Circle the Date: 2024 US Open Cup, Round One

March 19, 2024 by Joshua Duder

The US Open Cup is back, with or without certain teams we mostly won’t mention. Round One pops off this week and could prove to be a rather interesting beginning to The Cup, with professional sides and amateur teams clashing much earlier than usual - MLSNP will throw their lot into the mix with whichever NISA teams are still operating, USL League One, and a cornucopia of USL League 2, UPSL, NPSL, Open Qualifying teams and various other clubs from amateur ranks.

Under the Lights: Lakeview FC (Greater Chicago Soccer League)

March 18, 2024 by Joshua Duder

“We currently play in the Greater Chicago Soccer League (formerly known as the National Soccer League, the oldest currently operating league in the entire country.) If we had ambitions to progress to a higher league, the next step would be the Midwest Premier League. However, as a club, we've decided our scope is set on being a local Sunday League Club. I think the move to the MWPL would be a very large commitment to a lot of our players that we don't want to push out of our club. So we're just deciding to keep it local and keep it fun.”

Match Notes: El Paso Locomotive vs Louisville City FC

March 17, 2024 by Dan Vaughn

Tough night for Locomotive, going down a score in the second half and couldn’t find the equalizer, regardless of effort.

by Dan Vaughn

Protagonist Picks 'Em - March 15th - 17th

March 15, 2024 by Joshua Duder

Both USL Championship as well as USL League One are into week two and our contributors have gone whole hog on telling you why you should watch these games. NPSL is also into week two and we have a sneaky great matchup while certain opponents are playing in the US Open Cup. The Metroplex Premier League, out of Dallas, is back in action and the MASL regular season is all but done, with just a couple playoff spots undecided and grudges to settle.

by Protagonist Staff

Match Report: El Paso Locomotive vs Monterey Bay FC

March 14, 2024 by Dan Vaughn

On a windy night in El Paso, Monterey Bay managed to sneak out with a point after a last minute goal evened things. There was plenty to be excited for the home side, as El Paso looked good for the first 45. This is a full match report from the evening.

by Dan Vaughn

USL Championship Kickoff Review

March 13, 2024 by Dan Vaughn

This past weekend the USL Championship season got going and with it came some of the usual bumps, some new, exciting aspects, and some fantastic football. We’ll take a look at a few of the things that stuck out from Kickoff Weekend and what it might mean for the rest of the year, both on and off the field.

by Phil Baki

MASL Recap: Week 16

March 13, 2024 by Dan Vaughn

Week 16 gave us a pretty clear picture of who will be moving onto the playoffs. While we do know who is moving on, we don’t know the seeding and week 16 did have a lot of games that has a lot of weight to the seeding. We break down all the matches and how they impact the state of things.

by Geo Monterroso

It’s Faux, Yo

March 12, 2024 by Dan Vaughn

Born out of a combination of boredom and fandom, the NMFPL has become a multi-tiered dice-based soccer league with club owners from around the world. It’s the perfect example of how loving the game can express itself in the most interesting of ways.

by Rich Schenck

Under the Lights: River Light FC (USL W & USL L2)

March 11, 2024 by Joshua Duder

“We saw an excellent opportunity to bring something that the community is hungry for in a fantastic mid-size city in the Chicagoland metropolitan area. We felt like with our experiences as well as the communities passion for the game it felt like a great fit.”

Circle the Date: USL Championship, 2024 Season

March 09, 2024 by Joshua Duder

The Top Division in the USL system, The Championship, is set to kick off this weekend and contributors from Protagonist Soccer, Linners & Wosers, Orange & Black SoccerCast, the San Antonio FC FanCast, the 2 Cent Fam, Bluegrass SoccerCast, Oak Roots Blog, the Hammering Down Pod and The USL Show weighed in on the games they are most excited for. So, in chronological order (for the most part) let’s get stuck in!