This Week

Friday

Carpathia FC 3-0 Akron City FC

Mohamed Hammoud opened the scoring for the home side, finishing off a flowing team move with a shot from the top of the box in the seventh minute. Their lead was doubled in the 12th minute after Alexander Demorow headed home. Hammoud then put the match to bed in the 57th minute.

Cleveland SC 1-2 Michigan Rangers

Julian Pellegrini opened the scoring for the home side in the 7th minute but Rangers equalized through Daire O Riordan, chipping the ball off the near post and in with twenty-one minutes on the clock. Two minutes later, Chris Mendez of Michigan Rangers was dismissed for violent conduct.

Despite the man advantage, Cleveland were out-possessed by Rangers, who eventually broke through – with O’Riordan claiming his second goal of the game (and fourth of the season), slotting calmly home from the top of the box after a cross from the right wing.

Erie Commodores 1-3 Steel City FC

The home side broke the deadlock in stoppage time at the end of the first half, Connor Hartwell with a dipping free kick from just outside the penalty area into the bottom corner of the Steel City net. With substitute goalie Keaton Jennings making some key saves, the visitors equalized following a neat sequence of passing down the gut of the Commodore defense, finished off by Nathan Prex in the 75th minute.  Steel City then took the well-deserved lead in the 86th minute, when a free kick on the far right wing was recycled from the left, flicked on with one player’s head before Eben McIntyre headed into the net.  McIntyre then made it a 3-1 game in second half stoppage time.

Saturday

Club Atletico St Louis 4-1 Iowa Raptors FC

CASL broke open the tie in the 7th minute, Xavier Brown scoring on the counter. They went up two in the thirtieth minute as Jake Karolczak drove inside and kissed the ball off the far post and in. The Raptors had a golden opportunity to score in the 40th minute, but a header from close in, was headed over. A left wing corner in the forty-second minute just went through to the Bluebirds keeper. The home side made it three as a counter down the left was volleyed ferociously in by August Harp in the 67th minute. Raptors got a goal from Jonah Dancer via the penalty spot after the Bluebirds keeper dwelled on the ball too long and had the ball stolen from him. The Bluebirds got another goal in the 76th minute after Harp juggled the ball in front of goal and eventually finished it off.

Ehtar Belleville 3-2 Des Moines United

The home team took the lead in a closely contested match in the twentieth minute, when Brandon Nyagurungo drove inside the box from the left wing and slotting home. Adam Knight made it two in the twenty-ninth minute, finishing from close range after a drive and curled pass from the left wing into his path. Ehtar then had a free kick close in on the left, but it was successfully cleared. DMU finished the half with their own spell of pressure, but two corners straight and a couple of counter attacks didn’t climax in any goalmouth action. Ehtar extended their lead after the half, as a long, raking cross-field pass in the fifty-seventh minute released Triston Austin to slot past the onrushing goalie. The away side broke their shutout in the 66th minute with a tidy finish from … off a left wing cross that was laid back into his path. DMU made it close, getting a close range second in the eighty-sixth minute after pressure down the right and ending the match tilting the field in their favor. However, Ehtar survived the pressure.

Duluth FC 6-0 Joy Athletic Club

The home side blitzed the goats in a five minute spell. Kostya Domaratskyy opened the scoring in the 25th minute, to open the scoring off a deep cross-field pass into the six yard box. Tom Akinola doubled the lead in the twenty-eighth, finishing off a bobbling ball. Akinola then added a third only a minute later. Stefan Roeb made it 4-0 in the thirty-fifth minute, tapping home after a goalmouth scramble from a corner. It was 5-0 in the 52nd minute, with Tyler Limmer putting the finishing touch on it. Limmer also scored in the 65th minute to make it 6-0, finishing off a neat pass through the offside trap.

Milwaukee Torrent 2-2 Sunflower State FC

Torrent opened the scoring in the 13th minute, Samuka Toure with a tidy finish through a crowded box after a corner. In the twentieth minute, a cross from the right went all the way through the area to Colin Innes on the left, who blasted it in at the near post to tie the game. A free kick from the right was driven in, with Sunflower taking the lead in the twenty-seventh minute,  Blake Barrick heading the ball in. Torrent equalized, Khedive Miguel Konde Gwo saw his effort rebound off the crossbar and Paco Piscaglia bundled it home in the 68th minute. Sunflower State had a chance to regain the lead from the penalty spot in the 74th minute as Sam Novak knocked over an attacker, but the PK was saved by Nick Chiappa in the Torrent net. A late red card for two yellow cards did not impact the result.

Minnesota TwinStars 2-0 Med City FC

TwinStars made the home crowd happy with a battling win over Med City. Neat play saw a defense splitting ball finished by Miguel Arellano. The clinching goal came in odd circumstances, with a free kick being awarded in mysterious circumstances. Nonetheless, the linesman was emphatic in flagging and Sidike Jabateh was equally emphatic in scoring a thunderous shot from right on the penalty D.

Sioux Falls Thunder 0-1 Dakota Fusion

Fusion broke the deadlock in the thirtieth minute, patient buildup followed by a ball across the six yard box, tapped home by Yu Tsukanome for his fourth goal of the season. Thunder had a strong chance in the 67th minute, with a free kick leading to a goalmouth scramble but they failed to finish the chance. The second half fluctuated but Thunder were unable to break back.

Sunday

Club Atletico St Louis 0-1 Des Moines United

Sora Noda was the difference as the team from Iowa notched another win.

Ehtar Belleville 3-5 Iowa Raptors

After an even opening 19 minutes, it was Raptors who struck first – a PK by Ombeni Mubake after a rash tackle on a Raptors forward on the left edge of the area. The lead was doubled by Derek Huffman only five minutes later, on the counter attack following an equalizer for Ehtar being waved off for offside.  The home side hit the post and then secured their own PK after handball. Triston Austin scored from the spot, just beating the dive of the Raptors keeper.

Huffman lifted a ball past the Ehtar goalie into the far corner from the top of the box just after play was resumed for the second half. John Edward Schwering brought the home team back to 3-2 in the fifty-fifth minute, sealing a finish after Brandon Nyagurungo made a searing run.  Jordan Webb scored after a corner in the sixty-fifth minute to make it 4-2. A neat passage of play from one wing to the other in the 80th minute climaxed with David Cole sliding in to make it 4-3, but the home side were never able to fully rally back and they conceded again in the 89th minute. Ronaldo Rojas headed home the final goal of a back and forth game.

FC Columbus 1-0 Erie Commodores

Ayoub Ouhammou was the difference after his cross from the right drifted in, over the goalkeeper and into the far side of the goal in the fifty-sixth minute.

Michigan Rangers 1-2 Steel City FC

Charlie Lawrence put the visitors ahead in the 27th minute and their lead was doubled by Nicky Kolarac ten minutes later. Rangers rallied to make it a one goal game after Tomas Echevarria scored in the fifty-third minute but the home side were unable to avoid the loss. On the other hand, Steel City move to the top of the division.

Wednesday

Duluth FC 1-0 Med City FC

Duluth’s patient buildup came up against Med City’s high press. The strongest effort on goal of the opening half hour was a snap shot from Kostya Domaratskyy just past the near post. Colin O’Mahony then had a good chance in the forty-second minute but that also went wide. Med City had a PK awarded and then waved off in the fifty-third minute. Up the other end, Duluth had their own penalty call ignored. The BlueGreens took the lead after Tyler Limmer drove a ball into the box in the sixty-third minute, headed home by Liam Pritchard.

Joy Athletic Club 2-0 Sioux Falls Thunder

Spencer Enright finished off a Joy move which saw the ball patiently moved from side to side and forward, although it took an interception in the penalty area and a header off an initial save for Enright to notch the first goal in the 19th minute. The home side put the game to bed in the seventy-second minute as … finished off a neat interchange of passes via a deflection which wrong footed the Thunder goalie. The visitors had a route back into the game in the 77th minute, but a PK was saved by the diving Joy keeper.

Coming Up

Friday

Michigan Rangers v Erie Commodores – 6pm ET

Akron City FC v Steel City FC – 7pm ET

Cleveland SC v Carpathia FC – 7pm ET

Des Moines United v Milwaukee Torrent – 7pm CT

Saturday

Club Atletico Saint Louis v Ehtar Belleville – 7pm CT

Dakota Fusion v Duluth FC – 7pm CT

Iowa Raptors v Sunflower State FC – 7pm CT

Joy Athletic Club v Minnesota TwinStars – 7pm CT

La Crosse Aris FC v Sioux Falls Thunder – 7pm CT

Sunday

Erie Commodores v Akron City FC – 2pm ET

Steel City FC v Carpathia FC – 3pm ET

FC Columbus v Michigan Rangers – 5pm ET

Wednesday

Club Atletico Saint Louis v Sunflower State FC – 7pm CT

Milwaukee Torrent v Des Moines United – 7pm CT

Thursday

La Crosse Aris FC v Dakota Fusion – 7pm CT