NISA Independent Cup – 3rd Weekend Preview

OK – this time we will really have other regions joining the party. We got a fake out last weekend, but everything is now squared away with the Central Plains Region. And the winner is us, the lower league soccer-viewing public. Three days of Independent Cup footie action will be happening this weekend.

But you better be on your Ps and Qs when it comes to the Central Plains Region. With both club pairings playing Friday and Sunday, if you blink you’ll miss most everything. 

Central Plains Region

Louisiana Krewe FC v Gaffa FC – Friday, July 24th @ 9PM ET (Dobie Holden Stadium, Pearl River CC, Poplarville MS)

Louisiana Krewe FC v Gaffa FC – Sunday, July 26th @ 7PM ET (Dobie Holden Stadium, Pearl River CC, Poplarville MS)

So we not only have a change in dates for these two games, we have a change in venue. Instead of St. Julien Park in Broussard, Louisiana, we move to Dobie Holden Stadium on the campus of Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi. Advantage Gaffa FC, right? Well, Poplarville is a two-hour drive from Jackson (according to the Googles), so not exactly a home game per se.

Gaffa FC from Jackson, Mississippi, have not played a competitive match since last July due to the cancellation of the 2020 GCPL season. Winners of the GCPL in their first season (2017), Gaffa just missed out on the GCPL playoffs in 2019. This is a club that has a mix of veteran players from around the world who are coaches themselves as well as young players from the local area. The team is led by their Manchester-born center back Tom Cosgrave who will be on the roster for this tournament. 

Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, Louisiana Krewe have only played one season in the GCPL but enjoyed moderate success and made some noise by qualifying for the 2020 Open Cup. And yes, the club has had a certain soccer website on the front of its kits. Like Gaffa FC, Krewe have constructed a roster that has many international players but also give an opportunity for local players. Will Krewe continue its successful run of play?  

Lone Star Republic v Mansfield Revolution SC, Friday, July 24th @ 9PM ET (Greenhill School, Addison TX)

Mansfield Revolution SC v Lone Star Republic, Sunday, July 26th @ 7PM ET (Summit High School, Arlington TX)

Lone Star Republic out of Richardson, Texas is a club that has made it clear its long-term intentions and ambitions. Formed in 2012, the team calls itself “The World’s Greatest North Texas Future Professional Soccer Club” on its website (which has plenty of goofiness going on – so I’m already a fan). Currently the club plays in the UPSL – but for how long? NISA-bound in the future, perhaps? Like many of the participating clubs, LSR gets a bigger spotlight to show what they’re all about. 

LSR’s opponent in this home-and-home is Mansfield Revolution SC, based in Mansfield, Texas. Mansfield joined UPSL for the Fall 2019 season. Maybe the least known of all the clubs competing in the Independent Cup, but we will learn much more about Mansfield Revolution SC over this weekend. 

Southeast Division

Savannah Clovers FC v Georgia Revolution FC, Saturday, July 25th @ 3PM ET (Columbia Int’l University, Columbia SC)

By pulling out a draw last weekend against Soda City, this game still has meaning for Georgia Revolution. A win against Savannah and a Soda City loss to Chattanooga FC could put the Revs into the finds (depending on goal differential). The Revs have looked dangerous at times but has yet to play a complete game. What lineup will the Revs go with this time around? Will Todd Fidler get a chance to blast some long-range rockets? Will the Eskay brothers find the magic and the back of the net? Will 16-year-old Noel Elder continue to impress?

For the Clovers, this is about earning some respect and trying to play spoiler. It’s also time that Timo Mesa went off. Virtually absent from the game against CFC, here’s hoping that Mesa can get some service and cause havoc for Georgia’s back line.

Chattanooga FC v Soda City FC, Saturday, July 25th @ 6PM ET (Columbia Int’l University, Columbia SC)

Unlike World Cup group stages where the last games happen concurrently, Soda City will have a much clearer picture when they take the field at home against Chattanooga FC. If the Revolution lose, Soda City is through to the championship game no matter what. If the Revs win, then things get interesting. The hope here is that Soda City will have to push forward and score, making for a exciting match. You have to love the effort of midfielder Graham Jermstad, who has been a player to watch in this region. Will he be able to pull out another beauty of a goal or assist that clinches things for Soda City? Or, will it be Jack Pondy standing tall in goal keeping CFC off the scoreboard?

Chattanooga, on the other hand, has little to play for at this point. But just being able to play games again might be enough motivation for McGrath, Bement, Zeca and all to play positive soccer. The question is whether they will go with their ‘A’ lineup or rest a few players. I’m sure that there is also some motivation to finish the group undefeated.

- John Howard-Fusco

Previewing This Weekend's Independent Cup Matches

Another group joins the fray. The Southeast Region has to share the spotlight this weekend as the Central Plans Region begins play in the NISA Independent Cup.  

Southeast Region

Soda City FC v Georgia Revolution FC - July 18th @ 5PM ET (Finley Stadium, Chattanooga TN)

The first of two games being played at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga is a UPSL/NPSL battle between Soda City (1-0-0) and Georgia Revolution (0-1-0). A combination of solid goaltending and an opportunistic offense was the formula in Soda City’s win over Savannah Clovers. While there’s no doubt about Jack Pondy in goal, Soda City could use more offensive oomph from Graham Jermstad and company up front.

The Revs had their moments against Chattanooga FC but was ultimately outclassed in the 3-1 loss. Against Soda City, a hope for more offense coming from Todd Fidler, Braham Gamarra and the Brothers Eskay. It will be interesting to see if the Revs use the press more often in this game to force turnovers without having to be as concerned with their opponent’s fire power on the counter. A loss would essentially eliminate the Revs, so expect them to push the action in an attempt to dictate the terms. Will Pondy be a source of frustration?     

Savannah Clovers FC v Chattanooga FC - July 18th @ 8PM ET (Finley Stadium, Chattanooga TN)

A first game loss and staring elimination in face against the best team in the group. – not the way the Savannah Clovers (0-1-0) had hoped things would go. But here they are, and a big effort is what is going to be needed. We saw some flashes of elusiveness with Timo Mesa, and he is going to have to bring his A+++ game and give CFC’s back line fits. Georgia Revolution showed that you can press Chattanooga effectively at times. Will the Clovers be confident to send numbers forward? 

For CFC, we got a taste of what Zeca, Ian McGrath and Brian Bement can do together in the first game. How will they look after another week of training? The arrow is pointing up. One thing to look for is whether newbie goalie Alec Redington can deliver another solid performance. Could a soft goal throw off his game? Will Savannah be able to even get a chance to score a soft goal? 

Central Plains Region

Editors Note: The league notified us that this match has been moved to next weekend, due to local protocols.

Louisiana Krewe FC v Gaffa FC (St. Julien Park, Broussard LA)

The first of a home-and-still home between Louisiana Krewe and Gaffa FC being played in Louisiana. Easy on the traveling for the Krewe, no doubt. Although both clubs are from the Gulf Coast Premier League, they did not face each other last season due to playing in different conferences.  

Gaffa FC from Jackson, Mississippi, have not played a competitive match since last July due to the cancellation of the 2020 GCPL season. Winners of the GCPL in their first season (2017), Gaffa just missed out on the GCPL playoffs in 2019. This is a club that has a mix of veteran players from around the world who are coaches themselves as well as young players from the local area. The team is led by their Manchester-born center back Tom Cosgrave who will be on the roster for this tournament. 

Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, Louisiana Krewe have only played one season in the GCPL but enjoyed moderate success and made some noise by qualifying for the 2020 Open Cup. And yes, the club has had a certain soccer website on the front of its kits. Like Gaffa FC, Krewe have constructed a roster that has many international players but also give an opportunity for local players. Will Krewe continue its successful run of play?     

- John Howard-Fusco

NISA Independent Cup Recap – Opening Weekend

CHATTANOOGA FC 3   GEORGIA REVOLUTION FC 1

Game night had finally arrived at Finley Stadium in 2020, albeit under most unusual of circumstances. The home side Chattanooga FC would not have the usual big crowd on hand, but being able to play a competitive match again would be enough motivation. And it would not be a NISA match but a NISA Independent Cup match against an old NPSL rival Georgia Revolution FC.

The Revs started a defensive-minded lineup with Ryan King as the lone striker. The talk of the lineup was between midfielder Braham Gamarra (the man to watch from the commentators), head coach Scott Redding calling his own number into the Starting XI, and defender Noel Elder – and at age 16 was hardly an ‘elder’ statesman on the field.  

CFC came out with a lineup that was quite different from the last time we saw the team play a competitive match. Only three of the Starting XI started against the Oakland Roots in the opening game of the curtailed NISA spring season. One of the new players was not new at all for fans of CFC: Jose “Zeca” Ferraz, who has been part of the club going back to 2013. The insertion of Zeca gave Chattanooga a more potent offensive look. 

Image courtesy of CFC social media.

Image courtesy of CFC social media.

And it didn’t take long for CFC to get on the scoresheet as Zeca fed a streaking Richard Dixon down the right side who sent a ball into the box that Ian McGrath got a foot to before the defender and slipped it in near post for 1-0 lead in the sixth minute. Zeca and McGrath would help create multiple chances over the next few minutes, and you started to get the feeling that this was going to be an easy night for the home side. 

But the Revs weren’t ready to go down just yet. Quickly down the field after a CFC missed chance, Georgia midfielder Todd Fidler would find himself with the ball just outside the 18 and would uncork a rocket that found the upper corner and even the score. POW! Game on! And for the next ten minutes, the Revs would find some success in picking spots to press CFC, creating some turnovers. But Chattanooga didn’t panic, with defender Alec McKinley keeping things tidy in the back.  

The game settled back down for Chattanooga, and Zeca would once again make his mark, delivering a well-weighted pass to a streaking Brian Bement to the right of goal. Bement’s long putt of a shot tucked in just inside the far post, and CFC were back in front. Bement, who had been on the quiet side of things for much of the first half before that goal would have more to say in the second half.   

And so on to that second half – or, at least those of us watching on mycujoo tried to go on to that second half. But to no avail. The streaming service froze up and could not get back to live action until almost twenty minutes had elapsed. So while those of us on muycujoo fumed, the trio of McGrath, Zeca and Bement would put the game on ice. A long ball from middle of the field from McGrath would be headed down by Zeca and onto the path of Bement, and he clinically slotted it home.

The last fifteen minutes of the match saw play open up, and while the Eskay brothers came on and injected some life into the Revolution’s offense, the team could not sustain enough pressure to really mount a stiff enough challenge.

With the win, Chattanooga put themselves in a great position to be in the championship game. Along with the trio of offensive players, honorable mentions should be made for midfielder Juan Hernandez for his work in transitioning CFC from defense to offense as well as for goalkeeper Alec Redington in his first professional start.   

For the Revolution, Todd Fidler made his presence felt with his goal and his lack of fear in taking shots from all over the place. I don’t think there’s a spot of the pitch where Fidler doesn’t think he can get it on frame.  

One more word about mycujoo: simply put, this kind of problem must stop happening, or NISA needs to pick a new platform for streaming. But while the freeze up by mycujoo was frustrating, that in no way took away from the overall production of the game. The play-by-play provided by John Freeman and Dale Schilly was solid and professional. Their commentary was an enhancement to the match. 

SAVANNAH CLOVERS 1   SODA CITY FC 2

OK – since I could only watch one game live, I chose to go with the CFC v Revs game. This game I decided to watch the replay. And evidently the first ten minutes there was a problem with the feed, so we pick up the action already in progress…

Soda City and Savannah Clovers are division rivals in the UPSL, so they know each other all too well. And it didn’t take long for play to get a little chippy, with Savannah getting a yellow card within the first twenty minutes of the game. It would not be the only yellow card in the first half.

It would be Soda City striking first, as a long free kick would bounce through a maze of players and find an unmarked Dominik Byars for an easy header in the 19th minute. 

But the lead would be short-lived ad the Clovers would push the action the other way. Forward Timo Mesa looked particularly dangerous, giving Soda City defenders fits. ‘Keeper Jack Pondywas called upon to make a great reaction save on a point blank shot. But on the ensuing corner kick, Pondy could only deflect the ball away, and Henry Banegas would side volley a shot past the Soda City goalkeeper.

Image courtesy of Savannah Clovers social media.

Image courtesy of Savannah Clovers social media.

The second half would see both teams take turns in pushing the action to create chances. But the difference would come down to the play of the goalkeepers. Jack Pondy stood tall – literally – as he handled every dangerous opportunity that came his way. At the other end, J.W. May didn’t make himself big enough when Soda City’s Troy Paul (a second-half substitute) took a lovely weighted pass and found himself behind the Clovers’ defense. May came out to challenge, but Paul got there first and floated one over the prone keeper and into the goal at the 84th minute.   

Savannah was a little unfortunate to not get points out of this one. They seem like a club with a lot of good pieces that when they put it together will be formidable. For Soda City, the game spoke volumes about the needs for a good goalkeeper. I’m not sure if Jack Pondy was the best player of the field, but the was by far the most poised.  

Oh, and a word about the commentary. While not at the same level of professionalism as the Chattanooga crew, these guys were enjoying themselves and were knowledgeable about both teams. And I could swear that one of the guys (Don) was doing his best Josh Duder impersonation. Oh – and it’s OK to say “NEEsa” – you don’t have to spell it out.

- John Howard-Fusco