Pacific Region

PDX FC were able to wrap up their regional title this past weekend without having to lace up a boot - California Victory were a no-show, leaving PDX FC on the 4 points and +2 GD they earned over the last few weeks against Space United and Bay Cities. It wasn’t as easy as 1, 2, 3… however, as the Larks had to wait for the result between those very two teams - with Bay Cities FC hosting Space United on Saturday, in Redwood City California. Space United could pip the title if they were to beat Bay Cities by 3 or more goals.

The match was a fantastic affair with the two sides equal to each other’s efforts for the full 90 minutes. Fans from Seattle made the trip down to the Bay Area which made for a great background noise on the stream - both sets of fans cheering on their boys, with drums banging and triangles clanging. Space United scored first, with Daniel Herrera putting in some good work to evade two defenders about 50 yards out - space opened up for him and Herrera carried the ball deep into the box, where he was met with a solid challenge that earned his squad the penalty. Genovese was up to the task of putting it in, and he put the Seattle side up 1-0 in the 29’.

Just minutes later, in the 35’, the home side pulled one back off a brilliant set piece - 35 yards out on the left sideline, the ball was struck and careened off of Kinnear’s head to help Bay Cities draw even. The score remained so until, with just ten minutes of play left on the clock, Jonathan Partida intercepts a pass while pressing and carries the ball from right to left on the diagonal across goal - this drew the defenders with him and opened a channel on the right side for him to slip a pass into and Josiah Ramiro sent it home to take a 80’ lead.

However, over the last month, both of these sides have shown that they will not give up and despite being down 1-2 on the road, Space United were able to draw the match even in the 85’. It was another foul and reset, giving the Seattle boys the ball about 50 yards out - the pass went to the left side of the box, and after some fancy footwork, a short cross found the head of Junior Chimilio to give the away team some hope. Unfortunately for them, they were unable to find the three more goals they needed in the five minutes they had and finished second on points with two - giving the resting Portland team the regional title.

Southwest Region

Despite having the advantage of being the only side to host two matches in their group, Atletico Olympians were unable to win their region. They did their part by earning a win at home last week against fellow Arizonian side FC Arizona. It was the loss the week before that, however, to Cal United Strikers, which put their regional title in the balance. On the other hand, from the perspective of Cal United, all they had to do was draw or beat FC Arizona and it was theirs. Mission accomplished.

After 1904 FC from San Diego pulled out, Cal United Strikers were left as the sole side from California in the group and hosted their only match of the tournament at Championship Stadium in Orange County Great Park on Saturday.

Strikers dominated possession in the first half, and FC Arizona never really got a look at goal; however, the visiting team had to have a little hope for a result because by halftime they had also kept Cal United off the scoreboard too. As the second half crept on, FC Arizona was able to keep it close, but after they had to sub off their danger man, Ceasar Mejia, Cal United Strikers were able to work the ball from left to right and back again on the restart. Eventually, Cal’s Salguedo found himself with an unobstructed view of the frame and took a shot. Despite FC Arizona’s keeper getting his hands on the ball, it slipped through his body and into the net - giving Cal United Strikers the goal and eventually the win, and even the regional title.

Mid-Atlantic Region

The Maryland Bobcats visited Rowan University to play Atlantic City FC on Saturday and came away with a 1-0 win. That victory gave the NISA side their second consecutive Mid-Atlantic Region title. Last year the Bobcats were the underdog amateur side but this time they were the region’s anchor professional team. Maryland took a different tack from their other NISA brethren by fielding what amounts to a second-team made up almost entirely of reserve and bench players. That strategy paid off as the club not only won the region but players got vital first-team experience and the front office got the chance to test out their roster in competitive matches.

In the other Mid-Atlantic Region matchup of the day, Allentown United FC visited Baltimore-area, Steel Pulse FC. The latter club had a relatively easy time of it winning 3-0. With the Bobcats at the top of the table on seven points, the Steel Pulse victory left them at second with five points. Allentown United ended with three points and Atlantic City came in fourth with one point.

Southeast Region

Chattanooga FC cruised through the Independent Cup taking their second Southeast Region title in the process. After a bit of a nervy 1-0 victory in their first match against Atletico Atlanta, the NISA side found their groove and took out Savannah Clovers FC 4-0 in their second match. On Saturday, that continued as CFC blanked Soda City FC 5-0 at Finley Stadium. CFC striker Markus Naglestad found his form and scored five goals over three cup games. Add another two goals in a friendly against Appalachian FC and the club may have unlocked a cheat code leading into the fall season.

The other Southeast Region game on Saturday saw a scoring blitz as Atletico Atlanta and Savannah Clovers drew 4-4. The match swung back and forth with Atletico getting out to an early 2-0 lead. Savannah scored two late in the first half to tie the score. The Clovers then scored two more early in second half to go up 4-2. But, no lead is safe in the Independent Cup, and with time winding down in stoppage, Atletico Atlanta scored two quick goals to ultimately even up the match.

At the end of cup play, Chattanooga took the Southeast with a perfect 3-0-0 record and nine points. The draw between Savannah and Atletico meant the other three clubs ended the competition with two points each off identical 0-1-2 records. Atletico took the second spot with a -1 goal differential. Savannah was third off a -4 GD and Soda City came in fourth with a -5 GD.

Midwest

This region has changed slightly since the last update, thanks to the 1-1 draw that took place between Med City and Chicago House AC. With that draw, CHAC was eliminated from winning the region, even if it win its final match with bottom of the region Union Dubuque scheduled for this Saturday. Even a win for CHAC, which would be expected given UD’s performance so far, would only bring it even with Med City who hold the tie breaker in GD by three goals.

The match to watch will take place this evening, when Milwaukee Torrent hosts Med City. Should Med City win outright, it would win the Midwest Region edging out Torrent by a single point. However, Torrent, holding 6 points on two wins, wins the region with any other result. A draw puts them at 7 points, while a win would put them at 9, either point total means that the NPSL would have a regional winner in a tournament dominated by NISA sides. It would also be some consolation to the Milwaukee club who were bounced from the midwest playoffs of the NPSL by Cleveland SC last week, after a dominant regular season run.

For Chicago House, this tournament has been a learning curve of unkind proportions. Beaten by Torrent soundly, 2-0 in week 1, then drawn by Med City, 1-1 in week 2, the reality is the club is very early on in the process. The club has been well-received by fans and critics alike, with the name and badge rollout, the weekly zoom meetings, the charming Peter Wilt serving up goodwill everywhere he goes, its all been great. But the Independent Cup has shown that the team has a ton of work to do over the next month to be ready for week one when it shows up at Keyworth for its Fall opener with DCFC.

Great Lakes

When we launched the coverage of the Cup this year, we held a pick contest and only one club was UNANIMOUSLY chosen across every ballot to win its region: Detroit City FC. And it’s not because the other clubs in this region are bad. Both FC Buffalo and Cleveland SC are solid NPSL sides, the second of which is in a deep run in the NPSL playoffs. Livonia City is the lowest on the challenger rank, but still a good club in a regional league. But Detroit City hasn’t taken a match off since the team joined NISA and the Independent Cup doesn’t feel like an exception.

The first match of the Great Lakes Regional was Detroit City hosting FC Buffalo (we wrote about it last week). The result was 3-1 and every prediction about this region feels rock solid. The second match took place on last Saturday when FC Buffalo hosted Livonia City and won 3-0 with goals from Jayson Repine, Robert Williamson (penalty), and Derek Bartlo (his first goal for FCB). The win puts Buffalo into an interesting spot mid-table, as they are set to host Cleveland SC this weekend. Win and they challenge for the top spot. Lose and they are eliminated. A draw is bad news for both clubs, particularly with Detroit City looming for CSC two weeks out. This weekend will see Livonia City traveling to Detroit to take on the NISA side.

New England

This region is hard to read, with so few matches played so far. There’s even a club that hasn’t played a match yet, Mass United Rush. So far, however, Lansdowne Yonkers sit atop the table with the only win of the matches played so far (over Newtown Pride in week 1). In the other match played so far, Newtown Pride drew New Amsterdam 1-1. Ronny Diniz scored early to put NPFC up, but NAFC drew a PK and evened it up. Neither club could find a winner in the second half.

This week New Amsterdam will host Lansdowne Yonkers on Wednesday and the winner of that match will hold the top spot for a bit (until some of the other matches are finally played). Mass United will be in action this weekend, facing Newtown. Still so much to play for here, with multiple matches needed scheduling. Hard to paint a clear picture at the moment.

South Central

This region was locked up last week for Louisiana Krewe, but there is still a single match left to be played for pride and a bit of fun. Tonight, Krewe will finish its run against Texas Spurs. The match will also be the final of the Region, which has been a fun one, packed with close matches.

West Coast

The way things sat before this weekend’s matches, three of the four teams in the West could have called the championship their own. The only team that was completely out of the running was Chula Vista FC having only one point on the table at that time. The remaining three teams were watching and waiting to see how the others would do and where they would fall when it was all said and done.

ASC and Chula Vista FC were up first playing on Saturday. A win here would be ASC;s chance to keep their foot in the door, possibly leading to an overtaking of the region. But in what would be one of the wildest matches seen these past few weeks, and a heroic attempt at a comeback win by ASC, both teams managed to hang 4 on the board and ASC watched its championship dreams drift away.

That left NISA’s own, league runner-up, LA Force against a previously unknown to the rest of the country, Magia Futbol Academy, who play in the Southwest Premier League. Having seen the outcome of their competitors’ match, each side knew this one was for all the marbles. Magia had already shown that they could score goals and LA wasn’t rolling over these smaller teams like they might have assumed they would/could so it was anyone's ballgame. In the end the Force did prevail but Magia definitely gave them a run for their money. With a 3 - 2 final LA took home the win and the championship.