Joshua Duder

(UPSL Wild West) Contra Costa FC vs Pajaro Valley United FC

With just two weeks left in the 2019 Spring Season for the UPSL’s Wild West Division, Contra Costa FC top the table, with 21 points and a +16 but have not clinched the title yet. Pajaro Valley United FC, who have one less win and one more draw than Contra Costa, trail them by that two-point difference and the two clubs go head-to-head this Saturday at Northgate High School, in Walnut Creek, California. From scouring the league website, this appears to be the first time these two sides have matched up in UPSL play. Neither participated in 2018’s Fall or Spring seasons and neither are listed for seasons prior to last year. It’s my hope that it will be on mycujoo, but currently it is not listed and I may have to follow along via Contra Costa’s twitter handle and if you’re interested in attending, you can pay $7 at the door, or save a few bucks and buy your ticket online here.

(NPSL Northwest) Crossfire Redmond vs FC Mulhouse Portland

The NPSL’s Northwest Conference feels like it just got started last week, but newcomers Crossfire Redmond have gone unbeaten in their first four matches, accumulating 12 points and averaging 4.25 goals a game. They’re burying the rest of the division and have eight different goal scorers – led by Charles Ostrem with four, Declan McGlynn and Joseph Parish, with three goals each. Earlier in the season, Crossfire put five goals past FCMP during their home opener on May 18th; however, the Portland team have slowly recovered in the league and have won back-to-back matches with four goals bagged by former IPS FC man, Alcides “Paco” Thomas. This coming after their disastrous round one loss to Cal FC in the US Open Cup too—FCMP look ready to get themselves back into the NPSL playoffs. FC Mulhouse are set to host the match on Saturday at the Kiggins Bowl, in Vancouver, Washington (just across the Columbia River from Portland). Kickoff is set for 6:00 pm (PST).

Shawn Laird

Central Florida Panthers SC vs Naples United SC

Two weeks after securing their historic first win in the NPSL, the Panthers of Central Florida welcome the division leading Naples United to town. While this season hasn’t been what the Panthers wanted so far, they have the opportunity to exact some revenge on a club that trounced them in the first game of the season 4-0. The Panthers have kept things competitive as of late, however, narrowly losing to the Armada U23 squad last week 2-1.

On the other side of the coin, Naples comes in on a three game winning streak, averaging three goals a game in that stretch. Just based on the stats, Naples look like they’re firing on all cylinders early in the season. Granted, they haven’t ran into a solid opposition squad yet (not saying the ones they have face aren’t solid), I still feel like it’ll be hard to break the groove Naples is in currently.

If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Naples to take this matchup. I could see them matching the score from Week One or possibly putting a bigger number on the Panthers. My prediction: 5-0 Naples.

Daytona SC vs The Villages SC

Another week, another away match for The Villages. This week, they make the trek up to Daytona in a battle of second vs fifth. Last week, the Buffalo played scrappy and pulled off a late draw with the Lakeland Tropics, while Daytona also managed a draw with FC Miami City.

On paper, it seems that Daytona is the stronger side but I have to be honest with you, after watching The Villages have been putting together some solid performances recently. Having said that, I still give the edge to Daytona purely based on the table.

I’m hoping I’m wrong but I’ll take Daytona 2-1 over the Villages this week.

Dan Vaughn

BSSL McKenzie Cup 2019

I will be honest in saying I doubt many of these matches will be followable without simply trolling twitter, most Bay State matches aren’t streamed so you sort of have to make due with what you get. But the McKenzie Cup is the BSSL Cup and this weekend marks the last round before progressing into the quarters. I’m especially pumped about Providence City, the current top of the league table, going against Broadway Gunners. The Gunners eliminated Providence City AFC (Providence City’s B team) in the previous round, so this sets up as a payback round for the Rouges. Should be fun! Bay State Soccer League is one of my favorite regional leagues and this cup is a good one!

Aarik Long

This week is one of the most packed weekends of the year so far in the lower leagues. There are a ton of games featuring teams ranked in the latest Grassroots Soccer Media Union Poll. If you wanna see all of them, head on over to the GSMU twitter page. I’m just gonna highlight a handful.

First of all, the Steinbrecher Cup Final is Saturday. It’ll be between the winner of #22 Milwaukee Bavarians/Reading United AC and the winner of FC Motown/Flint City Bucks. The Steinbrecher Cup is a special competition every year, and this year should be no different considering the talent level of the teams.

We’ve also got two ranked matchups on Saturday. First up is #25 Inter Nashville taking on #21 Asheville City SC in a battle in the NPSL Southeast. Head up north and thirty minutes later we have our second ranked match of the day as #13 MPLS City take on #23 Duluth FC in the NPSL North.

The #1 team is in action Saturday as the NY Cosmos take on previously ranked Hartford City FC.

Sunday doesn’t feature any ranked vs ranked matchups, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some great games. #9 South Georgia Tormenta 2 have been on a tear lately and are going into a match against my hometown Dalton Red Wolves SC.

#20 NY Pancyprian Freedoms have a big match on Sunday as they face NY Shamrock SC in the Cosmopolitan League Semifinal.

There’s going to be a little bit of everything this weekend. If you wanna see two teams ranked in the Top 25 in the nation play each other, you’ve got a couple of chances. Wanna see a cup final? We’ve got you covered. How about a team in your area of the country playing in a game against a Top 25 ranked opponent? We’ve got you there, too. All in all, it will be a great weekend and could very well lead to a shakeup in the polls.

Paul Kowalczyk

An important North Conference match takes place Saturday, June 1st at 8 p.m. ET as #13 Minneapolis City Sc takes on #23 Duluth FC in Minneapolis. The two teams sit in the first and third spots in their conference with neither team losing a game so far. MPLS City SC have yet to drop any points and is coming off an exciting midweek 3-2 win against rivals Minnesota TwinStars FC where Abdallah Bah scored two and picked up an assist. Duluth FC also played this past Wednesday in a tight 1-1 draw against Med City FC.

In the Southeast, the Georgia Revolution look to get their first win travelling north to #12 Chattanooga FC who have only played one other NPSL game, tying #11 Greenville FC 2-2 with Max Wilschrey scoring both of Chattanooga’s goals. This game takes place June 1stat 7:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed on YouTube.