If you listened to this week’s Knights Who Say NISA show, you already know a lot of what I’m going to write about. The Independent Cup’s amateur round is now complete and the Regional amateur champions have been crowned. Some finished exactly as expected while others gave some shocking results. But with all the champions locked in, let’s look forward to this weekend’s matchups with NISA pro sides and what we expect result-wise.

Picking the Pros

Southeast

Club De Lyon FC vs Chattanooga FC

Club De Lyon played well in the Southeast, only giving up a single goal in two wins. The close win over my pick, Miami Beach CF, 2-1 showed that CDLFC was up to the challenge. However, for all that hard work and success, it gets to face the best NISA pro club in the East, Chattanooga FC. CFC is on a roll currently, just demolishing Flower City Union 5-0. This match won’t be a close one. CFC takes this competition seriously.

CFC is posting pictures of previous seasons’ trophies on social media. They mean business.

West Coast

IE Republic vs LA Force

I don’t think this is as much a gimme as the Southeast matchup, but I do think LA Force, regardless of all their struggles, knows how to beat amateur sides. I fully expect LA Force, who has plenty of talent in its lineup, to beat IE Republic. IER played well in amateur play, winning both matches, and scoring twice what it gave up. That’s a good enough record to catch LAF’s eye, I don’t think they overlook this one.

Pacific

Wenatchee All-Stars FC vs Bay Cities FC

The Pacific Region was the lowest goal-producing region in the entire competition, with 5 goals scored. Sure, Wenatchee score 4 of them, but most clubs in this competition did a lot better than that total. While Bay Cities can, at times, be inconsistent in its play, the roster has a lot of well-rested players who can be dangerous against the best pro club in the league, let alone an amateur side. I think Bay Cities wins this one.

SoCal

Capo FC vs Albion

Capo FC won both of its matches, surrendering a combined one goal in the competition. On the other hand, I cannot imagine an amateur side capable of stopping the attacking power Albion features up front. Sure, I’m talking about Malango, who is an absolute THREAT up the left side, but Albion continues to find new players to spice up that attack. Currently, in NISA play, the San Diego side is sitting second in the West with two games in hand over the third place side. The difference in talent will be too much for Capo FC to overcome.

Even Money

MidAtlantic

NoVA FC vs Maryland Bobcats

While everyone loves Maryland Bobcats, the club is in a bit of a slump right now and not playing at a level to be any better than mid-table in the East. Injuries and stale play have really put MDB in the doldrums, desperate for a spark. On the other hand, hard to pick a more on-fire club than NoVA FC. Hard to say who wins this one, but I don’t think you’d be wild to pick either. This is an even money match between one of the hottest amateur sides in the country and a pro side with all the tools to win, but in a slump.

Upset Picks

Empire

NY Braveheart vs Syracuse Pulse

When we looked at the Empire Region, we saw Allentown and Lansdowne and forgot there was a third club. NY Braveheart went on a rampage against the two more-well-established amateur sides, winning 3-0 and 4-1. NYB is the club that emerged from the amateur parts of the New Amsterdam program. It is clearly talented and clicking on all cylinders. While Pulse has been competitive at times, the team is an expansion side that plays well against other expansion sides. That’s not enough against the battle-hardened NYB side. I smell upset.

Great Lakes

Metro Louisville vs Michigan Stars

This is the least likely of the upset picks, if I’m honest, but Michigan Stars have proved to be one of the most up and down clubs of this year’s NISA play. It’s damn near impossible to predict which Stars side will show up. The roster is talented and can play well when they want to, but they are also a club that can play down to an opponent’s level. Metro Louisville beat two very good sides in amateur play, including last year’s Great Lakes champion, Torrent. I think there’s a lot of potential for an upset.

Northeast

NJ Alliance FC vs Flower City Union

The Northeast Region was packed with talent and New Jersey Alliance FC emerged as the champion. On the other side of this match, Flower City Union is having a very expansion-style season. I think I would have picked almost any amateur side from the Northeast amateur list to win a head to head with FCU. I’ll stick with that.

This year has been a rough one for the expansion side, Flower City Union.

Is it Even Going to Happen?

Southwest

Valley FC Raiders vs Valley United

Given all the rumblings around Valley United, the claims of immigration fraud, the cancelled matches, the summer month off, the players showing up on other teams, it’s easy to think VUFC has played its last match. The league has promised more news on this front later this week, so we may know more very soon. All that being said, IF the team plays, what will the roster look like? Cannot see this going well.

- Dan Vaughn