retired_hellokity111

Playoffs Ahead for the Lions

Despite being predicted as a longshot at the beginning of the season, the Lions have done all they can to prove their quality all season long. Top scorer Taylor "Twelly" Twellman has managed to already write himself into the history books by scoring 23 goals in Vancouver's inaugural season. Despite ensuring the playoffs, the Lions have a tough road ahead as their star striker is out for the rest of the regular season after tearing his calf muscle in the 0-0 draw against Marquette.

The Lions had been on a tear after starting the first 1/3 of the season on less than stellar form. But with 5 regular season matches remaining, Vancouver seems to be on the right track tied for the league lead in points, goals scored and leading the league in fewest goals conceded.

Despite all the positives, Justin Mapp, Eggie Gaven and Taylor Twellman's injuries could spell trouble for Vancouver whose only fit attacking threat Carlos Ruiz has had an indifferent season with the Lions. To be fair, he stepped up huge against rivals Alaska recently contributing immensely in the historical 5-1 win against the Arctic Wolves. But Ruiz has not been as prolific as Taylor Twellman all season long and can not alwys be counted on to step up big.

Vancouver hopes to complete the signing of a striker in the next few days to replace Twellman in the short run but with a squad full of players already in place, it remains to be seen who will be released to make room. Manager Roger Saint-Vil is likley to rest his players from now until the end of the season to give players on the fringe of the first team some chances to shine while resting key players before the playoffs.

retired_terragyrl

Northmen fall to provincial side in cup semis...

The mighty Green Machine, The New Liskeard Northmen, dropped a home decision to a semi-pro side out of Seattle. Despite playing the entire game in the Seattle half, the home side were unable to fully break down their opposition. A half chance was completed by the visitors shortly before the break, and despite throwing everything but the kitchen sink at their opponents, the Northmen failed to find the equaliser.

"It was my fault,"Stu Hopkins explained,"I had looked past Seattle and was anticipating the final against either Toronto or Rochester. The game had already been won in my heart."

A great chance to secure silverware in the inaugural season of the new MLS, has gone begging.

It has been that kind of a season for the Northmen...full of ups and downs and missed chances. The Northmen have enjoyed three wins in three meetings against their Alaska neighbours, but have been unable to steal any points from bottom side Boston. The points won at the expense of the Arctic Wolves are the chief reason the Northmen find themselves with a slight cushion over the bottom three clubs in their divison...and the main reason why Alaska find themselves trailing Vancouver in the standings.

Top class internationals have not been the stalwarts they had been hoped to be at the start of the season. Karel Poborsky and Darren Huckerby have been inconsistent and have failed to show the performances their wage packets would seem to warrant. Keeper Blazek has been sensational...when not on the trainer's table. Only Alan Shearer has played up to his press clippings.

The gaffer, Hopkins, was embarassed when told about Toronto's coach Lung's glowing praise of him.

"He's the guy I'm in awe of. We got a lucky goal in the beginning of the match, and the play seemed to be fairly level. Then he makes a tactical adjustment, and bam! Two seconds later, its all square. Then his side bossed the park! In desperation I tore a strip off of the lads at half and gave young Adu some space to work with. Luckily enough, the boy wonder found some magic and put us ahead. It was a fortunate performance."

"This doesn't mean I don't hate Toronto. I know what the derby means to our fans, and I have no intention of letting them down. We'll be putting them to the sword again, soon enough."

The gaffer also discussed his side's impressive 3-3 draw against Texas.

"Great game, great goals by both sides. We led for a while, then they did, and at the end only a great goal from Shearer allowed us to escape with a point. But we'll gladly take a point from a travel to Texas. They've shown themselves to be the class of this league."

"Of course, we were starting our third string keeper, Zach Wells...with Blazek in net we probably would of thrashed those Texas tarts."

"When we meet our rivals next, be it this year's finals or next year, we'll be sure to get the result."

retired_kcnoodle@cox.ne

FINAL MONTH

We are approching the first ever playoff of this new restructured MLS, which has expanded to Canadian cities compare to only having US teams before. All three Canadian teams are assigned in the Northern Conference, along with Rochester and Boston. With only a month left in the regular season, the Canadian teams are doing very well, with Vancouver leading the Northern Conference, New Liskeard is sitting at 3rd. Though it is not official, but we know they both have locked up a playoff spot.

With three more playoff spots still up for grap, three teams in the North are competing for one spot, while three teams are fighting for two. The Toronto Syclones are still in the hunt for the final spot in the North, only two points seperating the Kings, the Syclones, and the United.

The Sylcones were six points behind the Kings three games ago, but they did a pretty good job the last three games, and with the help of the others, they are within a point.

MLS Recap:
First, they travelled to Texas to play the Longhorns. With Coach Thompson having some technical difficulty and had to leave half way through the match, the Syclones took advantage of it, and they hang on to win 1-0. It was a very important game for them. They then headed back home to play the North. The North are playing amazing football all season long, the playcalling of Coach Hopkins is excellent. The Syclones tied the game up at one apiece shortly after the break, and seems to get the crown going with a few other close chances. Coach Hopkins changed his formation, loading up the left side, and they never let the Syclones to get any chances the rest of the way. They lost 2-1 at home. Due to the international callups, the 'big game' against the Kings has been rescheduled twice. This gave Toronto another chance to pull closer before they play the 'big game'. Of cause they have to take care of business before they play the Kings, or else it will not be big anymore. They did just that when they host the Guiter Slingers. The Syclones put a lot of pressure the last time this two teams met, they were denied a big win only by the crossbar and the posts. This time around, the Slingers are playing without their head coach. With the crowd behind them, they put up the biggest win in franchise history. Occean scored a hat-trick and helped the Syclones to win 5-0. With two cleansheets the last 3 games, the Syclones defense are starting to get together.

Now the showdown between the Syclones and the Kings is on. Their head to head results are even, so with the standing and the tiebreaker on the line, the Syclones are almost cannot afford to lose this game. they have to at least come out with a draw. But of cause, they want to win the game and put themselves in the driver seat. They will play three very tough games to close out the season, so they have to try and get the maximum the next three games against the Kings, the United and the Express.

NA Cup Recap:
The Syclones roll their way to the final after knocking out the United and the Kings. They had a comfortable win over the United, which the game was decided at the break basically when the score was 3-0. They need an extra time Bajek strike to knock off Rochester. The Syclones are now in the final and will play Seattle. Seattle had won the cup before. Coach Lung had never been to the Open Cup final during his Metros' career. If they play their usual game like they do this season, they should come out with their first silverware in team history.

retired_mallory08

Playoffs Signed and Sealed

The Kaisers are playing well as the regular season winds down, and are still in with an outside chance of the Supporter's Shield. Just two points behind the Longhorns and Lions, anything could happen in the final 5 games. Clark was humble about his chances of finishing top, "I'd love it, but texas have been the best team all year and I suppose it only figures that they should finish top. I'm not going to give it to them though, as I know how important homefield advantage can be."

The Kaisers clearly benefitted from their returning stars, with almost a full squad at his disposal Clark is primed for the playoffs.

Transfer gossip is swirling that a deal has been struck between KK and the Rochester Kings. Details are currently sketchy, but it's being billed as a blockbuster. Rumors indicate that Eddie Johnson could be the departing player from COmmonweath, and with a serious need at DC, a swap deal involving
Oguchi Oneywu seems the most likely.

Clark repsonded, "nothing is finalized, and until it is, well, then I have no comment".

"I want to recognise my wingbacks - Paul Broome and Chris Albright - who have been in excellent form and help make our transition to the 5-3-2 work. It's about time a couple of the other players on my team got the credit they are due; Josh Wolff has been a big time player for us, and his goals have been a massive plus for this side, which has otherwise been quite goalshy. Christian Rodriguez, a kid from Uruguay, has also been awesome. He's got all the tools and upside. He will play with the best one day and I'm just trying to make sure this club matches his ability, I don't want him to out grow us."


"That's all for now guys, we've got to get back to the training fields...."

retired_gabriela

Staring at the Abyss

This season has been a tough one for the Rochester Kings. It's been a season featuring injuries to the goalkeepers, injuries to the midfielders, injuries to forwards, injuries to the ballboys, and injuries to the manager.

Now with six games left in the regular season, the Kings are hanging on to the last playoff in the Eastern Conference by a single point; a disappointing outcome for a team featuring the likes of Ebbe Sand, Christian Gomez, Ronnie O'Brien, Oguchi Onyewu, and Christian Nerlinger. How did they get to this point? It certainly didn't start well...

It all started shortly after the SuperDraft for Kings manager Tristan Oberle. In an epsiode reminiscent of the kidnapping of Cruz Azul manager Ruben Omar Romano, Tristan was taken captive by rabid fans demanding season tickets. Needless to say, this put somewhat of a damper on the Kings' pre-season preparations. Finally, the day before the first game of the season, an agreement was reached for Tristan's release. Then, to add insult to injury, his captors got into a car accident driving him to his release point. Shattering a car window with his head, Oberle would be forced to spend the first few days of the new season in the hospital recovering, but was alright to manage by Matchday Two.

Judging by early results, Oberle's head injury resulted in his forgetting what defense was, for in Rochester's first 13 games they allowed 29 goals. It didn't help that both of the Kings' goalkeepers, Joe Cannon and Noah Palmer were injured and amateur reinforcements had to be brought in.

At the same time, the Kings proved to be one of the most exciting teams in the league, scoring 26 goals of their own. Most of the goals came thanks to team captain and former Schalke 04 star Ebbe Sand. Having recently retired from international football, Sand turned his newfound focus on club football into spectacular form, scoring 13 goals in the team's first 8 games.

As the season has worn on, the Kings have been forced to temper their all-out offensive approach in an effort to keep the scoresheet a little more even. The practice has worked somewhat, but the results have stayed the same. Following a possibly season-ending injury to Sand, as well as the release of Joe Cannon after many episodes of random goalkeeper wandering, the Kings are now looking to rookie goalie Robbie Fulton, and the strike partnership of Nate Jaqua and Alecko Eskandarian to save the season.

Can it be done? It is tough to say. It is rumored that Kings management has a move or two up ready to go in time for the transfer deadline. Whatever moves are made, Rochester would be well-served to end the season on a tear, for if the playoffs started today they would face the best team in the league this season, Roger Saint-Vil's Vancouver Lions.

retired_hellokity111

For full stats see the latest edition of MLS Gazette.

MLS Gazette - Tables, Rosters and Stats

retired_uzy

Mismatch Hire 'New' Manager, Still Suck

Having lead them to dead last in the MLS, Muskegon Mismatch manager Frank Serafinski was fired by the Mismatch board with only a few games to go. Despite being smart enough to fire him, they obviously weren't smart enough to realize that they had hired him again. The Mismatch hired one Frank Serafinski II, who we believe is the exact same Frank Serafinski to originally manage the team, only with the II suffix attached. Calls to members of the Mismatch board weren't returned, but we did get a moment to speak with Serafinski. When asked whether he was the same manager as before, he replied with a "No, that's preposterous!" and a wink. Unsurprisingly, he went on to finish the season in last place with 29 points, 9 points out of the playoffs. The good news is the Mismatch will have the first pick in the SuperDraft, with may help them make a quick turnaround.

retired_mallory08

PLAYOFFS!!
Conference Semi Finals

Northern Conference:
Alaska Arctic Wolves

.................................................. .....VS
New Liskeard North FC

Southern Conference:
Texas Longhorns

.................................................. .....VS

Nerdington Express

retired_mallory08

retired_spaulsen

Championship Heartbreak for Texas

The Longhorns enjoyed a good playoff run, but lost in the final against the Alaska Arctic Wolves. In the first round, Texas battled Nerdington in two closely contested games, with the only difference between the two sides being a Juan Pablo Garcia penalty in the first leg. The conference final with Marquette was an instant classic, with both teams firing on all cyllinders. Texas got goals from Bruno, Garcia, and Will John, but needed a dramatic penalty shootout to advance to the MLS final.

Playing at Foxboro, Russ' Alaska ran the match and were more than deserved 3-1 winners. Manager Ryan Thompson's midfield diamond proved to be a poor matchup against Russ' tactics, and Thompson's formation switch came too late, dooming the Longhorns in spite of a late Will John tally and a good effort from the team in general.