Photo: Courtesy of Chicago Fire
Philadelphia Union
Yeah, so that sucked.
In what was perhaps the most embarrassing, if not most disappointing loss of the season, the Union were defeated 3-0 by Chicago Fire on Saturday, blowing a chance to move level with NYRB, now in second place in the East, on points.
Jim Curtin said after the game, “Tough night for us. A little strange at the start, we conceded an own goal but created a few chances in the beginning of the game…They beat us on the night and they deserved the three points.”
Yep. And all you can do is flush that kind of game down the memory hole and prepare for the next opponent, Montreal. The Impact, currently in fifth place, three points behind the Union, host seventh place Orlando on Wednesday before visiting Talen Energy Stadium on Saturday.
Recaps and reports at PSP (recap, postgame quotes), Philadelphia Union (recap, report), Philly Voice, Philly Soccer News (recap, report), Brotherly Game (recap, analysis), Pattison Ave, Prost Amerika, Section 215, MLSsoccer.com (recap, Union, Fire), Chicago Fire, Daily Herald, CSN Chicago, Chicago Fire Confidential, Chicagoland Soccer News, Hot Time in Old Town, Pro Soccer Talk, and the AP. USA Today and Chicago Fire have photo galleries.
Jamaica was eliminated from World Cup qualification with a 2-0 loss to Panama on Friday. Which is nice for the Union but they’ll still miss him next season for the Gold Cup. Jamaica hosts also eliminated Haiti on Tuesday. At Union Tally, Matthew De George looks at Blake’s MLS season.
Section 215 looks at how Blake and Alejandro Bedoya did in their World Cup qualifiers.
FourFourTwo talks to Chris Pontius about his new lease on life with the Union. More on Pontius at Section 215.
“Chester, PA.” is last in rankings devised by The Oregonian to determine which city earns the BS title of “Soccer City, USA.” The Union come in seventh in the league for TV ratings, eleventh for average attendance, 15th for homegrown players. So, Philadelphia Union’s city is Chester, but New York “has two MLS teams, so those are combined for the purpose of this report” reads the copy, which seems to me to be unaccountably generous to East Harrison, New Jersey’s Red Bulls, not to mention Bridgeview, Ill.’s Fire, Commerce City’s Rapids, Foxborough’s Revolution, FC Frisco, Real Sandy, and the Carson Galaxy.
Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem lost 2-0 to first place NYRB II on Sunday and are now winless in the last nine games. Maurice Edu started for Bethlehem, playing 31 minutes, his first game minutes since Sept. 20, 2015.
Edu said after the game, “It was always going to be a challenge playing with some new guys and for me coming back from an injury. From a personal level it was to test out my injury and see how many minutes I could get under my belt. From that standpoint I came out well and obviously would result the game wasn’t ideal as I would have wanted to get a win but there was a lot of positive points coming out of this.” More on Edu with Bethlehem at MLSsoccer.com.
Recaps at PSP, Bethlehem Steel, Allentown Morning Call, Brotherly Game, Philly Soccer News, USLsoccer.com, NYRBII, Empire of Soccer, Big Apple Soccer, and Once a Metro.
Philadelphia Union Academy
The Union Academy kicked off the 2016-17 season on Saturday with a number of road games. Next Saturday the Union Academy sides host PA Classics.
U-12s
The Union U-12s played four games on Saturday, two against Cedar Stars Academy-Monmouth and two against PDA. In the first game against Cedar Stars, the Union won 5–2, Timothy Madden scoring a hat trick. Madden put the Union ahead with a goal in the first minute before Anthony Derk added another goal in the 14th minute. Madden scored again in the 19th minute, followed by Jackson Gilman a minute later. Madden completed his hat trick in the 47th minute, with Cedar Stars tallying in the 57th and 58th minutes.
In the second game against Cedar Stars, the Union U-12s romped their way to a 12–1 win. Marcelo Mazzola scored 4 goals, Nelson Pierre scored three, Ian Abbey scored two, and Jason Barragan and Paolo Kampula added single tallies of their own, with Cedar Stars adding an own goal to the scoreline.
The Union U-12s split the results against PDA, whom they hosted at the Indoor Turf field at YSC in Wayne, Pa. on Sunday. In the first game, PDA took a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute before Nelson Pierre equalized a minute later. In the 14th minute, PDA took the lead again before Marcello Mazzola equalized in the 36th minute. PDA would find the game winner in the 42nd minute.
U-13s
The Union U-13s cruised to a 4–0 win over DC United. Jack Roberto opened the scoring in the 10th minute before Micah Cain added a goal in the 15th minute. Roberto scored again in the 20th and 24th minutes to complete his hat trick
U-14s
The Union U-14s suffered the first, and biggest, biggest loss on the weekend, falling 5–0 to DC United. The Union conceded goals in the 9th, 21st, 34th, 49th, and 56th minutes.
U-15/16s
The Union U15/16s took the lead in the 14th minute with a goal from Daniel Bloyou before conceding a pair of goals in the 30th and 32nd minutes. Liam O’Brien scored the equalizer in the 64th minute before the Union conceded the 3–2 game winner in the 74th minute.
U-17/18s
The Union U-17/18s battled DC United to a 0–0 draw. Justin McMaster and Anthony Fontana did not feature in the draw before playing for Bethlehem Steel on Sunday, with Matthew Real an unused sub for Sunday’s USL contest.
More on the Academy’s weekend at Brotherly Game.
City Islanders
City Islanders had the weekend off ahead of Wednesday’s game against NYRBII at Millersville University (4 pm, YouTube).
Zimbabwe Standard notes the success of former City Islanders man Lucky Mkosana with New York Cosmos.
Local
Former Ocean City Nor’easters forward Chevaughn Walsh scored his first professional goal in his first start for his new club, USL-side Pittsburgh Riverhounds, in a 2-0 road win over Orlando City B on Saturday.
The Temple men’s team remains undefeated after a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on Friday, and 3-0 win over Northeastern on Sunday. Pittsburgh topped St. Joseph’s on Sunday, 4-1.
The La Salle men’s team fell 3-0 at home to Rider on Friday.
Penn drew 2-2 with American University in their season opener at home on Friday.
MLS
In the Eastern Conference, first place NYCFC (44 points, 12-8-8) defeated sixth place DC (32 points, 7-9-11) 3-2 on Thursday. Second place NYRB (43 points, 12-9-7) defeated Vancouver 1-0 on the road. Third place Toronto (43 points, 12-8-7) had the weekend off. Fourth place Philadelphia (40 points, 11-10-7) was defeated 3-0 on the road by ninth place Chicago (26 points, 6-12-8). Fifth place Montreal (37 points, 9-7-10) had the weekend off, as did seventh place Orlando (31 points, 6-7-13). Eighth place New England (30 points, 7-12-9) defeated Colorado, 2-0. Last place Columbus (26 points, 5-10-11) was defeated 2-1 on the road by the Galaxy.
In the Western Conference, first place Dallas (51 points, 15-7-6) defeated sixth place Portland (35 points, 9-11-8), 3-1. Second place Salt Lake (43 points, 12-8-7) had the weekend off. Third place Colorado (43 points, 11-5-10) lost 2-0 on the road to New England. Fourth lace Los Angeles (43 points, 10-4-13) defeated Columbus, 2-1. Fifth place Kansas City (38 points, 11-12-5) had the weekend off, as did sixth place Portland (35 points, 9-11-8), seventh place San Jose (32 points, 7-8-11; they played Pachuca in a friendly, losing 4-3 on Saturday, former Union man Shea Salinas scoring a brace), eighth place Seattle (31 points, 9-13-4), and last place Houston (25 points, 5-11-10). Ninth place Vancouver (31 points, 8-13-7) fell 1-0 at home to NYRB.
Houston has loaned Erick Torres to Cruz Azul for the remainder of the season: “Cruz Azul holds an option to execute a permanent transfer at the conclusion of the loan period. If the transfer is not executed, Torres will return to the Dynamo for the 2017 preseason.”
Colorado Springs Switchbacks have signed former Union man Zach Pfeffer from Colorado Rapids for the remainder of the USL season.
A competing group to land a MLS franchise in St. Louis?
What happens if FC Cincinnati doesn’t move up to MLS?
Why does San Antonio want a MLS franchise?
NWSL
First place Washington (36 points, 11-3-3) clinched a playoff berth with a 1-1 draw against fourth place Western New York (28 points, 8-5-4). Second place Portland (32 points, 9-3-5) thumped last place Boston (10 points, 3-13-1), 5-1. Third place Chicago (29 points, 8-4-5) overcame a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 with fifth place Seattle (24 points, 6-5-6). Sixth place Sky Blue (22 points, 6-7-4) gave up the lead to lose 2-1 on the road to eighth place Kansas City (19 points, 5-8-4). Seventh place Houston (19 points, 5-8-4) defeated ninth place Orlando (18 points, 6-11-0), 4-2.
Echoing the protest of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before the start of the Portland-Boston game. Rapinoe said, “It was very intentional. It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now. I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.”
US
At 17 years, 349 days old,Christian Pulisic! became the youngest player to score a goal in World Cup qualification for the USMNT on Friday as the US handily defeated St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 6-0. And then he added an assist and another goal.
A win over Trinidad and Tobago in Jacksonville on Tuesday will put the US at the top of their group (8pm, FS!, UniMas).
Pulisic! Pulisic! Pulisic! Pulisic! Pulisic! Pulisic!
Recaps and reports at PSP, US Soccer, MLssoccer.com (recap, player ratings), ESPN, Fox Soccer, SI, CBS Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Soccer America, ASN (recap, player ratings), Goal.com (recap, takeaways, player ratings), SBI, US National Soccer Team Players, Stars and Stripes FC, FourFourTwo, Reuters, and the AP.
Michael Bradley and former Union man Michael Orozco joined the US team in Florida on Saturday.
Hope Solo believes her six-month suspension from the USWNT comes in retaliation for her advocacy of equal pay for USWNT players: “I feel like I’m being pushed out, because it can’t be based off performance, my health. It can’t be based off anything but they don’t like me … because they know I’ve been fighting so hard for equal pay. They’re going to use my comments as an excuse to get rid of me forever so that they don’t have to deal with such a strong voice and opposition to field conditions and playing conditions and pay. I think I’m just a thorn in their side, and it’s time for them to cut their losses.” Delusional.
Carli Lloyd. Petulant.
Former USWNT midfielder Lauren Holiday, pregnant with her first child, will undergo surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. The New Orleans Times-Picayunne reports, “The good news was the tumor was operable and not a threat to the Holidays’ unborn daughter. After successful surgery, doctors were confident Lauren would return to full health.” The surgery will take place after the birth of the child.
Bye bye Hope Solo…you are a coward! Seriously, I know self awareness doesn’t come easy, but knowing that you are fallible brings with it a unique kind of grace. When a person is missing this, it is obvious
Right now the Edu appearance asked as many questions as it answered. Why did he only play 30 minutes? How long will it take until he is able to go 90 (or at least close to it)? Will the Union have any games left to play by that time?
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Seems like if he only went 30, he’s not going to play next Saturday. Then the Union travel cross country to Portland and somehow I don’t see him making that trip. So that leaves Toronto on 9/24 with the Union having only 3 more games after that.
Honest Questions. Especially regarding Mo.
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Hopefully best case is we wrest 7 points from the last three games and take an attitude of Playing Well in to playoffs at which point- really- who knows where the ceiling is… Isn’t that the whole point of this model… Nobody in the east scares me…ohhhh boogie man- a team Playing Well with 3 National Team members up its spine is dangerous no matter what.
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—– especially once Charlie Davies gets the nod in the playoffs (if the manger is smart) when a finisher is of more value than a non finisher…. Just a hunch folks.
Assuming you are referring to Blake, Edu, and Bedoya as the 3, I would also add in a man known as The Calm who has played in 2 World Cups for Switzerland including the game where they beat eventual champions Spain in 2010.
I was — and you would be correct….
I would love to see Mo play even a half for us, split the time with Carroll or Creavalle. Playing with Barnetta and Bedoya should help to cover him some, maybe play him in the second half when players are a little fatigued. Carroll has been more than serviceable this year, but if the U are going to make any real playoff push, Mo needs to be the difference maker.
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It seems so off to me that we are number 1 in goals, but have horrible performances like Saturday. I’m hoping its a one off, and the U have been significantly better this year in coming back from bad play. To me this speaks to 2 things, Curtin is still inexperienced and makes some bad decisions on occasion. But moreso, when you have uninspired offensive performances, goal scorers need to step up and make a play, that can be the difference in a game. CJ has been found wanting in this regard all year. Saturday was a great game to come out in the second and give Davies a half to change things up. I think Curtin is too tied to CJ to ever make a significant change.
I fail to see what evidence Charlie has provided in the time he’s been out there to believe he’d be capable of giving you a hard 30 minutes or more alone up top at this point.
He’s not in any kind of game shape. Brought on to give you a “savvy” 15-20 minutes at the end to hold up the ball, kill clock maybe poach a sneaky one or two before it ends ? That’s the hope.
It would have been interesting to see the difference a healthy, peaceful off-season might have made going forward…….but:
having read his contract demands…..thinking the Union might need to completely reboot the spear-tip by Feb.