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.