Brooklyn Fumbles The Bag

With the playoffs just weeks away, the margins are getting tighter and tighter, and Brooklyn FC may have just locked themselves out of the playoffs.

After a first half of the season that saw Brooklyn climb to the top of the standings, there was every reason to think that the second half would be more of the same. Instead, the spring has been a disaster masterclass for the New York club. An 11-match winless streak (which some Super League match announcers keep incorrectly calling an 11-match losing streak), which included two draws to helpless Lexington SC, the firing of their top-tier manager Jessic Silva, and the stagnation of their starting rotation, all contributed to the assumption that the dream was dead and BFC would enter the offseason to begin a massive rebuild.

But hope springs eternal and a 4-1 win over playoff-contending Ft. Lauderdale United made everyone get out the calculators to see if there was still a chance. And while the chances were slim, Brooklyn was still in the playoff picture. The problem was that so many of the other playoff teams had more matches in hand. Brooklyn needed to win every match to have a chance (and even that might not be enough).

This weekend’s match against Spokane Zephyr was the first test for the apparently revived BFC side and it started with a bang. Jessica Garziano, an absolute beast all season, opened the scoring and recent-signing Caroline Kelly got the second for the home squad. With a solid lead, Brooklyn ratcheted up the press and Spokane was struggling to get the ball out of their back half. Everything seemed to be going to plan and then, like so many times before this season, Emina Ekić came to play.

Emina Ekić made a run up the middle and tried to connect with a long pass just outside the Brooklyn box. Tori Hansen, who was beaten on the play, was the last defender and, rather than letting Ekić go one-on-one with goalkeeper Neeku Pucell, decided to grab the attacker’s arm and pull her to the ground. While it was a “tactical” foul, the tactics weren’t tacticing. The foul resulted in:

A red card for Hansen, which left Brooklyn down a player for the remaining 20 minutes of the half.
Ekić getting a free kick, which was narrowly blocked by Purcell but Sydney Cummings netted the rebound for her third goal of the season.

Hansen would have been much wiser to allow Ekić the chance and live to fight another day, but defenders have to make split-second decisions in tight spots and sometimes the choose wrong. Easy for an old man to tear it apart in retrospect.

Down a player and bunkering for the final quarter of the match, Brooklyn seemed to be on route for a hard-fought win. However, in added time, Zephyr forward Allie Cook, who has been the signing of the second half for Spokane, received a ball with back to goal and managed to get a shot off that somehow managed to beat Purcell and find the corner of the goal. Fate decided that these two teams would split the points.

Unfortunately for Brooklyn, splitting the points will probably not be enough to earn them a playoff spot. While every team above them in the standings still has at least two matches to play (FTL UTD, who is below them, still has an astounding FOUR matches in hand), BFC only has one left and it’s against top-seed Carolina Ascent. Prospects are not good for a Brooklyn playoff match and it’s honestly their own fault.

Golden Boot Update

As the season nears the end, the two leaders of the Golden Boot, Mia Corbin and Allie Thornton, are still sitting at 12 goals apiece. Corbin has three matches to play, while Thornton has two. Don’t count out Addie McCain, though. With four matches on FTL’s schedule, there’s no reason to think that McCain can’t finish this season with a three or four more goals.

Cecilie Fløe, who is currently fourth in the race with nine goals, scored for Tampa Bay Sun in their 3-0 win over Lexington.

Playoff Picture In Focus

As mentioned earlier, we’re almost at the end of year one for the USL Super League and the playoff races couldn’t be tighter. Let’s start our way at the farthest out and gauge each club’s chances of post-season play.

Ft Lauderdale - Currently four points out of the playoffs (technically five, if they didn’t score enough goals to even out goal differential), FTL has matches against Lexington, DC Power, Dallas Trinity, and Spokane (in that order). Two are very winnable, two are much more challenging. I think the chances of FTL making the playoffs are somewhere in the 20% range, but their hopes are in their hands. Win out and you’re in.

Brooklyn FC - The better part of this article is about this team, so I’ll keep it brief. They have one match left, against Carolina Ascent. I think they have no chance of making the playoffs.

Spokane Zephyr - Sitting in the last playoff spot currently, two matches to go. Zephyr have DC Power (tomorrow) and Ft. Lauderdale. Two wins, I think they’re in. Less than that and I’m a little more worried. I think they’re a 50/50 chance for the playoffs.

Dallas Trinity - Dallas has really made things harder for themselves in their last two matches. Losing back-to-back matches against Tampa and DC (the hell?) has really made this much tighter than it needed to be. Last two matches are against Ft. Lauderdale and Carolina. Even if they get two wins, they’re probably looking at an away match in the playoffs. Zero excuses for not having a match at the Cotton Bowl. I think Dallas has a 70% chance of making the playoffs, but should have already punched their ticket.

Tampa Bay Sun - Away to Carolina, Home against DC, already at 42 points. I think Tampa has really turned it on at the right time. Five wins in the last six matches has them in a good spot and, if they get a win against DC, they will be dancing, most likely at home. 90% chance of playoffs.

Carolina Ascent - The only team already assured a playoff spot, remaining matches against Tampa, Brooklyn, and Dallas. One win out of those three and they will lock up the top seed. For their opponents, these matches will be must win (except maybe Tampa), so Carolina will need to stay sharp to see this out.

- Dan Vaughn