for the lower division leagues started this evening with a pair of games. The fans of the home teams went home happy with one-goal victories with those in Cary, NC also getting a natural fireworks show during lightning delays. 

NASL: Carolina RailHawks 2:1 Atlanta Silverbacks - Eric Wynalda's debut with Atlanta started off on the wrong foot, falling behind after just four minutes when Jason Garey delivered a through ball behind the defense for an easy finish for Nick Zimmerman. Matt Horth answered in the 15th minute when he finished from eight yards off a Borfor Carr cross. An hour-long delay at the 23-minute mark was followed by another a few minutes after the restart. After the official third intermission for halftime, the hosts wasted no time once again claiming the lead when a clearance deflected to Cory Elenio, whose cross was headed in from eight yards for the winner five minutes in. - MORE

LD Update: Wynalda to Atlanta; USL Pro adds Phoenix; WPSL Elite playoff format

NASL News: On Sunday, news broke that the Atlanta Silverbacks released head coach Alex Pineda Chacon and director of soccer Rodrigo Rios - both former players - and would announce the interim coach immediately. On Monday, the club unveiled Eric Wynalda, manager of US Open Cup darling Cal FC, as the interim coach and team advisor. The job is short-term as he is charged with finding the next head coach as part of his responsibilities before he returns to continue his new three-year deal with Fox Soccer. At the halfway point of the season, the Silverbacks are in last place with a 1-8-5 record... Meanwhile, the league announced Tampa Bay Rowdies goalkeeper Jeff Attinella as the Defensive Player of the Week and forward Mark Anderson of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers as the Offensive Player of the Week.

LD Update: USL Pro Game Night; Canada Futsal rallies to qualify; Canada U20 W-League call-ups

The top two teams in the USL Pro saw two completely different results Friday evening against the league's bottom two sides as the Charleston Battery gained two points on Orlando City.

Meanwhile, Antigua, which started off with two wins in its first three games, remains at the bottom with their winless stretch extending to eight league games as their offense continues to struggle with only one goal during that span - four games ago. Dayton, meanwhile, continues to show well despite their location in the table, rebounding from the US Open Cup exit with an impressive draw against the league leaders. The Dutch Lions have lost only twice this season by multiple goals - both on the road.

LD Update: USL Pro Game Night; Canada Futsal loss; Hertzog loan extended

Charlotte Eagles 3:2 LA Blues - The Eagles got goals from three different players while the Blues tried to rally twice through Bright Dike. Mauricio Salles, who scored the dramatic late-game equalizer in Tuesday's 2-1 stoppage time Open Cup loss to Chivas USA, put Charlotte on top at the half-hour mark from the penalty spot. Two minutes later Christian Meza doubled the advantage. Dike scored his first in the 58th to pull back within one but Jorge Herrera restored the two-goal lead late on a great series of passes from Nate Thornton and Darryl Roberts in the 87th minute. A minute later Dike scored his second, but it proved to be too late even with three minutes of stoppage time. - MORE

MISL News: Milwaukee Wave player Ian Bennett and his Canadian Futsal team fell 4-1 in the first leg of their playoff series against El Salvador Thursday that will determine the eighth and final entrant to the CONCACAF Futsal Championship being held in Guatemala July 2-8. Former USL Vancouver Whitecap Alex Elliott scored the lone goal for Canada. He is joined by long-time USL players Ian Bennett (Palm Beach Pumas, Charleston Battery, Richmond Kickers, Rochester Rhinos) and Robbie Aristodemo (Toronto Lynx, Seattle Sounders), the 2001 Rookie of the Year for the second-division flight while playing for the Lynx.

LD Update: CFU Semifinal results; US Futsal roster; EPL-PDL friendly

CFU Semifinals: Only one club from the North American lower divisions will advance to the CONCACAF Champions League as the reigning two-time Caribbean Football Union champion Puerto Rico Islanders (NASL) and Antigua Barracuda (USL Pro) both lost their semifinal contests to their Trinidad & Tobago hosts Tuesday evening.

Cousins Rennie Britto and Jerrel Britto scored three goals to pace W Connection to a three-goal lead before Josh Hansen scored the Islanders' lone goal in a 4-1 defeat in the second match of the doubleheader. Antigua was in a deadlock with Caledonia AIA until Radanfah Abu Bakr opened the scoring in the 65th minute. Devorn Jorsling capped the victory four minutes from time in a 2-0 result.

US Futsal to face defending champ in CONCACAF Championship

The United States Futsal learned its opposition for the 2012 CONCACAF Futsal Championship, set for July 2-8 in Guatemala, Thursday. Drawn into Group A, they will face Panama, defending champion and host Guatemala and the winner of the playoff between Canada and El Salvador.

The US squad, headed by MISL Milwaukee Wave powerhouse coach Keith Tozer, concluded a one-week camp with 18 players in Torrance, Calif. last week.

The U.S. has won the CONCACAF championship twice, in 1996 and 2004. In 2008, the USA reached the Futsal World Cup but failed to advance out of the group stage. For the first time in the qualifying tournament’s history, CONCACAF will send four teams to the Futsal World Cup in Thailand, being held from Nov. 2-18, 2012. The eight teams will be split into two groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals and earn places at the FIFA Futsal World Cup.

Canada and El Salvador will both head to Guatemala, where they will determine the last qualifier in a two-leg playoff on June 28 and 29, also at the Domo Polideportivo in Guatemala City.

Frustrated by Olympic Failure? How ‘bout some Futsal World Cup Qualifying?

Less than two weeks after the Milwaukee Wave repeated as Major Indoor Soccer League champions, long-time Wave and US National Futsal coach Keith Tozar announced a camp of 18 players to prepare for the upcoming CONCACAF Futsal Championship July 2-8 in Guatemala. The camp will be held April 1-7 in Torrance, Calif.

The U.S. has won the CONCACAF championship twice, in 1996 and 2004. In 2008, the USA reached the Futsal World Cup but failed to advance out of the group stage. For the first time in the qualifying tournament’s history, CONCACAF will send four teams to the Futsal World Cup in Thailand, being held from Nov. 2-18, 2012. The eight teams will be split into two groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals and earn places at the FIFA Futsal World Cup.

In a very mixed roster, there are a number of veteran indoor and outdoor professional players, including former MLS players Byron Alvarez, Kraig Chiles and Angel Rivillo. They are joined by a handful of players that are local to the home facility of the National Futsal Team in Torrance, a few teenage high school players.

A couple of other interesting players on the squad are Patrick Healey and Lubo Kocic. Healey’s father is the president and general manager of his club team, the Baltimore Blast. Kocic, a member of the Rochester Lancers, has played outdoors in the PDL in Houston and professionally in Puerto Rico in addition to being a participant in the Soccer Aces Academy reality TV show.

Alvarez, however, is arguably the most recognizable name on the list. The forward was a former standout in the USL First Division, making a name for himself as skillful with the ball while with the Portland Timbers.

U.S. Futsal National Team Roster by Position
Name (Hometown / Current Club | Previous Clubs)

GOALKEEPERS (2):
Ryan Oster (Torrance, Calif.)
Daniel Waltman (Gig Harbor, Wash./Missouri Comets | Rockford Rampage, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Detroit Ignition, Chicago Storm, Yakima Reds, Univ of Washington)

DEFENDERS (4):
Patrick Healey (Nottingham, Md./Baltimore Blast | Crystal Palace Baltimore, Towson Univ.)
Ljubomir Kocic (Metairie, La./Rochester Lancers | Puerto Rico United, Houston Leones, Univ. of Incarnate Word)
Kevin Ten Eyck (Wichita, Kan./Wichita Wings | Friends Univ.)
Nelson Torres (Santa Clara, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (8):
Kraig Chiles (San Diego, Calif./San Diego Sockers | LA Legends, Chivas USA, San Diego State Univ.)
Matt Clare (Brandon, Fla./Norfolk SharX | Tampa Bay Rowdies, Bradenton Academics, West Virginia Chaos)
Jeff Hughes (Independence, Ky./Syracuse Silver Knights | Cincinnati Kings, 1790 Cincinnati, Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Wilmington Hammerheads, TSV 1860 Munchen, Univ. of Cincinnati, Western Michigan Univ.)
Casey Macias (Irvine, Calif. / graduating HS this year)
Angel Rivillo (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Wichita Wings | Philadelphia Kixx, Atlanta Silverbacks, Chicago Fire, Milwaukee Wave, Milwaukee Rampage, Dallas Burn, Creighton Univ.)
Alex Robles (Lynwood, Calif. / graduating HS this year)
Lucas Stauffer (Faribault, Minn. / graduating HS in 2013)
Matthew Stewart (Chicago, Ill./Milwaukee Wave | Rockford Rampage)

FORWARDS (4):
Byron Alvarez (Kansas City, Mo./Missouri Comets | Portland Timbers, Monterrey La Raza, Charleston Battery, Chicago Storm, Portland Timbers, MetroStars, Yakima Reds)
Machel Millwood (Laurel, Md./Baltimore Blast | Crystal Palace Baltimore, Atlanta Silverbacks, Syracuse Salty Dogs, Towson Univ. Prince Georges CC)
Nicolas Perera (San Marcos, Calif./Milwaukee Wave)
Bato Radoncic (Chicago, Ill./Missouri Comets |Chicago Riot, Rockford Rampage, Milwaukee Rampage)