USL League One, NISA & MLS Next Pro round-up, April 19-22

 

The goalkeepers were the stars as Union Omaha and Charlotte Independence got the USL League One weekend off to a scoreless start on Saturday afternoon in Nebraska, 2,461 fans witnessing a stalemate that nevertheless saw both Rashid Nuhu and Austin Pack make numerous saves at Werner Park. There were more goals in the next game, all of them scored by the away side as expansion team Spokane Velocity won in front of the weekend's biggest crowd of 5,368 at City Park, home of Richmond Kickers. Kimani Smith almost put the visitors ahead when he rounded the 'keeper early on but Velocity had to wait until the half-hour mark, when Romain Metanire took advantage of a defensive slip to score the first goal. Kickers had more of the game in the second-half but only managed one shot on target, and it was Spokane who made sure of the points by scoring the second in the 72nd minute, Andre Lewis on the mark with his first of the season.

Saturday's third game saw Chattanooga Red Wolves finally play at home in the league for the first time this season after problems with the CHI Memorial Stadium. A fantastic crowd of over three-thousand were on hand to see them face Northern Colorado Hailstorm, with both sides not having had the best starts to the USL-1 campaign. Both sides had chances in the first half before Ropapa Mensah put the home side ahead with his fourth goal in three games, and a resolute Red Wolves defence sought to see the game out at 1-0, only to see Ethan Hoard's 99th minute attempt just squeak across the line for a share of the points to the visitors. The weekend's final game came from Statesboro, where South Georgia Tormenta were entertaining one of this season's fast starters in Greenville Triumph. Top of the table on goal difference before kick-off, Triumph extended their advantage with a 3-0 demolition of Tormenta, who hitherto had been playing some nice soccer this season and scoring in every game. Just 667 fans were at Tormenta Stadium for the game and they saw vetetran striker Leonardo Castro open the scoring for the visitors just past the half-hour mark, with the prolific Lyam MacKinnon adding a brace in the last ten minutes of the game. Tormenta had chances to score throughout the game but will rue their profligacy.

League action in USL-1 takes a break this coming weekend as the first round of matches in the new Jagermeister Cup get underway. The competition sees the teams split into three groups of four teams to maximise regional rivalries.

After earning a draw in their first ever match away in Florida last week, NISA new boys Georgia FC faced a much stiffer test on Friday night when they travelled to Detroit to face Michigan Stars at Romeo High School Stadium. Their game plan came unstuck in the 25th minute when Praise Maduekwe opened the scoring for the 2022 champions, and was completely undone when Andres Chalbaud added Stars' second with thirteen minutes left on the clock, a 2-0 win making it two wins from two games for Enis Dokovic's side. The other two NISA games this weekend took place on Saturday, the first of which saw Club de Lyon welcome crisis club Savannah Clovers to Showalter Field in Winter Park, Florida. Clovers are having their wage bill guaranteed by the league until a takeover can be completed but showed no such worries when Lester Hayes III gave them the lead two minutes into first-half stoppage time. Any chance the Lions had of getting back into the game was harmed by a red card for Yustin Rodriguez, and Hayes added a second nine minutes from time to mark his return to US soccer from Denmark and Spain. Saturday's other game came from Los Angeles, where Capo FC, elevated from the semi-professional ranks over the winter, faced expansion side Arizona Monsoon at JSerra Field in San Luis Capistrano. The two sides were well-matched throughout and it wasn't until the 89th minute that Capo's Parker Scalzo gave his side the lead, something that lasted for just three minutes until Isaias German levelled for the visitors.

Both of the independent clubs in the MLS Next Pro league were in action this weekend, although Carolina Core's visit to Chicago Fire II was moved from Friday to Monday for "reasons." The rescheduled game saw Fire take the lead in the fourteenth minute through US under-23 international Javier Casas, an advantage doubled in first-half stoppage time by a penalty from Salvadoran international Harold Osorio. Core did pull one back through English winger Jacob Evans, signed from Houston Dynamo 2 for their debut campaign, but they remain rooted to the foot of the table. It's very different over at Chattanooga FC, who went into Saturday's trip to Huntsville City undefeated in regulation time. They gave a debut to their new signing from Georgian Erovnuli Liga side Samgurali Tsqaltubo, Ghanaian midfielder Jude Arthur, and he put himself about well in a game settled by Alex McGrath's 86th minute strike for the Chatts. Chattanooga now sit third in the Eastern Conference on twelve points from five games, two points behind Philadelphia Union II and New York Red Bulls II. LA Galaxy reserve side Ventura County FC top the Western Conference.