Mid-Atlantic Round-Up

After a week off, we’re back with our roundup of club soccer in the Baltimore-DMV area! So, let’s get to it.

2020 DC Premier League Fall Cup

The four-team bubble tournament was held in two stages in Wheaton, Maryland. The semifinals were held on Saturday, October 31 and it was a tale of opposites. Federal City Wanderers jumped on a number of D.C. Districtonia mistakes to go in 4-0 at the half. The Wanderers continued their pace and took the match 7-0. In the other game, DCFC defeated DC Chedder 1-0 on a goal in the 70th minute.

The second stage of the cup was held on Saturday, November 7. DCFC took the cup by defeating FC Wanderers 3-2 and DC Cheddar won the third-place match 4-3 over Districtonia.

The league is hoping to play a winter season but doing so will be a struggle. With fields in DC still shut down the league is looking to possible options in the Northern Virginia or Maryland suburbs.

Mason-Dixon Soccer League Fall 2020 Weeks 5 & 6

After the final two weeks of games, the four-team fall tournament ended with a three-team tie at the top of the standings with each club having four wins and two losses. West Virginia FC took the regular season with a +6 goal differential. The next two clubs both ended with a +5 goal differential with ‘Merica FC taking second on a tie-breaker over Dale FC. West Virginia will receive a bye to the final on November 22. ‘Merica and Dale will face off in a playoff to face them on November 15 at Oakdale High School in Ijamsville, Maryland.

Washington Premier League Fall 2020 Week 10

Along with the Maryland Major Soccer League and the Mason-Dixon Soccer League, the Maryland State Soccer Association also sanctions the Washington Premier League. With teams from the DC Metro area, the WPL is a USASA Elite Amateur men’s league which is near the end of its fall 2020 season.

The WPL’s playoffs will involve the top four teams from the fall season. Those four clubs will play in two semifinals and a final. The top two teams, PR Performance Fitness Conquistadores and Yinz United, have done all they need to make the playoffs. The next two clubs, World Class Premier Elite and Aegean Hawks F.C., will both likely the playoffs.

DCFC has two games this week. They play Búena Futbol S.C. Wednesday night at Falls Church High School and Doradus FC Sunday night at Fairfax High School. That would enable DCFC to hop over the Hawks for a playoff spot.

Here’s the schedule for week ten (subject to change):

Major Maryland Soccer League Fall 2020 Weeks 8 & 9

With only a few regular-season games remaining for each of the clubs, the races for playoff positions are tightening up. In the 1st Division, the big match for the fight at the top was held Sunday, November 1 at Latrobe Park in Baltimore. Christos FC blanked Steel Pulse FC 3-0 to break the deadlock on points and pull into first place. Christos followed that up with a 1-0 defeat over Columbia FC the next Sunday at the same grounds to continue their hold at the top. Steel Pulse crushed AFC DOBES 8-1 later that day at Latrobe to stay at second.

All Star United kept pace for a playoff spot with a 1-0 win over Baltimore Kickers on November 1 and an important 6-3 victory over Maryland International FC at Hammond High School in Columbia, Maryland on November 8. A fight is brewing over the final 1st Division playoff spot. La Dolce Vita defeated AFC DOBES 5-3 on Sunday at Latrobe Park to pull ahead of Columbia FC on goal differential. LDV had a chance to pull ahead on points but ended up losing to Baltimore Kickers 2-1 at Catonsville High School on November 8.

The biggest match of the 2nd Baltimore Metro over the last two weeks was Friday, November 6 at Catonsville High School between Sure Sports FC and IFK Maryland. Sure Sports had already easily handled JA Raiders FC 6-1 on Wednesday, October 28 to keep the division lead over IFK. The second-place team also beat JA Raiders 4-0 on Sunday, November 1 to keep pace with the leaders and then tied them for the division with a 3-0 victory over Sure Sports that Friday. But, with a game in hand, Sure Sports pulled back into the division lead with another victory over JA Raiders, this time 5-2, two days later.

Argyle FC kept control of the final playoff spot with a 3-1 victory over Classic Crew F.C. at Latrobe Park on Sunday, November 8. But, that position may be tenuous as the closest club, Annapolis United 2 F.C., is four points behind but has only played four games all season. In the other 2nd Baltimore Metro match, JA Raiders, who played four games over two weeks, defeated Meade United F.C. 3-0 to stay within reach of a playoff spot.

The battle for first place in the 2nd Capital Beltway looks to be down to Dream Team FC and DMV Rangers. Dream Team edged Maryland United FC 4-3 on Wednesday, October 28 at Troy Park in Elkridge, Maryland and Limitless FC 1-0 on Sunday, November 1 at Latrobe Park during week eight to keep in the top spot. But, the Rangers were able to catch up and tie Dream Team on points with three wins over the two weeks.

DMV blanked Maryland United 2-0 on Sunday, November 1 at John Lewis High School in Springfield, Virginia. The Rangers then beat Annapolis United F.C. 2-1 on Wednesday, November 4 at Troy Park and Rockville S.C. 4-1 on Sunday, November 8 at John Lewis High School. Dream Team had a chance to break the deadlock at the top of the standings, but their November 8 match against Annapolis United F.C. was canceled.

Annapolis United has an outside chance to take the top spot in the division due to only having played six league matches so far. AnnaU beat Colombia F.C. 6-1 on November 1. Motorik FC continues to look like a solid pick for a playoff spot with two wins. The club defeated Frederick Spires FC 3-1 on November 1 and edged Maryland United 2-1 on November 8. Both matches were played at John Lewis High School, Motorik’s home turf.

Due to a string of four straight losses, Maryland United is sitting outside the playoffs by a couple of points. Fredericksburg City United is in the same position after picking up points in both their matches. Fred City beat Rockville S.C. 5-3 on November 1 and picked up a relatively rare MMSL draw with NPC Futbol, 2-2, on November 8. In other 2nd Capital Beltway matches, NPC Futbol defeated Colombia District FC 8-2 on November 1 and Colombia F.C. also defeated CDFC 4-1 on November 8.

Here’s the schedule for week ten (subject to change):