John Howard-Fusco is half of the Knights Who Say NISA podcast. He dug into the upcoming weekend and has the preview of every match.

LA Force v Stumptown Athletic

Friday, 3/6 10:30PM ET

Jesse Owens Stadium, Cal State LA, Los Angeles CA

It’s an All-Cali Weekend as all three matches in NISA will be played on the left coast. LA Force is once again hosting some Friday night footy, with Stumptown Athletic making its first cross-country journey. The home team needs to find some offense, and possibly a few more fans in the stands. Facing Detroit City FC in its opening match was a tall order, but LA Force showed some capacity to press and create chances.

Stumptown demonstrated some offensive prowess in its opening draw with 1904 FC and look to continue their scoring ways. The midfield earned both goals last week, between Tate Robertson’s wonder strike off a free kick from distance and pacy Jalen Brown delivering the other.

Should Stumptown come away with a result, we must give this club some early consideration for being a potential playoff candidate.

Oakland Roots v Michigan Stars FC

Saturday, 3/7 8:10PM ET

Laney College Football Stadium, Oakland CA

The Roots played a rock-‘em, sock-‘em 1-1 draw with Chattanooga FC last weekend, the highlight match of NISA’s opening card of games. And while Michigan Stars may not be the same level of opponent, their defense will deliver plenty of rock-‘em and sock-‘em. It will be interesting to see how the capacity home crowd will react to seeing their local lads get a little roughed up.

In comparison to last week’s game, don’t expect the same back and forth kind of action from Oakland. Expect Michigan to bog down the middle and look to counter. But with a poacher like Jack McInerney, the Roots may only need one chance to break through.

The Roots produced a limited-edition T-shirt celebrating McInerney’s game-tying goal from last week. Just imagine what will happen if they win a game. This is the game they need to win.

1904 FC v Cal United Strikers FC

Sunday, 3/8 8PM ET

Lincoln High School, San Diego CA

Fifteen goals given up in six games during the fall, 1904 gave up two more in the opener against Stumptown Athletic. So who’s coming to the club’s home opener? Why, it’s Gustavo Villalobos, Christian Thierjung et al from Cal United – the club that handed Ought Four losses of 3-0 and 4-1 last fall. Yikes.

The good news is that it is 1904’s home opener, and playing their home games at Lincoln High School’s field should help create a more lively atmosphere. Will it help in the win column? That all depends if the club can do a similar job in slowing down Cal United that Michigan Stars did last week. It says here that’s not likely to happen.

With back-to-back games against 1904, along with Detroit City FC having two weeks off, Cal United has a chance to be the spring season’s early pace setters.

For those that missed it, NISA put out a list of the home openers for the Spring 2020 season. With the first match kicking off on the weekend of February 29, we’re sitting 6 weeks out from the kick-off of the expanded season of NISA play with the addition of Chattanooga, Detroit City, and Michigan Stars. The full schedule won’t be released until later this month, so for now, let’s rank the home openers.

- Dan

★

Stumptown Athletic vs. 1904 FC (2/29/20)

Stumptown Athletic was the runner up in the East to Miami FC, but with Philly Fury forfeiting the season and Atlanta SC’s 2 wins coming in matches that Philly vacated, they have a tremendous amount to prove heading into this season. The addition of heavy hitters in the East will mean that task will be even harder. 1904 only managed two wins in the stronger West and will be desperate to start off their season with a win. This will be a match most will skip out on and, with Stumptown’s attendance issues last season, the stands will reflect that.

★★

Cal United Strikers FC vs. Michigan Stars FC (2/29/20)

This isn’t going to come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the NPSL, Michigan Stars was the little brother in a conference dominated by big name clubs, including their fellow NISA expansion, DCFC. Stars have a lot to prove in their league and will have to kick off their season on the road, heading to Orange County to face Cal United Strikers. Strikers finished the last regular season in second position in the standings. They followed that up by beating LA in the playoffs on PKs. Kicking off their season against an unproven NISA expansion side should be a recipe for a quick 3 points.

Chattanooga FC vs. Michigan Stars FC (3/14/20)

CFC is one of two big names to cross over into NISA during the offseason. With their ability to fill Finley, it’s reasonable to expect a crazy crowd for this first professional match for Chatta. The club should make quick work of their fellow ex-Members Cup opponent. Speaking of Members Cup, Michigan finished with only 2 wins and a negative 8 goal differential. Not good, man.

★★★

Michigan Stars FC vs. Los Angeles Force (3/21/20)

So I’ve dunked on Michigan Stars in two previous previews, so let’s give this home opener a 3 star rating. I’d expect the club to be on a losing streak and this will be a chance to bounce back, facing a club that had to travel over 2,000 miles. Is anyone else a little troubled the match is scheduled at a location TBD? Seems a little late in the game for details like that to not be settled. Anyway, back to the match, so good chance for a bounce back for the hosts, EXCEPT their opponent was the regular season champ in the West and lost on PKs in the playoffs. LA Force will have faced DCFC at home for their opener (more on that later) and we don’t know the rest of the schedule yet, but without a doubt this appears on paper to be a big win opportunity for LA.

★★★★

Detroit City FC vs. Oakland Roots (3/21/20)

Detroit City FC heads into NISA with a ton of steam after soundly defeating the rest of the Members Cup participants in the Fall. Detroit really matched their support and swagger with solid play on the field and look to be the favorites of this first season in NISA. Their first NISA opponent at Keyworth will be Oakland Roots, a club that nailed every aspect of their rollout in 2019, except for their on-field play. With a new coach and a renewed roster, Oakland will be looking to match their looks with substance in 2020.

Oakland Roots vs. Chattanooga FC (2/29/20)

Everything I said about Oakland in the previous preview, but now they get to host the other big boy expansion club, Chattanooga FC. It’s a long trip from Chattanooga, so maybe that helps Oakland? Especially considering Oakland draws well, something that CFC rarely has rarely seen outside of Detroit. I think this match is sneaky good and should show us where Oakland is headed into 2020.

★★★★★

Los Angeles Force vs. Detroit City FC (2/29/20)

Yet another match to be played at TBD, but WHAT a match. The 2019 regular season winner from the West hosts the bad boys of Detroit on the first week of the 2020 season. This should bring all the eyes on opening weekend. Circle this match.

NISA Week 2 Preview