For the first time since 2002, the Rochester Rhinos, one of the most successful second division clubs in North American history, claimed a league championship, capturing the regular season title with a victory in St Louis along with a little help from a longtime rival. It marked the end of an eventful week as USSF Division-2 wrapped up the regular season. Just days earlier, the playoff-bound Puerto Rico Islanders also registered another monumental victory in the CONCACAF Champions League, coming back from a two-goal deficit against Mexican club Toluca to post a stunning 3-2 victory. The two clubs will clash in the Quarterfinals as the postseason opens this week during the two-week break in CCL play.
Similarly, Major League Soccer the focus on the action is turning toward the top of the conference tables as the margin in the race for the playoffs is becoming increasingly staunch for those outside the zone. But with the playoffs several weeks away, the CCL was a large focus for a Real Salt Lake and Columbus, which is also primed for the US Open Cup Championship against the Sounders in Seattle Tuesday night.
South of the border, form held for the league leaders in the Mexican Primera.
Monday, October 4
Friday, October 1
Coming Up Around CONCACAF
The CONCACAF Champions League enters into a two-week break following a week that saw a sensational comeback by the Puerto Rico Islanders, allowing the focus to fall upon the final week of the USSF Division-2 regular season, the Major League Soccer playoff race and the US Open Cup.
The final week of the USSF-D2 season is wrapping up with all eight playoff-bound clubs already determined, eliminating the drama of making the cut. The race for the top seeds, however, is alive and well. The regular season championship is on the line with current leaders Austin Aztex on the road for two against the Carolina RailHawks and Montreal Impact. The match in Cary Friday is of huge significance as a victory would ensure the Aztex of the number one overall seed ahead of the Rochester Rhinos, who travel to St Louis Saturday. But Carolina also has a lot on the line as the RailHawks have a chance to claim the top seed in the NASL Conference currently sitting tied with the Vancouver Whitecaps, who host rival Portland Saturday. Carolina holds the tiebreaker. If Austin misses out Friday and Rochester wins Saturday, the Aztex will have a final shot at the regular season crown Sunday.
With six points separating the teams within the MLS playoff zone from those outside, it appears the race for the postseason may follow the same path as their second-tier counterparts. The Seattle Sounders and San Jose Earthquakes sit level on 39 points with the Kansas City Wizards at 33 and Toronto FC at 31. The Canadian side is in Seattle this week for a chance to make a dramatic cut in that deficit Saturday with just a handful of games left while the other two face top clubs. The Wizards visit New York and San Jose will be in Columbus. The Colorado Rapids, at 41, look to cement their position at home against last-place DC. The only match not played Saturday will be the usually-marquee LA derby featuring the Galaxy and Chivas USA, but the Galaxy have already clinched a postseason berth and their rivals are on the verge of mathematical elimination, which could happen before they take the field if Seattle and San Jose win.
The MLS action continues, sort of, the following Tuesday with the Sounders playing host to the Columbus Crew in the US Open Cup championship match. The Sounders will be looking to repeat since the amateur era when the New York Pancyprian-Freedoms won in 1982-83 despite three previous chances by MLS clubs DC United (96-97, 08-09) and Chicago Fire (03-04).
There are a couple enticing matches in Mexico this week as Necaxa plays host to unbeaten Monterrey Saturday along with the showdown of the CCL duo of Toluca and Santos Laguna.
A first-place showdown in Panama may be the match of the week throughout all of CONCACAF as San Francisco travels Sunday to play Chorrillo, one of two clubs tied for second just a point back. Also a point back is Sporting San Miguelito, which could jump into the top spot Friday night with a road match against Atletico Veraguense, which is tied for last.
A battle for second highlights the action in El Salvador as Firpo travels Sunday to play Alianza, which is tied with Aguila, which hosts Once Municipal the day before, two points back of second. In Guatemala, nearly every match is a battle to stay close to second as only five points separates second-place Juventud Retalteca, which plays last-place Universidad San Carlos, from Xelaju, which sits 10th after 10 weeks.
It is a little more complicated in Honduras where postponements have the table a bit unbalanced currently. Regardless, the marquee contest features, according to the table, is a battle between third-place Platense and visiting Real Espana, which is only a point back. However, co-leader Necaxa plays host to CCL side Olimpia, which is seven points back with two fewer games played and the other CCL club Marathon, also with two postponements, hosts the other co-leader Victoria with five points between the pair.
The final week of the USSF-D2 season is wrapping up with all eight playoff-bound clubs already determined, eliminating the drama of making the cut. The race for the top seeds, however, is alive and well. The regular season championship is on the line with current leaders Austin Aztex on the road for two against the Carolina RailHawks and Montreal Impact. The match in Cary Friday is of huge significance as a victory would ensure the Aztex of the number one overall seed ahead of the Rochester Rhinos, who travel to St Louis Saturday. But Carolina also has a lot on the line as the RailHawks have a chance to claim the top seed in the NASL Conference currently sitting tied with the Vancouver Whitecaps, who host rival Portland Saturday. Carolina holds the tiebreaker. If Austin misses out Friday and Rochester wins Saturday, the Aztex will have a final shot at the regular season crown Sunday.
With six points separating the teams within the MLS playoff zone from those outside, it appears the race for the postseason may follow the same path as their second-tier counterparts. The Seattle Sounders and San Jose Earthquakes sit level on 39 points with the Kansas City Wizards at 33 and Toronto FC at 31. The Canadian side is in Seattle this week for a chance to make a dramatic cut in that deficit Saturday with just a handful of games left while the other two face top clubs. The Wizards visit New York and San Jose will be in Columbus. The Colorado Rapids, at 41, look to cement their position at home against last-place DC. The only match not played Saturday will be the usually-marquee LA derby featuring the Galaxy and Chivas USA, but the Galaxy have already clinched a postseason berth and their rivals are on the verge of mathematical elimination, which could happen before they take the field if Seattle and San Jose win.
The MLS action continues, sort of, the following Tuesday with the Sounders playing host to the Columbus Crew in the US Open Cup championship match. The Sounders will be looking to repeat since the amateur era when the New York Pancyprian-Freedoms won in 1982-83 despite three previous chances by MLS clubs DC United (96-97, 08-09) and Chicago Fire (03-04).
There are a couple enticing matches in Mexico this week as Necaxa plays host to unbeaten Monterrey Saturday along with the showdown of the CCL duo of Toluca and Santos Laguna.
A first-place showdown in Panama may be the match of the week throughout all of CONCACAF as San Francisco travels Sunday to play Chorrillo, one of two clubs tied for second just a point back. Also a point back is Sporting San Miguelito, which could jump into the top spot Friday night with a road match against Atletico Veraguense, which is tied for last.
A battle for second highlights the action in El Salvador as Firpo travels Sunday to play Alianza, which is tied with Aguila, which hosts Once Municipal the day before, two points back of second. In Guatemala, nearly every match is a battle to stay close to second as only five points separates second-place Juventud Retalteca, which plays last-place Universidad San Carlos, from Xelaju, which sits 10th after 10 weeks.
It is a little more complicated in Honduras where postponements have the table a bit unbalanced currently. Regardless, the marquee contest features, according to the table, is a battle between third-place Platense and visiting Real Espana, which is only a point back. However, co-leader Necaxa plays host to CCL side Olimpia, which is seven points back with two fewer games played and the other CCL club Marathon, also with two postponements, hosts the other co-leader Victoria with five points between the pair.
Tuesday, September 28
Central America Round-Up: Matthew Storms Through
Tropical Depression Matthew made waves this week in the region, resulting in numerous match postponements, many of which will be made up this Wednesday. But while the storm may have upset the scheduled action, underdogs were unable to register any upsets in the games that were played as the favorites were largely unscathed this week as most leagues are at the heart of the campaign.
Note: The TSB Pro Power Rankings will not be issued this week due to the postponements.
Note: The TSB Pro Power Rankings will not be issued this week due to the postponements.
Monday, September 27
North America Round-Up: Week of Rallies
While most of the attention for the week revolved around the men’s game as CONCACAF Champions League action and the playoff races for Major League Soccer and USSF Division-2 continued, the ladies squared off for the Women’s Professional Soccer Championship Sunday. The WPS Final was a one-sided affair, but comebacks were a major theme on the men's side.
Two weeks after closing out the regular season as the league’s best team with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Independence, FC Gold Pride perfected the result with a 4-0 victory over the same club for the league’s title, extending its unbeaten run to 14 games (10-4-0).
While Marta was named MVP of the championship match, it was Canadian star Christine Sinclair with two goals in the match, tallying the opener 17 minutes in and later adding the team’s third eight minutes into the second half to spoil any of the visitor’s hopes of making a comeback. Marta would close the scoring in the 90th minute, her third consecutive match with a goal, giving the league’s leading scorer seven goals in the last six matches.
Two weeks after closing out the regular season as the league’s best team with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Independence, FC Gold Pride perfected the result with a 4-0 victory over the same club for the league’s title, extending its unbeaten run to 14 games (10-4-0).
While Marta was named MVP of the championship match, it was Canadian star Christine Sinclair with two goals in the match, tallying the opener 17 minutes in and later adding the team’s third eight minutes into the second half to spoil any of the visitor’s hopes of making a comeback. Marta would close the scoring in the 90th minute, her third consecutive match with a goal, giving the league’s leading scorer seven goals in the last six matches.
Friday, September 24
Coming Up Around CONCACAF
The CONCACAF Champions League provided plenty of drama this week, but the action of the upcoming weekend should not be cast into the CCL’s shadows as four leagues will see match-ups up teams in the top two spots in their respective leagues while Major League Soccer clubs fight in the race of playoff berths as the season winds down.
In Honduras, where the top five clubs are separated by two points, league leading Platense is playing host to one of the four clubs level two points back when they travel Saturday to face Necaxa, which sits second based on goal differential. Two of the other second-place sides meet when Deportes Savio visits Real Espana the following day.
El Salvador also features a match-up between first and second as Firpo plays host to Isidro Metapan Sunday with a single point differentiating the two. In Panama, the marquee fixture may as well be a battle between first and second as league leading San Francisco is merely two points ahead of their host opponent Tauro, who are fifth in the league with three clubs sitting between the two. Cartagines hosts Barrio Mexico, leaders of Group A in Costa Rica, in a tilt of the group’s top two clubs, although they sit separated by 10 points.
The parity that has been a major theme throughout Central America is abundant in Guatemala, where the distance between leader Municipal and 10th place Malacateco is seven points. The difference between second and 10th is even tighter with nine clubs within just one game’s value of each other, making virtually every match a battle for second in the league while Municipal plays 11th place Penarol La Mesilla. The top match of the week though features the two clubs tied for second place with Juventud Retalteca hosting Marquense Sunday.
While there are no similar showdowns in Mexico, Monterrey remains unbeaten on the campaign with a 5-3-0 record in the Primera Division and a perfect four-game record in the Champions League. Looking to spoil that status Saturday will be host Queretaro, who shocked another CCL club, Santos Laguna, 5-2 just two weeks ago.
The US-based leagues are facing the end of their regular season campaigns. The lone match featuring direct confrontation of the league’s elite will occur in Los Angeles Friday evening when the Galaxy play host to the New York Red Bulls. LA currently leads the Western Conference and the league overall while New York is fourth overall and second in the Eastern Conference. The focus around the rest of the action around the league will be all about the race for playoff position with the Seattle Sounders current sitting in the eighth and final spot with Kansas City and CCL side Toronto FC within five points. Six points, in fact, separate sixth-place Colorado from Toronto FC in 10th. In USSF Division-2, all eight clubs have been determined as of Wednesday, leaving the final two weekends to sort out the seeding.
In Honduras, where the top five clubs are separated by two points, league leading Platense is playing host to one of the four clubs level two points back when they travel Saturday to face Necaxa, which sits second based on goal differential. Two of the other second-place sides meet when Deportes Savio visits Real Espana the following day.
El Salvador also features a match-up between first and second as Firpo plays host to Isidro Metapan Sunday with a single point differentiating the two. In Panama, the marquee fixture may as well be a battle between first and second as league leading San Francisco is merely two points ahead of their host opponent Tauro, who are fifth in the league with three clubs sitting between the two. Cartagines hosts Barrio Mexico, leaders of Group A in Costa Rica, in a tilt of the group’s top two clubs, although they sit separated by 10 points.
The parity that has been a major theme throughout Central America is abundant in Guatemala, where the distance between leader Municipal and 10th place Malacateco is seven points. The difference between second and 10th is even tighter with nine clubs within just one game’s value of each other, making virtually every match a battle for second in the league while Municipal plays 11th place Penarol La Mesilla. The top match of the week though features the two clubs tied for second place with Juventud Retalteca hosting Marquense Sunday.
While there are no similar showdowns in Mexico, Monterrey remains unbeaten on the campaign with a 5-3-0 record in the Primera Division and a perfect four-game record in the Champions League. Looking to spoil that status Saturday will be host Queretaro, who shocked another CCL club, Santos Laguna, 5-2 just two weeks ago.
The US-based leagues are facing the end of their regular season campaigns. The lone match featuring direct confrontation of the league’s elite will occur in Los Angeles Friday evening when the Galaxy play host to the New York Red Bulls. LA currently leads the Western Conference and the league overall while New York is fourth overall and second in the Eastern Conference. The focus around the rest of the action around the league will be all about the race for playoff position with the Seattle Sounders current sitting in the eighth and final spot with Kansas City and CCL side Toronto FC within five points. Six points, in fact, separate sixth-place Colorado from Toronto FC in 10th. In USSF Division-2, all eight clubs have been determined as of Wednesday, leaving the final two weekends to sort out the seeding.
Wednesday, September 22
Best CCL Night in MLS History
The numbers were daunting coming into Tuesday night’s pair of CONCACAF Champions League matches featuring two Major League Soccer clubs playing against a pair of successful Mexican Primera Division clubs with CCL experience. At the final whistle in Estadio Azul, the MLS clubs finished the night with four points out of six – a monumental and historical effort - as Columbus defeated Santos Laguna, 1-0, and Toronto drew, 0-0, on the road against Cruz Azul.
Prior to the night’s fixtures, MLS teams had recorded only one win in the three years of the competition – Toronto’s 2-1 victory at home against two-time tournament finalist Cruz Azul in the opening week of the group phase. The Mexican sides were 13-4-1 (W-D-L) versus their MLS counterparts, having gone 4-2-0 the first year and 6-2-0 last year. At home, the Mexican sides were 6-2-1 prior to Tuesday.
Much is often made about Major League Soccer’s inability to win in Mexico, but Mexican clubs prior to Tuesday night were 40-4-1 against all competitors in home matches with an amazing aggregate score total of 138-24. Joe Public registered the lone victory by a visitor on October 2, 2008 with a 1-0 decision against eventual tournament champion Atlante.
Santos Laguna took the field in Ohio with only four from its starting eleven on the weekend perhaps looking to rest a squad that has struggled of late, grabbing a stoppage time win against one-win Necaxa this weekend after a 2-2 CCL road draw against Municipal, in which they gave up a two-goal lead, and a shocking 5-2 loss to Mexican minnow Queretaro the weekend before.
A little luck with the ball bouncing his way, Andres Mendoza scored the lone goal on what is arguably the biggest night of Champions League action for Major League Soccer since the debut of the tournament in 2008, striking the winner in the 87th minute for the Crew in the first half of the doubleheader.
The more shocking result though was to come two hours later in Mexico, where Toronto FC registered a scoreless draw against a Cruz Azul side that has been absolutely dominant in Champions League and domestic play, making the Canadian squad the first in MLS history to finish with a better home-away aggregate result against a Mexican club in any phase of the tournament and the third team to earn a draw in Mexico, joining DC United (Toluca, 1-1, 10/20/09) and the Houston Dynamo (Pumas, 4-4, 9/30/08).
Cruz Azul came into the match on a six-game win streak having posted a 3-0 win over Queretaro on the weekend after a 6-0 drubbing of Arabe Unido the week before in the Champions League. Toronto, just eight days after the change in coaching staff, picked up the surprise result against the odds as Javier Orozco, who has 10 goals in the CCL and six in the Mexican Apertura, started the match for Cruz Azul, which suffered only their second shutout of the campaign. In fact, since their 2-0 road loss to Pumas August 8, Cruz Azul had scored at least three goals in all seven victories with the 2-1 loss August 14 in Toronto as the only exception.
In addition to having to shut out Orozco, TFC found themselves scrambling from the get-go while under siege, having to make a substitution for Joseph Nane nine minutes in. Then again just before the half-hour mark, his replacement Martin Saric had to come off for an injury as well, leaving the visitors with only one sub for the rest of the match. The Canadians did well to minimize the quality of the host’s chances though and in the final 10 minutes had a flicker of hope that they could be the first MLS club to ever win a competitive match in Mexico and end Cruz Azul’s 15-game home unbeaten run in all competitions when Fausto Pinto was sent off for a second yellow.
Previous Positive MLS Results v Mexican Clubs in CCL
8/17/10… Toronto v Cruz Azul… 2-1 W
3/9/10… Columbus Crew v Toluca… 2-2 D
10/20/09… DC United @ Toluca… 1-1 D
2/24/09… Houston Dynamo v Atlante… 1-1 D
9/30/08… Houston Dynamo @ Pumas… 4-4 D
Previous Winless Home Matches for Mexican Clubs in CCL
10/20/09… Toluca v DC United (MLS)… 1-1 D
8/5/09… Cruz Azul v Herediano (CRC)… 0-0 D
10/7/08… Cruz Azul v Marathon (HON)… 1-1 D
10/2/08… Atlante v Joe Public (TRI)… 0-1 L
9/30/08… Pumas v Houston Dynamo (MLS)… 4-4 D
Tuesday, September 21
TSB Pro Power Rankings: Barrio Mexico & Minnesota Rising
With most of the top Mexican and Major League Soccer clubs posting positive results on the week, there was minimal change in the Top 10 of The Soccer Barn’s CONCACAF Pro Club Power Rankings this week.
The biggest changes in the first 10 on the lest came as the result of Santos Laguna topping Necaxa, another club near the top, while Chivas Guadalajara fell following a loss to one-win Jaguares.
Further down the list, Barrio Mexico of Costa Rica continues to prove its form is no fluke and at 7-1-1 after a victory over Saprissa moved up to 25 from 31. Alajuelense, 8-1-0, also moved up to number 12 with another victory as they are one of the two remaining unbeaten clubs in Mexico or Central America. The other is second-ranked Monterrey (5-3-0), which also is perfect through three Champions League contests.
The final quarter of the list saw plenty of movement this week with many lower-ranked clubs posting upsets in domestic league action this week, which has created an overwhelming amount of parity throughout Central America. The biggest mover was the USSF Division-2 club NSC Minnesota Stars, who edged the Carolina RailHawks and NASL Conference leader Vancouver Whitecaps to put themselves into the thick of the playoff race with two weeks to go, climing from 94 to 77 on the list.
The biggest changes in the first 10 on the lest came as the result of Santos Laguna topping Necaxa, another club near the top, while Chivas Guadalajara fell following a loss to one-win Jaguares.
Further down the list, Barrio Mexico of Costa Rica continues to prove its form is no fluke and at 7-1-1 after a victory over Saprissa moved up to 25 from 31. Alajuelense, 8-1-0, also moved up to number 12 with another victory as they are one of the two remaining unbeaten clubs in Mexico or Central America. The other is second-ranked Monterrey (5-3-0), which also is perfect through three Champions League contests.
The final quarter of the list saw plenty of movement this week with many lower-ranked clubs posting upsets in domestic league action this week, which has created an overwhelming amount of parity throughout Central America. The biggest mover was the USSF Division-2 club NSC Minnesota Stars, who edged the Carolina RailHawks and NASL Conference leader Vancouver Whitecaps to put themselves into the thick of the playoff race with two weeks to go, climing from 94 to 77 on the list.
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