Week 1 Independent Cup Update
It’s been a big first week for the Independent Cup, with the first matchup of this year’s competition actually getting underway on Tuesday of last week. Here’s a quick recap of last week’s action and what to watch for this upcoming week.
Lansing Common 0 - 1 Metro Louisville
This match was the one that snuck up on everyone, except maybe the clubs themselves? The schedule was announced and suddenly we had a matchup in a couple of days! Metro Louisville had plenty of chances in the first half but the only goal of the match was a surprise, due to how low key it was. A beautiful bit of ball movement by ML FC just outside of the box sets up a streaking Fabrizio Tavano. The pass into the box is lofted and is almost cut out by the Lansing defenders, but the ball bounces around and Tavano is there. His shot is nearside post and past the keeper who was nailed in place. That goal would be the difference and Metro Louisville went on the road and got a massive opening win in what promises to be a very tight Region.
Capo FC 5 - 1 Soul2Sole
This match, between two west coast sides, was hard to predict, but Capo FC sure put its stamp on this one. Capo scored three times in the first half before adding two more in the second. The final scoreline reflected a dominant performance by the home side. Capo’s scoring featured a brace for Parker Scalzo. His first (video above), which was also the opening goal of the match, came on a streaking run up the left side. His shot was a daisy cutter that beat his defender and the keeper, skipping into the corner of the goal and giving Capo a lead it never gave up. The rest of the goals came from Jose Rivera, Eder Oiva, and Gustavo Chavez. Soul2Sole did manage one goal in the first half from Art Guti, but couldn’t manage to wrestle this match away from Capo FC.
This weekend, the regional play really gets rolling and here’s the matchups! We’ve got a slate of fun ones to catch, including Metro Louisville’s matchup with last year’s Great Lakes’ champion, Milwaukee Torrent. We’ve also got a massive matchup in the Empire Region between Landsdowne Yonkers and Allentown United.