UPSL Semifinals

Shawn Laird

Soda City FC vs Maryland Bobcats FC

It’s that time of the year again folks. Yes, it is time for the 2019-20 UPSL Fall Season National Semifinals. It’s been a long and difficult road for the final four playing this weekend, but that trophy at the end is all worth it.

I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t think Soda City stood a chance against the unstoppable force of OFC Barca in the last round. But, they proved me wrong. It was a tightly contested match in Savannah but Soda City prevailed 2-1 over the Florida Champions on February 1st. Through their 4 match playoff run, Soda City have outscored their opponents 10-3. It’s easy to see that their regular season defensive form carried over to the playoffs.

Soda City’s opponents in this weekend’s semifinal, Maryland Bobcats FC, had a bit of an eventful path to get to this point. After dispatching Quake FC in mid-November 3-1, they faced off with Mass United FC for the chance to move on to this weekend. Unfortunately, due to outside interference on Mass United’s behalf, the match was abandoned at halftime and the league decided the winner. Obviously it’s not how anyone wants to advance, but it’s in the past and they face a strong Soda City side.

Judging by both teams’ regular season finishes, I’d say this will be one hell of a match. Both teams didn’t allow more than ten goals all season, while destroying everyone in their paths. I look forward to watching this game and I hope to see some great play. My prediction? Bobcats move on to the finals by a score of 4-3.

Dan Vaughn

Santa Ana Winds vs. Foro Soccer Club

Of course it would fall to me to pick a match involving Foro Soccer Club. I’ve made mistake after mistake predicting this club’s rise to the semifinals. They came out of the highly competitive Central conference and battled through the playoffs to get their spot, beating club after club. The Central conference might be one of the toughest in the country and Foro won against great teams on their way here.

If there is another conference as competitive it would be the Western Conference, home of Foro’s opponent, Santa Ana Winds. Winds has been dominant this season, losing zero matches during the regular season. Their last match was against Pajaro Valley United, which they won 2-1. This match comes almost three weeks since their last. Does that layoff hurt them? Particularly against an opponent that has been in action more recently and played most of their playoff matches at home?

I have learned one thing this season, don’t pick against Foro SC. Foro 2-1.

Lower League Action January 25-26

Josh Duder

Western Indoor Soccer League (WISL) Action

Since the league’s founding, in 2014-15, the Western Indoor Soccer League championship has only ever gone to one of two teams, Tacoma Stars Reserves or Bellingham United FC. Predictably, with just three matches left in regular season, these two teams are set on a collision course! Tacoma Stars Reserves tops the table with 19 pts and an impressive +26 goal difference. Meanwhile, Bellingham United, who are just one point in the table below Tacoma, are on an astronomical +57 goal difference!

In their first two matches this season, the Hammers outscored opponents 39 to 7, and barring their only loss this season, Bellingham United have overpowered opposition by multiple goals every match. That one loss, however, came in week three, while away to the Tacoma Stars – losing by just one goal, 3-4, in a tight affair. This week the two WISL power houses go at it again and it’s all on the line – Tacoma Stars Reserves can stretch that lead out to four points in the table over Bellingham. They’d just have OlyTown and OlyPen left, who are combined for -72 in goal difference. 

Bellingham could take over the top spot with a win in their last home game of the regular season – they also have an away match to OlyTown and finish on the road against third place Snohomish Skyhawks. The Skyhawks are significantly further down the table, but will have something to play for in their last few matches as well, as they look to hold onto that playoff position and return to the WISL Semifinals. All three of this weekend’s WISL matches are on Saturday, January 25th: OlyPen at the Snohomish Soccer Dome to take on the Skyhawks at 7:00 pm; Tacoma Stars Reserves travel to Bellingham Sportsplex for a 7:35 clash with the Hammers; and OlyTown Artesians travel to the Tacoma Soccer Center for a 7:45 battle with Tacoma Narrows FC, as both teams are chasing that 4th spot in the upcoming playoffs.

Ryan Stallings

Dallas City FC at Tyler FC

With their 4-2 victory over FF Premier last weekend, Tyler FC has secured promotion in the 2020 Spring season to the Central Conference 1st division. The former seasonal punching bag in the NPSL Lonestar Conference have certainly found new life this season, pacing the UPSL’s 2nd division with 44 goals scored, already good for fourth amongst 51 clubs across the country competing in the Fall 2019-’20 competition.

The Kings of Rose City will need to grow that tally in a big way tomorrow if they’re to add to their inaugural UPSL season laurels. Trailing Tulsa Athletic U20 by nine in the division goal differential column, Tyler will need to match that, and hope for a Tulsa stumbling later tomorrow evening vs Arkansas Wolves, to claim a share of the Red River Division title.

If there is any side in the division up to the challenge of giving up that score difference to Tyler, it could very well be the Dallas City FC side limping into Kings Park Saturday afternoon. Losers of eight straight matches and brandishing 3 points, a 1W-0D-9L record, and a goal differential of -26, the season has been steep learning curve for the young Lions side. Having ceded fifteen goals to the Kings already in their two previous meetings, DCFC will be hard put to stymie Tyler’s high-flying scoring attack in the season finale.

Prediction: Tyler FC scores early and often, but Dallas City FC’s Lions play with just enough pride, and the minimum required defense, to prevent the Kings from giving themselves a tiebreaker in case of Tulsa loss.

Tyler FC 8-3 Dallas City FC

Tulsa Athletic U20 at Arkansas Wolves

Don’t be too surprised to see a few players currently plying their efforts for Tulsa Athletic’s U20 side doing more of the same for the A’s first team in NPSL league, and the US Open Cup, play in the coming months. In the meantime, the division-leading youngsters out of T-Town are concentrated on closing their inaugural UPSL campaign Saturday night with a victory and division title to go with their coming promotion to the Central Conference’s 1st division.

They’ll face a perhaps deceptively dangerous home side in Arkansas Wolves, who have played a series of close matches with both Tyler FC and FF Premier in recent weeks that would allude to a more competitive team than their 5 points in divisional season result do.

Prediction: An early 1-1 score will keep the home side’s hopes of upset up early, but the A’s speed and unrelenting attacks will wear down the Wolves’ in the second half, giving Tulsa Athletic the uncontested Red River Division title.

Tulsa Athletic 4 – Arkansas Wolves 2

Shawn Laird

OFC Barca vs Red Force FC

This Sunday OFC Barca of Florida’s Central Conference faces off against Red Force FC of Florida’s Southern Conference for the fall season Championship. Whoever wins will continue their march to potential national glory as they’ll move on to play Soda City FC in the next round of the UPSL playoffs.

OFC Barca has been an absolute bulldozer this season, completely obliterating anyone who stood in their undefeated run. They continued their dominance through the playoffs by notching back to back clean sheets and scoring six goals in the process. With that kind of form, it’s easy to see why they could make a run all the way to the national championship match.

On the other side, Red Force FC had a solid regular season, going 6W-5D-1L and a plus 19 goal differential. However, they really hit their stride going into the playoffs, knocking off Boca Raton FC, Miami Suns FC and Florida Soccer Soldiers by a combined score of 11-4. If they want to continue their streak and move on to face Soda City, they will have to play out of this world when they face OFC Barca.

After looking at each team’s form, I have to go with OFC Barca in this match up. It’s easy to see why Red Force deserves to be in this match but Barca has been consistently excellent all season long and it doesn’t look like their stopping any time soon. I fully expect to see a lot of goals in this one. Whether it’s as one sided as I think it will be or not remains to be seen. But I’m taking OFC Barca 4-1. 

Florida Soccer Soldiers 2 vs Miami United FC (Division 2 Promotion Championship)

On the same day OFC Barca and Red Force face off, there is also another massive championship battle brewing in South Florida. This one, though, won’t have as much fanfare as it will decide who is promoted to the Florida South Division 1 Conference. Florida Soccer Soldiers 2 will face off with a perennial lower league powerhouse in Miami United FC.

The path to this matchup has been an almost afterthought for Miami United as they won the regular season title, going 9-2-1 with a plus 21 goal differential. In their one playoff match, they knocked off the Florida Brothers 2-1.

Meanwhile, Florida Soccer Soldiers 2 finished third during the regular season with a record of 7W-3D-2L and a plus 16 goal differential, however they were five points off of Miami United.  While they finished third, they’ve been flexing their muscle and showing their pedigree during the playoffs, outscoring the FSI Vultures and ISA by a combined score of 7-2.

This match has the makings of being an epic promotion battle. Both squads are more than capable of taking it the distance, but I feel that Miami United will pull off the win and move up to Division 1. They’ve shown their quality at the NPSL level and it has filtered down to this level, so I’m taking them over FSS 3-2.

Dan Vaughn

Foro SC vs San Juan FC

First of all, a confession of sorts. I’ve been predicting Foro SC would go out for two weeks now and I’ve been wrong both times I predicted it. I apologize for not understanding how good the club was. Foro has knocked off the best clubs in Texas and now prepares to host a visitor from the Mountain Conference. That visitor would be San Juan FC, who knocked off Utah Saints 5-0, LAST YEAR. That’s right, it’s been over three weeks since SJFC has seen live action.

During that time, Foro has taken on Alamo City SC (they won 2-1) and Houston FC (they won 5-2). So going into this Sunday’s match, Foro is on point. The Central Conference is highly competitive and their path to this match hasn’t been easy. That they are still standing is a testament to the quality of the club.

The quality of the Mountain Conference, on the other hand, is suspect. San Juan has crushed the conference this season with a 8-0 record and only surrendered 4 goals all season. Last season, Boise Cuththroats eliminated SJFC in the conference final, but, with that club sitting out the Fall, San Juan has rolled. How they will do outside of the comfy confines of their conference remains to be seen.

San Juan has a massive road trip to Dallas for this match. That can’t be a good thing. Foro should be in peak form. I think this time I’ll pick Foro (which, of course, is the kiss of death. Good luck boys!) 3-2.

Winner goes to the semifinals!

UPSL Action January 18-19

UPSL Division One Playoffs

Dan Vaughn

Foro Soccer Club vs Houston FC

So I refused to pick a winner in Houston FC’s matchup last week with Almeyda, said it was too close to call. Houston disagreed with me and won 2-1. The other match I previewed was Foro vs Alamo City SC. In that one, I predicted that Alamo City would prevail due to their ability to win on the road. I was wrong, Foro advanced 2-1. So where do we stand today, with these two clubs taking on each other for the Central Conference Final?

Where we stand is two confident clubs, battle-tested and ready for this Texas-sized matchup. Houston was as good away as they were at home, hauling in 5 wins and losing once away from home. I cannot imagine being on the road will affect Houston. Foro was perfect at home this season, with an impressive +35 GD. What I’m saying is that both of these clubs are great and this is going to be a war. At this point of the season, this should be expected.

I’m predicting a Houston FC win on the road, 2-1.

Santa Ana Winds FC vs Contra Costa FC

Last week Contra Costa took on Pajaro Valley United. The Wild West Championship match ended at 2-2 after regular time, so the clubs went to PKs. That ended with a CCFC win 6-5. Wild West is right! Contra Costa’s regular season record, which ended with the club atop the Wild West - Blue Division, wasn’t as gaudy as some of the other playoff clubs (5-3-2), but their gritty play has earned them the chance to knock off one of the premier clubs of the UPSL, Santa Ana Winds.

Santa Ana advanced from the highly competitive and deep (11 clubs) SoCal North Division. Winds ended their regular season without a loss and earned 3 points from every match, except one. While their goal production was impressive, their real excellence lies in their stingy defense that ended the season only surrendering 8 goals in 12 matches. In their playoff matchup earlier this month with SoCal South Division Champions San Diego White Tigers FC, they surrendered 2 goals, something Winds only did twice all season. Granted White Tigers had a regular season goal differential of +37, but Winds still managed to overcome the high scoring club by putting up 4 of their own.

So now CCFC must take another long road trip (7+ hours worth of driving) to face a formidable same-state foe. I’ll predict the home team in this match, Santa Ana wins 3-0.

Florida Soccer Soldiers vs. Red Force FC

Red Force FC played Miami Sun FC last week and though a high scoring affair was expected, the two clubs only managed 3 goals, with Red Force pulling ahead 2-1 to advance. Their opponent will be Florida Soccer Soldiers, who defeated fellow conference foe PSL United 2-1 to advance to this match. FSS and RFFC have played each other twice this season with a win for FSS and a draw.

Predicting this one is easy, though easy predictions are often wrong. I’ll take Soccer Soldiers 3-1 over Red Force FC.

Shawn Laird

OFC Barca vs Sporting Orlando

After dominating in last week’s 3-0 win, OFC Barca looks to continue their winning ways by defeating Sporting Orlando, who won their own match 3-0 last weekend. In my eyes, that was a surprising and very unexpected victory by a team that placed sixth during the regular season. However, it should be noted that form doesn’t necessarily carry over from one round to the next.

Am I hoping for a great game? That’s a resounding hell yes. Sporting has run the gamut in terms of results this season and their luck turned a corner over the last couple of weeks. But, with how merciless OFC Barca has been to this point, I expect Sporting’s form to fail them and their luck to run out. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing but love for Sporting. I just don’t see them knocking off Barca.

I fully expect Barca to keep a clean sheet on Sunday, so I’m taking them with a 4-0 win and moving on to the Florida Championship match.

UPSL Division Two Promotion Match

Ryan Stallings

Tyler FC Kings vs Football Factory Premier

In the Central Conference, Red River Division 2, the Tulsa Athletic U23 side have all but wrapped up the division title, but another promotion spot to division one in the spring 2020 season remains. It would seem only appropriate that the remaining rival claimants for that promotion, Football Factory Premier & Tyler FC, will meet in their season’s grudge match with that Division 1 place on the line.

Both Football Factory Premier and Tyler FC enter this weekend’s match with 20 points on the table. However, Tyler FC has a game in hand, a nearly assured victory over Dallas City the following week, so FF Premier will need nothing less than a victory to give themselves a shot at promotion from the 2nd division. Tyler FC, holding the home field advantage in this tilt, will need at least a draw this weekend to continue to control their own fate into their final weekend of play.

In their previous meetings this season, each club secured their home turf. Tyler FC won an offensive battle, 6-4, on October 5th, while FF Premier administered a 5-0 beat down back home in Richardson, Texas, the following week. With bragging rights, and much more, on the line this weekend, expect a competitive score line more like the first meeting and less like the second. Both teams enter the match with victories over the Arkansas Wolves in their most recent action, but that last match for Tyler FC was two weeks ago. Whether that parlays into rest or rust on the pitch for the home side will be the deciding factor in this game.

Prediction: FF Premier leads by a goal or two early, but Tyler FC storms back to eventually claim promotion to Central Conference Division 1 with a 4-3 victory.