USL League Two : Conference Finals and National Semifinals Featured USL League Two by Tim Abbott - July 23, 2021July 23, 20210 Friday Conference Final: Des Moines Menace v Kalamazoo FC - 7:30pm - Valley Stadium, West Des Moines, IA - CISN The top teams from the Heartland and Great Lakes face off for the Central Conference title and a spot in the National Semi-Finals. Menace finished the season 11-1 before finishing off Flint City Bucks 1-0. Kalamazoo, on the other hand, finished the season with a record of 9 wins, 1 loss and 4 ties and rallied to put away Mississippi Brilla behind the excellence of Parker Smith in a penalty shootout. All in all, Kzoo will face a tough challenge holding down the Menace attack. Sunday National Semi-Finals: Menace/Kzoo vs Park City Red Wolves/Portland Timbers 2 - 7:30pm - Valley Stadium, West Des Moines,
UWS National Championship United Women's Soccer by Tim Abbott - July 23, 2021July 23, 20210 Friday Semi-finals: Midwest United v CT Fusion - 6pm - Round Rock Multipurpose Complex, Round Rock, Texas - Eleven Sports The Midwest Regional champion Midwest United out of Grand Rapids, MI have rolled through the season so far, accumulating a record of 9 wins and 1 draw and they dispatched Corktown AFC on penalties to arrive at this stage against the surprising Fusion side. The Eastern Conference playoff champions entered the post season as the #3 seed in the East but with a goalscoring streak similar to MUFC. Midwest United's defense could prove key in this match. SA Athenians v SC Blue Heat - 8:30 pm - Round Rock Multipurpose Complex, Round Rock, Texas - Eleven Sports The Southwest Conference #2 seed San Antonio Athenians
NPSL Midwest Region Round Up: First Round Playoffs Featured National Premier Soccer League by Ashle Paige - July 23, 2021July 23, 20210 Tuesday night saw the opening of the 2021 NPSL Midwest Regional playoffs. Cleveland SC faced Pittsburgh Hotspurs while Duluth FC hosted Carpathia FC. The two matches could not have gone in more opposite directions. Cleveland dominated Hotspurs from start to finish in Berea, OH. Vincent Bell's fourth minute goal put CLE on track and Alec Nagucki added one just around the half hour mark. Thomas Beck and Smith Pepper would both add second half goals to give Cleveland a 4-0 win to send them to face FC Milwaukee Torrent. Duluth FC vs Carpathia could not have been more opposite of that. The BlueGreens' Jake Starling broke the match open with his 26' goal before NPSL Golden Boot winner Sidney Warden added a
2021 US Open Cup canceled, full 2022 USOC planned Featured National Premier Soccer League News USL League Two by Tim Abbott - July 20, 2021July 21, 20210 The US Soccer Federation has announced that the 2021 US Open Cup will not take place in any form. There had been many suggestions as to a limited tournament for this year but instead, they have pumped the brakes on this year's Cup and will go from 0-100 next year - with as many as a century of participants expected. Some of the new participants will be guaranteed professional entrants from NISA and USL expansion, whereas amateur clubs face the usual two options - playoff positioning from NPSL and USL League 2, or qualifiers which will start as soon as September and go through November. From this pool of eventual winners, the eventual round 1 participants will be chosen on January
NPSL Midwest Regionals: First Round Preview Featured National Premier Soccer League by Ashle Paige - July 20, 2021July 20, 20210 The 2021 National Premier Soccer League season has come to a close. All the playoff teams are set and the Region playoffs start tonight. For a full recap of the Great Lakes/North's final week you can check out Tim's recap of Week 11. But Week 11 did a few things, City winning gave them a bye and got Duluth FC in. Cleveland not picking up a win propelled City into first and gave Milwaukee a bye as well. Quarter-Finals: Cleveland SC (Rust Belt 1) vs Pittsburgh Hotspurs (Rust Belt 2): 6 PM - George Finnie Stadium, Berea, OH - Eleven Sports The first of the two matches in the opening round is a match entirely within the Rust Belt Conference. Rust Belt champions
NPSL Midwest: Week 11 Recap Featured National Premier Soccer League by Tim Abbott - July 19, 2021July 20, 20210 Friday: Med City FC 1 vs Minneapolis City SC 2 : Rochester Regional Stadium, Rochester, MN - Eleven Sports Med City's season ended with a whimper as they fell 2-1 to the Crows, and fell out of the playoff positions. Minneapolis opened the scoring in the 37th minute through Max Stiegwardt and doubled their margin in the 78th minute, with a goal by Aidan O'Driscoll. The Mayhem spoiled the clean sheet with an 86th minute tally from Joshua Balsiger. With their win, Minneapolis City secured the top seed for the playoffs and a bye into the regional semifinals - which they are also hoping to host. Duluth FC 5 vs Sioux Falls Thunder 2 : Public Schools Stadium, Duluth, MN - Eleven Sports The
USL League Two: Conference Semi-Finals Recap Featured USL League Two by Ashle Paige - July 19, 20210 After Friday night's Quarter-Final matches four teams remained to head to the Central Conference Quarter-Finals. You can read our recap of the Quarter-Finals here and those matches left the Des Moines Menace (Heartland Champions), Flint City Bucks (Great Lakes #2), Kalamazoo FC (Great Lakes Champion), and Mississippi Brilla (Mid-South Champion). Des Moines would host Flint City in Des Moines, IA while Kalamazoo faced Mississippi in Clinton, MS. #1 Des Moines Menace 1 vs #5 Flint City Bucks 0 : Valley Stadium, West Des Moines, IA - CISNtv The first of the two matches that kicked off on the night was in Des Moines with the Menace hosting the Bucks. One goal would do the trick when in the 52nd minute Sivert Haugli
USL League Two: Conference QF Recap, SF Preview Featured USL League Two by Ashle Paige - July 18, 2021July 19, 20210 Conference Quarter-Finals (First Round) Recap #4 Chicago FC United 1 vs #5 Flint City Bucks 3 : Valley Stadium, West Des Moines, IA - CISNtv The opening match of the Central Conference part of the 2021 USL League Two playoffs pitted a one loss Chicago side against a Flint City team who's been on a tear as of late. It took 38 minutes of deadlocked football before either side could score, and that would be Flint City after an Amadou Cisse goal. Diego Gutierrez knotted the match up for Chicago in the 50th minute with a PK after a foul in the box. It would be the Bucks who would take control in the last 50 minutes with Dylan Borczak scoring in
UWS Regional Playoffs: Semi-Final Recap and Final Preview Featured United Women's Soccer by Beth Tolnai - July 18, 2021July 18, 20210 Regional Semi-Final Recaps: Midwest United FC 3 (6) vs Corktown AFC 3 (5) : Midwest United FC Complex, Grand Rapids, MI – No Stream In the first Semi-Final, Midwest United FC was tied with Corktown AFC with a score of 3-3 at the end of the full and extra time, the game was sent into Penalty Kicks to help determine the winner after a hard fought 120 minutes. After 6 rounds of back and forth kicks, Midwest United FC was able to put a stop to Corktown AFC winning 6-5 after penalty kicks. Midwest United FC advanced in the Midwest/Central Region playoff where their opponent would be determined in the second match of the night. Chicago Mustangs 0 vs St. Louis Scott Gallagher
USL League Two: Conference Quarter-Finals Preview Featured USL League Two by Ashle Paige - July 16, 2021July 16, 20210 The long winding road down the path to the 2021 USL League Two Playoffs has finished, now the teams are in and the playoffs start tonight. The eight teams who qualified for the playoffs out of the Central Conference are now split over two locations. The number 1, 4, 5, and 8 seeds will play at Valley Stadium in West Des Moines, IA, the home of the hosts and number 1 seed Des Moines Menace. The 2, 3, 6, and 7 seeds on the other hand will head south to Clinton Arrow Stadium in Clinton, MS, the home of hosts Mississippi Brilla FC. Conference Quarter-Finals (First Round) #4 Chicago FC United vs #5 Flint City Bucks: 4 PM - Valley Stadium, West