USL League One, MLS Next Pro & NISA previews, April 6

It's back to league action for the third-tier leagues after US Open Cup adventures in midweek, and the USL League One week starts in Virginia tomorrow night at 11pm (BST) when Richmond Kickers face Central Valley Fuego. The clubs had contrasting midweek fortunes, with Kickers seeing off NISA's Maryland Bobcats and Fuego losing at home to NPSL side El Farolito, and new Fuego coach Jermaine Jones will be hoping to get things firmly back on track. He'll note that Kickers lost at home to South Georgia Tormenta last week but Fuego look a way off Tormenta so far this season. The horrible gridiron markings of Paladin Stadium in Greenville will be in evidence for the midnight kick-off when Greenville Triumph host Northern Colorado Hailstorm. Both sides had impressive wins in midweek, with Triumph beating a previously imperious One Knoxville and Hailstorm winning away at MLS Next Pro Colorado Rapids II, but Greenville has yet to lose in any competition this season and will be confident of keeping that record intact through the weekend.

Chattanooga Red Wolves's home tie with Charlotte Independence has been postponed due to problems with the pitch at Red Wolves' CHI Memorial Stadium and so the weekend's final game in USL-1 kick-offs at half-past-midnight with the visit of Lexington SC to South Georgia Tormenta. Having been the sole USL-1 club to lose in the first round of the Open Cup, Lexington had a break in midweek and have an identical league record to Tormenta so far this season. The hosts, however, are beginning to hit their stride, something not yet in evidence in the visitors, and so it should be mostly one-way traffic here.


It's matchday one for the National Independent Soccer Association's 2024 season tomorrow and it will be a relief for the league's organisers to get underway after a turmultuous winter. I've written a full preview of the season here but suffice to say, there's no defending champions, a clutch of new teams, and some weird goings on down in Georgia. There are just two games this weekend, both hosted by two of the league's more stable outfits as Michigan Stars - who drew city rivals Detroit City in the US Open Cup Third Round yesterday - play Savannah Clovers at Romeo High School Stadium, and the season's first Californian derby comes as Los Angeles Force take on expansion side Irvine Zeta at Long Beach Community College. With Steven Juncaj still available before he moves back to Croatia, Stars should have little trouble with the "under league management" Clovers, but the other clash should be a cracker as Force have recruited well and Zeta have impressed in the Open Cup so far.


Neither of the independent clubs in MLS Next Pro are in action this weekend. However, the rebranding of MLS reserve sides looks to be continuing, with FC Cincinnati 2 rumoured to be changing their name to Commonwealth United, refelcting the fact that they play in Highland Heights, just over the border in Kentucky (which, of course, is a commonwealth rather than a state...).

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