FC Milwaukee Torrent vs. Chicago House AC

This opening match should be an interesting test for Chicago House AC as it kicks off its Independent Cup run. Due to a variety of reasons, we haven’t seen much of CJ Brown’s team in action, so there’s a lot of mystery headed into this match. The club announced three more signings just this week and is clearly mid-process in its roster-building phase. What that will mean in this kick-off match remains to be seen. Certainly it could spell problems given their opponent.

Torrent comes into this match from the opposite position, on its way to wrapping up an impressive regular season run that already sees the club winning a Great Lakes Conference Championship with a match left to play (July 17th against FC Indiana). This team suffered a single loss in NPSL play, so comes into this match firing on all cylinders. Rather than a single player driving the offense, FCMT has a scoring attack spread across its roster with goals coming from all over the field.

Chicago House AC is in the middle of determining its roster for the Fall. Photo credit: CHAC

It should be interesting to see this matchup the first day of the tournament. House AC is probably as vulnerable as it will ever be as a team right now, making it the perfect target for a pro team upset in the opening weekend. Torrent is a club with a lot of swagger and a win against a NISA side would be a nice feather in its cap. This match seems as evenly stacked as they come, which, of course, will mean a blowout on Friday.

Chattanooga FC vs. Atletico Atlanta

Last year, Chattanooga won this region easily over two UPSL sides (Soda City and Savannah Clovers) and one NPSL side (Georgia Revolution). This year, Atletico Atlanta (UPSL) took the Revs spot in the Southeast Region. Atletico (formerly Ginga) won last season’s UPSL final with a stacked squad of international players. While they haven’t played as well in the UPSL regular season (currently 5th in the Georgia Division of the Southeast Conference) this season, Atletico has a massive squad of talented players and will no doubt be itching to chalk up a win against a professional side.

Markus Naglestad in action against Appalachian FC this week. Photo credit: CFC

Speaking of that professional side, Chattanooga is also dealing with a disappointing spring regular season where the team clearly underperformed its expectations. Squad movement is already happening so it should be interesting to see the roster CFC brings to this opening match. A big win over the regional newcomer would set a great tone for the club, particularly playing at home in front of the hometown faithful. The team played a friendly on Wednesday against Appalachian FC and was forced to battle back against the squatchy (I’m sorry) NPSL newcomers, winning 3-2 after going down early. Markus Naglestad had a brace in the CFC win.

So who shows up for this match? Which Atletico team will we see, given its struggles in UPSL play this season? Which CFC will we get, as the team limped down the stretch of the 2021 NISA spring season? It feels clear that Chattanooga takes the Independent Cup seriously, given last year’s performances, and, while Atletico does have a talented roster, the pros should have the edge in this opening weekend battle.

Maryland Bobcats FC vs Steel Pulse FC

It’s a blast from the past! These two sides have played each other in past leagues so there’s history here. Evan Raimist, former player and current GM for Maryland Bobcats, gave me his thoughts on playing a team with history. “It’s always a tough battle when you go up against an in-state rival at any level. They have guys that can certainly play and move the ball. We know that being a pro team means that whoever we play is going to be gunning for us, be it a friendly, Cup match, or otherwise. We’ll go in expecting their best.”

Maryland is coming off a successful debut season as a professional club in NISA. While the team struggled in the opening couple of matches, the team showed consistent improvement (and was always dangerous) and ended the season mid-table. The Independent Cup will be a great chance for the club to continue growing against sides that should offer the chance for the Bobcats to shine.

Maryland has steadily built support among fans and will hope to continue that in the Independent Cup.

For Steel Pulse FC, the Independent Cup is its postseason. Due to scheduling conflicts with the EPSL, the team, which won the Mid-Atlantic Conference regular season with a single loss, has decided to forgo the EPSL playoffs and instead play in the Independent Cup. Why the league, which is NISA-affiliated, didn’t have this mapped out in advance is hard to understand. The league was prickly in social media responding to the criticism, offering this retort “We have another club doing both. No one is forcing anyone to do anything.” But that doesn’t really deal with the rock and a hard place position it put Steel Pulse in. To their credit, Steel Pulse hasn’t publicly complained and even retweeted the above comment, which would indicate they agree with it. So without the playoffs to worry about, Steel Pulse heads into this weekend’s match with all to play for (as I like to say way too often) and nothing to lose. They are a tough team, one of the best in the stacked EPSL, and will be a tough out in this region.

When I asked a club representative if facing the Bobcats, a team the club has played before in league play, made the match different - “Yes, it does, but we approach this match, as we have done with all teams, with humility and respect for the opponents, no matter who that may be. Having stated that, we always try to bring excitement to every game for all the fans of ‘the beautiful game.’”

Who has the edge? You’d have to say Bobcats, given their trajectory coming into this match, but these amateur sides have something to prove. Steel Pulse with the past history with Bobcats, a lack of playoffs in their home league, and a national stage will be extra hungry for a win.

Savannah Clovers FC vs. Soda City FC

In a weekend packed with the higher profile professional sides facing off with amateur sides, this amateur vs. amateur match is loaded with promise. Both clubs play in the UPSL and have faced off multiple times in league play with Soda City generally getting the best of it. Not to mention, these clubs played in this same region last year with Soda City winning the head-to-head 2-1. Brian Sykes, Clovers’ president, is looking forward to this matchup. “Our opening match against Soda City will be unique even though we’ve faced each other a number of times. Playing in a Pro Am tournament raises the stakes a bit for this match. We always play comparative against Soda City, but this is a little more special with NISA connected to it.” Sykes continued by highlighting some of the Clover’s to watch in this match including GK Eli Clark, forwards Timo Mesa and Uriel Zarracan, and defender Godgreat Setoh.

Soda City participated in the UPSL this spring and qualified for divisional playoffs, just losing out on making it to the national playoffs after knocking off the divisional first seed. The team will come in ready, having just wrapped up its UPSL season. For the home side, there may be some rust. Savannah skipped the Spring UPSL season and has played three friendlies in preparation for the Independent Cup. How this might affect the club’s performance is hard to say. It is certainly a massive contrast between the two clubs. Given the team’s history, however, Soda City has to have the edge in this match.

Space United FC vs PDX FC

PDX in action against division-leader, Timbers U-23. Photo credit: PDXFC

What an action-packed year 2021 has been for PDX FC. The team’s Wefunder campaign was funded early in the year, with almost $100,000 from small money investors (like members of Protagonist). Soon after the former NPSL side, citing the lack of clubs in its conference, exited the league and joined USL2. The move was not received well by many lower-league fans opposed to the USL system, but the team defended itself citing 1. the lack of NPSL competition in 2021 2. the temporary nature of the USL move. And so things settled down and PDX went into regular season play in USL2. Currently, the team sits second in the Northwest Division.

For Space United FC, the team is upbeat heading into this match against a well-tuned USL2 side. “We are excited to be on this match-up against PDX, especially hosting in our home. We have a lot of respect for what PDX has built. Not just as a team, but as a movement in their city. So, for us it is a learning experience and a humbling at that. We recognize PDX's experience and growing trajectory and this game will be a great opportunity to put to the the the work that our team and family has been doing in preparation. We are mentally together and ready!” How that attitude will play out on the field is hard to tell just yet. However, SUFC is confident the individual talent will live up to hype. “On an individual basis, this will be a great opportunity to see the explosive speed of our midfielder Coby Jacobs, the mesmerizing footwork from Cristiano Whitaker & Aidan Genevese, the towering presence of our center forward Karsimi Konneh and the leadership of Diego Tonatiuh.”

Headed in, you’d have to feel PDX has the better of chances, no matter how plucky Space United is headed in. Given the disruptions to Californian soccer over the last year and a half, the team may not be as ready as a USL2 side that has been playing matches for 2 months now.

- Dan Vaughn

The cover photo used in the graphic for this preview is from Chattanooga FC social media.