Aarik Long

NPSL

The NPSL Southeast division has a few of the biggest games of the weekend. First off, the biggest game of the whole week. #12 Greenville FC takes on #25 Chattanooga FC in the first game of the week between two sides ranked in the Grassroots Soccer Media Poll. A win would be huge and help either side up the rankings. At the same time (7:30 p.m. ET), #5 Inter Nashville FC takes on Georgia Revolution FC, who did receive some votes. The third of the three division matchups this weekend is between Asheville City SC, who received votes, and Atlanta SC, who knocked off Georgia Revolution FC last week.

Out West, Riverside Coras and ASC San Diego face off on Sunday. Both of those squads received votes in this past week’s GSMU poll. We’ll also get to see #2 FC Golden State take on City of Angels FC on Saturday.

Up in the Northeast, the #1 New York Cosmos take on Greater Lowell Rough Diamonds on Friday, before taking a road trip on Sunday to take on #11 Hartford City FC in the second of two ranked matchups this weekend. Hartford is on the ropes after a tough loss last weekend. Cosmos will either be able to take advantage of a team down on their luck or get a team that’s fired up to get back on track. If you don’t find the time to watch any matches this weekend, make sure you try to catch #1 NY Cosmos B at #11 Hartford City FC on Sunday and #12 Greenville FC at #25 Chattanooga FC on Saturday. Two days, two fantastic matches.

Joshua Duder

USL League Two, Western Conference, Northwest Division

Last week, handful of teams got started with USL League-2, Western Conference, Northwest Division, regular season play; Lane United managed a point from their away match to Victoria, British Columbia, the Victoria Highlanders go their point, and Vancouver’s TSS FC Rovers took all three from Lane United as the team from Oregon was completing its Canadian double-header. This week both the Timbers U23s and the Sounders U23s get going, each with a double-header to kickstart their respective fixtures lists. The Sounders squad will host a pair of matches; Friday at 7:30 vs Calgary Foothills FC and Sunday vs Lane United, 2:00 pm kickoff at Sumner High School. The Timbers U23s begin their 2019 campaign on the road, starting tonight at TSS Rovers FC at Swangard Stadium. They get a day’s rest and then take the ferry from the city of Vancouver, BC to Victoria, on Vancouver Island to take on the Highlanders.

Timbers U23s, from Salem, Oregon, were undefeated in pre-season play with matches against a variety of lower league opponents. First, they scraped past the NPSL’s PDXFC with a stoppage time PK winner from Kohl Hurtado. Lucas Bueno had been fairly effective that match, with multiple chances created and an assist to Timur Zhividze, who put a cross away to score his first goal of the year. Their second match was against an amateur side from Albany, Oregon, TFA U23s – whom the beat 1-0 with a goal from Lucas Bueno. Finally, they played Snohomish County Steelheads FC of the Western Washington Premier League, and got two assists out of Rey Ortiz – resulting in another preseason goal for Zhividze and one for newcomer Martin Ngoh. All three of the Timbers preseason matches were at home, so it will be interesting to see if head coach Aaron Lewis can get the season off to a fast start with positive results on the road.

Maryland Majors, 1st Division

Steel Pulse are at the top of the Maryland Majors, 1st Division table, with 13 points from 6 matches and will host 5th place World Class Premier Elite II on Sunday, May 19th at 4:00 pm, Eastern. Meanwhile, second place Christos FC, who have two matches in hand on Steel Pulse, head to Academy FC for a 1:15 pm kickoff on Sunday as well. Christos are a perfect 4/4 with 12 points and a +12 goal differential and look to continue their good form this weekend. In the second division, FC N.I.M. sit atop the North group with 18 points from a perfect six win start. They play away to second place La Dolce Vita who are on 16 points and have shown a propensity to score as well, with a +15 goal difference.

The second division, south group is tighter with All Stars United leading the way on 16 points. Just behind them are Columbia FC and Sure Sport with 15 points a piece from their first five matches. At the bottom of the table are Fortitude FC, who recently announced they will cease operations. With matches scheduled against IFK and Motorik this weekend, it remains to be seen if they will finish out the season or are done, effective immediately. Fortitude have had to forfeit the last 3 matches due to a shortage of players and with only five matches left, may politely choose to not waste their conference opponent’s time. Motorik, third bottom in their table, could really use the points to inject some positivity into their season and kickstart a climb up the table—looks like they’ll get those forfeited points and a bit of rest to prepare for the back end of their season.

Dan Vaughn

Bay State Soccer League, Division 1

Look, I will not lie and say I follow this league as closely as the many national leagues, but you could do a lot worse than watching BSSL. One of the most competitive and compelling regional leagues in the country, hands down. Division 1 has all the names you’ve heard before: Providence City, Merrimack Valley United, Washington Square FC, GPS Omens, Kendall Wanderers, etc. Currently Providence City has been on a tear - they are the only club without a loss this season, already five matches into the season. The goal differential is the best in the two top divisions of the BSSL, +13, and it would be in the top three if you checked GD in all four divisions of the league. They are clicking at the moment and will face off against 7th place First Wave on Sunday. Interestingly, Providence City FC are only up three points on the second place side, Merrimack Valley United FC. MVUFC only has a single loss at the moment and will be playing against the eighth place club, Eagles. This is one of the best regional leagues in the country, very much wish the league could begin including streaming for those of us who have nothing more than box scores and twitter updates. But I also get it, I do.