AC Syracuse Pulse

Club Overview

For a club that sat dormant since December, we’ve suddenly got a lot of movement (some might say “a pulse”) from the Syracuse expansion side. What kind of club we’ll see is hard to say at this point. The team brought in former CFC coach Peter Fuller, apparently signed last week, though the rumor was out there at least 2 weeks before it was public. The Pulse will be playing in Lazer Stadium on the campus of Onondaga CC. Some are questioning how the roster was built, given the complete lack of local talent. Are we seeing a “league-assisted” club (like Stumptown & 1904) or is this just a strange confluence of events to get things together at the last second? In a recent interview with KWSN, Commissioner Prutch denies the league is assisting ACSP in anyway beyond normal operations.

Roster

The roster, which rolled out yesterday in a rush, features 12 former NISA players, 4 with CFC on their resume. Some big name you’d recognize would be Min-jae Kwak (Cal Utd), Molley Karpeh (MDB), and Kyle Nuell (Stars). The non-NISA players on the roster include multiple players with USL experience. For the lower league fans, Jakob Popkin, a product of the MPLS City Futures program, is on the roster as well. How all this talent comes together will be interesting and somewhat unpredictable. Fuller is a solid coach and should be able to get them into a functioning squad soon. How soon? That’s the question.

Coach Fuller signing his AC Syracuse contract.

Preseason

We simply don’t know. We didn’t know the team had a coach until three weeks ago and a roster until yesterday. If the club played some matches, your guess is as good as mine.

2022 Schedule

In Pulse’s first 7 matches, they play Flower City Union 3 times. If there’s ever a chance to get a running start in the standings, it’s those matches. Particularly, when the rest of those 7 are against more established teams.

Predicted Finish in East

DanC: 4th

DanV: 5th

JHF: 5th

Chattanooga FC

Club Overview

The most stable club remaining in NISA is at a turning point. With the exit of DCFC, CFC has every chance to assume its rightful spot on top of the standings and regain its legacy brand feel. To do that, the club made some big changes, replacing Coach Fuller with Coach Underwood, then revamping the squad dramatically. It’s a new look for CFC - but one we’re familiar with in NISA. We expect that the new coach will bring his possessive style of play we know from Stumptown to Finley (especially considering how many Stumptown players made the move with him). How that will play out in the league, remains to be seen, but it worked pretty well with a much poorer roster in Matthews. With rumors surrounding CFC regarding an imminent departure from the league to MLS Next Pro, this may be the last chance the club has to win a league title. It may also be a chance for NISA to fulfill the expectations of the Chattanooga club and remain its league of choice. A lot is riding on this season.

Roster

As mentioned, some former Stumptown alums have joined CFC - midfielders Alex McGrath and Colin Stripling, defender Travis Ward, and keeper Kevin Gonzalez. Other additions include midfielder Ian Cerro from Chicago House and former Detroit City Roddy Green. This week’s announcement of the return of Markus Naglestad, only adds another offensive tool for Coach Underwood’s plan. Of particular interest in this roster is who is the starting keeper? Alec Redington is the incumbent, but Gonzalez was brilliant for Stumptown last season, earning Second Team All-NISA honors. Guess we’ll know very soon.

Preseason

CFC had a beefy preseason, playing USL-C sides Memphis 901 FC and Birmingham Legion as well as League One side Greenville Triumph.

2022 Schedule

This schedule kicks off with the big daddy of them all (relatively speaking), Maryland Bobcats visiting Finley. It will set the tone for the entire season and will speak volumes about BOTH the revamped clubs. Who is the monster in the East? The rest of the schedule will be challenging, as CFC is perceived as the favorite in NISA. Every team will be looking to take them down.

Predicted Finish in East

DanC: 1st

DanV: 2nd

JHF: 1st

Flower City Union

Club Overview

The club has done some things that indicate they know what they are doing, particularly on the social media approach. Unlike some of the other start-up clubs this season, the team kept its accounts current and active, particularly as we rolled into 2022. Each moth has seen more and more content and updates from the club. This team has a very “Chicago House feel” to how they are trying to build their base. FCU is one of the few clubs in NISA to have a functioning and polished Youtube channel, which featured some amazing training vlogs.

Roster

This roster is full of almost entirely unknown players, most with ties to the Rochester area, indicating that the club is actively building that into their roster. The team is very young with little pro experience. Unlike Pulse, this team only features two former bench NISA players. One interesting quirk about this roster is that so far, the team only features three forwards. Are more on the way? You’d have to hope so, unless they are taking the Stumptown approach to tactics?

FCU’s social media has really been crushing it with content, including photos from workouts.

Preseason

As far as we can tell, we only spotted two preseason friendlies, Rochester Lancers and Michigan Stars. There was a “training friendly” against Syracuse University, not sure if that counts as a friendly or not.

2022 Schedule

The big thing that stands out on the schedule piece is that FCU is probably the underdog in every match this season. Just given what we’ve seen in their roster, it will be a rough season for this club. Pulse had appeared to be the bottom of the barrel until it announced a very veteran roster (in comparison), so FCU now has that distinction, at least at this point.

Predicted Finish in East

DanC: 5th

DanV: 4th

JHF: 4th

Maryland Bobcats FC

Club Overview

Maryland Bobcats learned a multitude of lessons over the course of 2021. After coming out strong in the Spring season, the team faded in the Fall. Plenty of that fading could be blamed on injuries and lack of roster depth, but the club decided it was time to make some big changes. The first step was bringing on a new coach in Sylvain Rastello. Rastello has a long resume in Canada, both as a sporting director and coach. That experience is already paying dividends, as the front office is pleased with the technical approach he’s brought to training this offseason. The team felt it was a necessary step, and their new coach is making it happen.

Roster

When the club first went pro, it had made the decision to bring the entirety of its amateur team to the professional level. After a year of play, the team is beginning to make more dramatic changes to the roster. The big loss from last season is Jake Dengler, the standout defender, who signed with FC Tormenta. Dengler was probably the MDB MVP from 2021. A dozen players are returning from last season. To that strong core the Bobcats have brought in a very interesting collection of pieces: Moses Makinde, Bernardo Majano Felix Annan, Elijah Amo, Darwin Espinal, Brandon Clegg. How these new players mesh with the existing core will be the question. One benefit of the club building the roster early

Preseason

The team recently played an interclub match between its first team and its academy/reserves. Other preseason match ups included: All-Star United, FC 4188 and FC 1749.

2022 Schedule

Maryland’s schedule starts tough out of the gate starting away at Finley Stadium; then home against FCU, before a midweek USOC match at Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The schedule gets much harder after the summer break, so they will need to not drop points early on. Build a cushion early and hold on for dear life.

Predicted Finish in East

DanC: 2nd

DanV: 1st

JHF: 2nd

Michigan Stars FC

Club Overview

The club most famous for not saying much at all has continued on that path this offseason. Virtually silent for three months, the team began smashing out roster announcements in the final week before the season, generally after 8p ET! What that complete roster will look like on matchday is hard to say. Hey, Stars, we’ve sent multiple emails, we’d love to hear back!

Roster

While we don’t have a complete roster yet (a day before the regular season kicks off), we do know that longtime midfielder Kyle Neull is no longer a Star (joined Pulse). The team has added Oluremi Martins Williams (NAFC), Grant Michaels (West Virginia United), Noah Cavanah (LA Force), and Jonathan Firmino (SC Mineiro Aljustrelense). Who is returning from the previous season is yet to be determined. As with all things, we shall see their roster when they play a match.

Preseason

Games against FCU in Rochester and Valley United in Arizona. There was an extended trip out West, but not a lot of detail was released to the public.

2022 Schedule

Stars’ first competitive match is their Open Cup match up against arch-rival Detroit City FC. One would expect the NISA side to lose that one, given the differences between the clubs. So heading into the NISA regular season, the Stars will have a much better chance of starting off right. Four of the club’s first five matches are against expansion sides. It’s an excellent chance to put points in the bank early on.

Predicted Finish in East

DanC: 3rd

DanV: 3rd

JHF: 3rd