Stumptown 2 - 1 Cal United

Generally when a club gives up a goal 3 minutes into the game, things are not going to end well. Welp, Stumptown flipped the script. After giving up the opening goal to Christian Thierjung on a beautiful play that saw him beat the Stumptown backline, Stumptown settled down and netted two goals of their own. Luis Garcia Sosa scored in the 20th minute to even the score, then Colin Stripling headed in the go ahead 15 minutes later. And from there Stumptown refused to give up an equalizer.

Maryland Bobcats 3 - 1 1904

Maryland finally got its first win of the season, coming at home against a 1904 side that has been impressive yet inconsistent this season. Taylor Gray showed his speed on the opener, splitting the 04 defense and then putting one of the prettiest shots of the week past the keeper. It was a blazing banger of a goal that went off the crossbar and into the net. Pele Sesay would add another just before half, putting MD Bobcats in control of the match. That would be tested in first half injury time when Lorenzo La Violette would rise in the box to put his header into the net.

The second half offered only one more goal, this one again for the Bobcats, when Molley Karpeh jumped on the Sesay blocked shot and put in his first goal for the Maryland side. After scoring, Karpeh ran to the sideline to hug his coach. It was pretty heartwarming. The goal would put the match away for MDB and sealing its first win of the Fall campaign.

Chattanooga 0 - 1 LA Force

Week 4 was the first week of this season where homesides were actually on the negative side of the point total. Though the result from Chattanooga was the least surprising, considering how even these clubs were this season. Both clubs came into this match hoping to put a stamp on the rest of the season and the road side managed to get it done.

Both sides threatened at times, but neither were success in scoring until early in the second half. After a long forward pass by Chattanooga came to nothing, LA strung together a couple of effective passes and were on the break. The ball fed to Samuel Villava who entered the Chattanooga box from the right side. CFC defender Nick Spielman met him forcefully, but fairly and the ball trickled past. The referee disagreed and pointed to the spot. The ball was handed to Diego Barrera who slotted it home. That goal would be enough to win the match on the road.

The golden boot winner from the Spring season, Christian Chaney, didn’t start this match, instead subbing on in the second half, but, by that time, the winning goal had already been scored by the away side. CFC did manage a late chance from Kasak which looked to be the long-distance winner, but the shot went off the crossbar and into the air.

New Amsterdam 0 - 2 Michigan Stars

New Amsterdam came into this match with all the swagger of a first place club, having figured out how to score goals on the regular or so it seemed. And if any club on the schedule should have been easy pickings, it was Michigan Stars winless up to this weekend and struggling to get things done. But if you know NISA, you know how this story ends.

Michigan Stars came into this match and punched NAFC in the face in the third minute. Off a throw in, Nuel flicked a pass into the box that wasn’t cleared effectively and it fell to Alexandre Frank who beat the keeper to his right. Scoring that early allowed Stars to do what they do best: absorb everything New Amsterdam could throw at them. The score stayed 1-0 until the final breath, when a corner kick for Michigan Stars met the head of Devon Amoo-Mensah. He finished the match off with another great goal (dude is a beast in the air) and Stars head home with 3 points in their back pocket.

Detroit City 1 - 0 Chicago House AC

While this match could be seen as just another in a series of wins for DCFC, it’s clear that Chicago House gets up to play the best team in NISA. The opening match of the season between these clubs resulted in a five goal marathon of a match, where either side could have won. The return side of this series was also a hard fought match that came down to a single goal, and no others.

The play in question happened in the second half, after a first half that saw chances for both sides, but no goals. Maxi Rodriguez recieved a ball in the box and dribbled away from goal, but still in a threatening position. The Chicago defender, Michael Kafari, went to ground, tripping Rodriguez and missing the ball. To his credit, the DCFC midfielder immediately fell, drawing the penalty. Maxi would also take the penalty that would be the difference between the clubs.