Midwest Premier League, Week 8: Preview
Saturday:
West Michigan Bearings vs Inter Detroit: 1 PM - South Christian High School, Byron Center, MI - No Stream Announced
West Michigan is just three points back from East Division leaders the Michigan Stars, a win tonight will put the Bearings even with the Stars U23 side in the Division. And for a league without playoffs this is big. Inter Detroit however is fighting to get out of the mid-table and up to the top. After a 1-1 draw last weekend with the Stars U23 a win is not out of the question.
Livonia City FC vs BiH Grand Rapids: 4 PM - Total Sports Wixom, Wixom, MI - No Stream Announced
After a win 10 days ago against the Bearings, BiH will play their third match of 2021 and look for their second win to get on a winning streak. The only other team they played? It was this Livonia City side who they drew 0-0 with back in May. LCFC on the other hand defeated LK St. Clair last week after coming off a 5-0 loss to the Detroit City U23 side, and look for Livonia City to do everything possible to get on a win streak.
Chicago Athletic vs RWB Adria: 5 PM - Redmond Park, Bensenville, IL - Eleven Sports
A regular battle of Chicagoland sides takes place, though this one for the first time and a bit different. Chicago Athletic sits with 0 points at the bottom of the table right next to Rockford FC and has to face RWB Adria, who are at this time, running away with the West Division title. Adria should be able to heavily dominate tonight and jump to 7-0-0 with 21 points.
Chicago Mustangs vs Rockford FC: 7 PM - The MAC Sports Center, Crystal Lake, IL - No Stream Announced
The other team sitting with 0 points on the season heads to the Chicagoland area to face the Mustangs outdoor senior squad. However Rockford has had some tight contests with some of the best sides in the Midwest Premier League. This is a sleeper pick for a match to watch but Rockford just might be able to sneak out their first win of 2021.
Bavarian Soccer Club vs Steel City FC: 8 PM - Heartland Value Fund Stadium, Glendale, WI - Eleven Sports
While the BSC Women are away in Suburban Chicago over in the WPSL, the Men are at home against a side from Suburban Chicago. The visiting Steel City FC have drawn their last two matches, a tough look in the West Division that only plays 11 matches. On the other hand the Bavarians are going to come in off a MWPL bye week but will be taking all their anger from last weeks National Amateur Cup loss to FC Minneapolis on the visitors from Joliet.
Edgewater Castle vs Union Dubuque: 8:15 PM* - CIBC FirePitch, Chicago, IL - Twitch
Union Dubuque comes off a bye week which was preceded by their first win of 2021. That win was their first in the MWPL and first league win for manager Mike Paye. Edgewater has drawn their last two matches with their last win coming in Mid-May against Berber City FC. And while that is the case Union Dubuque will need to shape after looking gassed two weeks ago in the second half in order to defeat Edgewater in the Castle Derby.
*As note while the kickoff time on the MWPL Website is 8:15, Edgewater Castle are advertising it as 8:15 gates and 8:45 kickoff
*Note – All Times CDT-
NISA Independent Cup Schedule Announced
This morning the National Independent Soccer Association announced the schedule for most games for the 2021 NISA Independent Cup. A few weeks ago NISA announced the field for the Independent Cup as well as it's format. The tournament has a round robin format and each side will play three matches, with most either playing two at home and one on the road or two on the road and one at home. There will be no matches past the round robin and the top team in the region will be declared the regional champion.
An interesting aspect of the tournament will be how the two Midwest Premier League sides fare against the National Premier Soccer League clubs and how all clubs fair against their specific NISA opponents. In last year's Independent Cup a 2021 NISA team won all three regions that league clubs participated in.
9 of the 15 clubs who played in last year's tournament return with the league will be represented in 7/9 regions with six of the seven having one NISA side. The Southwest will have two clubs from NISA, California United Strikers and San Diego 1904, represent the league. The Pacific and South Central regions are not represented by the host league, rather made up entirely of local clubs.
2021 NISA Independent Cup Schedule
Great Lakes Region
July 15th, 2021 - Livonia City FC (MWPL) vs Cleveland SC (NPSL): 6 PM - Legacy Sports Center Complex, Brighton, MI
July 17th, 2021 - Cleveland SC (NPSL) vs Detroit City FC (NISA): 6 PM - George Finnie Stadium, Berea, OH
July 28th, 2021 - Detroit City FC (NISA) vs Livonia City FC (MWPL): 7 PM - Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI
TBD - FC Buffalo (NPSL) vs Cleveland SC (NPSL): TBD
TBD - FC Buffalo (NPSL) vs Livonia City FC (MWPL): 2 PM - All-High Stadium, Buffalo, NY
TBD - Detroit City FC (NISA) vs FC Buffalo (NPSL): 6 PM - Keyworth Stadium, Hamtramck, MI
Midwest Region
July 9th, 2021 - FC Milwaukee Torrent (NPSL) vs Chicago House AC (NISA): 7 PM - Hart Park, Wauwatosa, WI
July 11th, 2021 - Med City FC (NPSL) vs Union Dubuque (MWPL): 1:45 PM - Rochester Regional Stadium at RCTC, Rochester, MN
July 14th, 2021 - Union Dubuque (MWPL) vs FC Milwaukee Torrent (NPSL): 6 PM - Dubuque Soccer Complex, Dubuque, IA
July 24th, 2021 - Med City FC (NPSL) vs Chicago House AC (NISA): 6:45 PM - Rochester Regional Stadium at RCTC, Rochester, MN
July 27th, 2021 - FC Milwaukee Torrent (NPSL) vs Med City FC (NPSL): 7 PM - Hart Park, Wauwatosa, WI
July 31st, 2021 - Union Dubuque (MWPL) vs Chicago House AC (NISA): 5 PM - Dubuque Soccer Complex, Dubuque, IA
*Note – All Times CDT
Midweek Madness, Recap 5/24-27, 2021
USL League Two
Monday:
St. Louis Scott Gallagher 2 vs FC Wichita 0:
After two defeats League Two newcomers SLSG gained their first win of the season on Monday. In the 31st minute St. Louis scored their first of the night from a PK by Jack Lynn. Lynn sent the kick to the right while the FC Wichita keeper went the opposite way. John Klein scored SLSG's second goal of the night in the 84th minute, once again on a PK.
Tuesday:
Kings Hammer 0 vs Flint City Bucks 0:
The teams went 90 minutes to a nil-nil draw in what ended up being a very chippy match. Flint City would be called for 12 fouls while Kings Hammer were issues 9. For their troubles on the night both sides were also handed four yellow cards each.
Toledo Villa 5 vs Oakland County FC 5:
Oakland County headed across state lines to face Toledo Villa and it turned out to be a barn burner of a match. Oakland County scored two goals in a row to open the match with Pliakos and Rizzo scoring in the 8th and 18th with Popovic getting assists on each. Toledo screamed back with three unanswered goals in the 36th, 42nd, and 45th minutes to close the half. However in the second half Popovic scored to goals to add to his two assists, putting OCFC up 4-3. The final 20+ minutes saw both sides trade goals with Toledo scoring in the 75th and 90th while Toledo scored the 88th.
Wednesday:
Dayton Dutch Lions 0 vs Kalamazoo FC 3:
Kalamazoo's road trip to Dayton was one they hoped would be an easy one. And an easy one it was, at least after the first half. Daire O'Riordan scored Kalamazoo's first in first half stoppage time. The visitors scored two more times in the second half, including Cyrus Harmon's goal in the 53rd that made it 2-0.
National Premier Soccer League
Wednesday:
Minneapolis City SC 3 vs Duluth FC 2:
A match with massive implications between the only two sides who have ever won the North Conference. Both sides struggled for most of the first half, however Sidney Warden put Duluth FC on top in the 41st. Minneapolis City's Mohamed Youssef responded back in the 47th minute while teammate William Kidd scored the Crows second goal in the 52nd. However, Warden responded back for Duluth FC with a 53rd minute to level up the score at 2-2. The final near 30 minutes proved tough for both sides to score as they each missed plenty of shots. In the end Brayan Lopez scored the game winner for the hosts in the 80th minute.
United Premier Soccer League
Wednesday:
Cedars FC 3 vs Grand Haven Admirals 1
Detroit United 5 vs City United SC 4
United Women’s Soccer
Wednesday:
Corktown AFC 0 vs Detroit City FC 3:
A short trip for DCFC to do battle with a Detroit rival. The Corner Ballpark in Corktown, the former site of Tiger Stadium, would see the visitors go on a tear. Sarah Huge's goal on a diving header and Kenna White's chip shot over the Corktown keeper put Le Rouge up 2-0 inside 20 minutes. Tatiana Mason's free kick goal from the top of the box sealed up Detroit City's win.
UWS League Two
Wednesday:
Corktown AFC II vs FC Midland:
No Reported Score
Thursday:
Livonia City FC 1 vs Legends FC II 3: