Month: April 2021

Week 17: A Rough Road Ahead

Week 17: A Rough Road Ahead

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Scores

Ross County 1 – 3 St Mirren

The Staggies finally fell into the danger zone after their defensive collapse at home against St. Mirren. Coupled with Kilmarnok’s cruising win against Dundee, the pressure is truly on the Staggies to get a result against one of the better teams.

Talleres 1- 2 Emelec [Copa Sudamerica]

Los bombillos opened their quest for continental glory with a fine comeback win in Argentina. Pedro Ortiz was put through his paces against an aggressive and fluid attack, which he (mostly) defended well). Fortunately Emelec stars, Facundo Barcelo and Romario Caicedo, were able to make their connections count beautifully as the game wound down. They combined to set up both a hand ball penalty and a well taken short angle goal to win against the flow of the match. (Side note: Talleres goal scorer and selfie-celebrant Franco Frangapane is heavily rumored to be the latest Argentine attacker bound for Minnesota)

Troyes 3 – 1 Grenoble [M]

A win at the league leaders would have gone a long way to justifying Grenoble’s case for promotion. But despite Anthony Belmont’s opening goal it wasn’t to be, as seven attackers overwhelmed the alpine defenders.

Freiburg 1 – 1 Hoffenheim

While Hoffenheim was in fine form throughout the match and seemed to keep Freiburg permanently on the back foot. Fortunately, Freiburg capitalized when their best chance of the match led to a penalty by one of their best players, Vincenzo Grifo. Grifo’s injuries put him on the sidelines right around the same time Freiburg cemented their spot in the mid-table.

Vozdovac 2 – 1 Cukariki

It was frustrating to see the Red Dragons biggest win of 2021 see them stick on the cusp of relegation. Ivan Milosavljevic buried an absolute screamer to take the lead. Aleksa Jankovic, drew a decisive late penalty. Beating the third place side in Serbia should have been a celebration, instead the dragons stayed stuck near the bottom of the table and were left to wait and hope that the Cukariki comes through against other relegation scrappers.

Minnesota United 1 – 2 Real Salt Lake

The Loons hopes for a playoff run are already looking rough. Constrained by injuries and players out of position, they’ve been burned twice now. We are hoping things are a little less uh…burny…from now on.

SC Freiburg 0 – 3 Eintracht Frankfurt [F]

It’s a been a hard go of it for the ladies from Breigsau. Hoping for smoother sailing ahead.

Legon Cities 1 – 1 Dreams FC

The Royals started with approximately seventy bajillion crosses. However, it paid off when Hans Kwofie broke the early deadlock with a well placed header. But Legon couldn’t hold on to the lead for long enough to take all the points.

Órense v Emelec [M]

A rise in local Covid cases led to Ecuador postponing the match (at least it hasn’t affected the women’s league…yet)

News & Notes

Dancing Shoes

The University of Montana has landed and is training eagerly for their big match in the NCAA tournament. It’s clear from the write up that the team doesn’t have much expected of it in a match against one of the best non-seeded teams in the tournament. The Griz will be bringing the veteran mindset, the improved offense, and the sterling record of Claire Howard against a perennial contender from South Carolina with talented seniors and star freshmen.

New Contest

The Copa SudAmericana isn’t quite the glamorous affair that several other contests might be, but it is a continental battle and, as such, is worth a mention.

The second tier of South American scuffling sees teams who didn’t triumph face off in a group stage followed by a tournament for each group’s winners (and those eliminated from the more prestigious Copa Libertadores). Los Bombillos have a group with contending sides from Argentina (Talleres), Brazil (Red Bull Bragantino), and Colombia (Tolima). There’s a long way to go, but Emelec’s form in Ecuador should make them very excited to fight at a higher level.

Super League Shut Down

I told you that this didn’t matter. Sure enough, a few hours after I posted last week’s update, the supposed “super league” collapsed in a crashing heap of public relations face saving and crying softly into a slightly smaller pillow stuffed with money.

Few if any people complained about the crossing borders, or the quality of play, but the unfairness and unwillingness to risk demotion smacked of greed and shortsightedness. So, out of fear that it might all come undone, almost all the teams bailed. The question of whether they are really in serious financial peril or not remains to be seen.

Player of the Week

After a rough week, there’s not a lot to choose from, but we’ll give the nod this week to Ivan Milosavljevic whose thunderous shot helped steer Vozdovac back towards success.

Standings Update

Nothing changes in this week’s table as Minnesota sinks lower, while Vozdovac inches closer to Ross County. The Griz stay on top, but a lopsided loss (as has happened regularly against top seeded opponents) might drop them down to well within striking distance of Emelec and others.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
University of Montana9012.72.10.6
Emelec8212.42.01.0
Grenoble Foot8661.501.31.2
Punjab FC–b7461.471.20.9
Freiburg93101.361.51.5
Legon Cities FC5451.331.30.9
Alebrijes4751.21.51.9
Ross County5291.11.31.7
FK Vozdovac2571.00.71.7
Minnesota United0020.00.53.0
Rosenborg BK-b000–––
Table Updated 4/27/2021
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Wednesday, April 28th

11:00 Novi Pazar v Vozdovac

University of Montana Grizzlies v University of South Carolina Gamecocks [NCAA Tournament]

7:30 Emelec v Red Bull Bragantino [Copa Sudamerica]

Thursday, April 29th

Friday, April 30th

[NCAA TOURNAMENT 2ND ROUND V Georgetown Hoyas IF APPLICABLE]

Saturday, May 1st

8:00 LSV Kvinner v Rosenborg [F]

8:00 Dundee United v Ross County

10:00 Legon Cities v Asante Kotoko

7:00 Minnesota United v Austin FC

8:30 Barcelona SC v Emelec [M]

Sunday, May 2nd

7:00 SC Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt [F]

Monday, May 3rd

8:00 Grenoble [M] v Clermont Foot

Tuesday, May 4th

56. Fight, Flight, Freeze, or…

56. Fight, Flight, Freeze, or…

by scruffyrube ♥ 1 Comment

As I was puzzling over what to write about, you boys gave me an idea. As you often do.

Alex was playing with a truck as Owen picked up his Ukelele. Immediately, the world seemed to be ending. Alex was convinced that Owen was taking the Uke and would “NEVER EVER GIVE IT BACK!!!” Cue tears and a confused Owen tightening his grip and thus more tears.

I asked you both the next day what scared you. Owen, with his growing vocabulary said “baaah” his word for bottle (distinct from buh/ball or bu-inba/bowling ball). Alex said “nothing.”

“Really,” said I, “it seems like you often are afraid that whatever someone else has something you like. Like when Owen touches your Ukele. Does that scare you?”

“Oh…yeah…I’m scared of that.”

“Why?”

“Because…it’s mine…and he’s taking it and then HE’LL NEVER GIVE IT BACK. NOT EVER!!”

“I can see that would be scary. What do you do when you’re scared?”

Dear Boys,

Alex: “I scream!”

Owen: [makes deep breathing noise]–note Owen actually screams when he’s scared, but he already knows what I hope he’ll do.

When you’re afraid, you react naturally. But you also are more prone to make mistakes, overreact and generally get sucked into a bigger problem. Fear makes you ready to fight (as shown when you boys push eachother for toys), or flee (as when you run off to another room in tears), or freeze (when you can’t do anything else but scream).

Falling after the fight (Metro Sports)

Easy as it would be to say, “it’s a phase”, and “you’ll grow out of it,” the reality is lots of people do lots of dumb fight, flight, or flee activities when they’re afraid. Both as individuals, organizations, and even teams.

Take the spate of penalties that have sprung up for teams like Grenoble, Ross County, and Vozdovac.

As the season comes to its conclusion each team has a lot riding on every game. Grenoble is approaching the top tier of French football, Ross County and Vozdovac are fighting to stay afloat and avoid relegation. In that context every ball, every opportunity carries greater and greater weight. So, in fear, foolish challenges occur. Penalties are awarded and Grenoble’s wins become draws. County and Vozdovac see points sail away from the spot.

Enough to make anyone freeze (StarTribune)

That’s a fight response. In our neighborhood this week, there’s been a lot more freezing.

The Derek Chauvin trial came to its end. The mountain of evidence, eye witnesses, and expert testimony were enough to hold the officer who killed a man in broad daylight to be held accountable. But all around us there were signs of people and groups freezing. Before the verdict, national guard troops arrived on our block to keep the peace (despite the fact that there was no unrest in the first place). I’ll be frank. I froze when I saw them. Big trucks. Big guns. Right where I pick up the dog’s poop…I didn’t want to go anywhere. That was the hope, but it was a hope based on our fear of the other outcome.

Double the flight (from AlJazeera)

And we even got a textbook example of fleeing in fear this week. Twelve of the biggest teams in the world–teams who could buy and sell our 11 favorites ten times over–announced their plans to flee their current leagues lest they lose, and lose their business. Their fear of failure, of more losses, led them to plan on fleeing their current positions for something that seemed more certain.

And when the backlash was swift. When fans around the world, and players from every team, and coaches, and legends of the game, and politicians all announced that it was stupid, the teams fled again. This time they fled the super league from fear of losing the support they had assumed would follow them. Again they were afraid, and again they fled as fast as their legal briefs could carry them.

These reactions, fight, flight, and flee, are natural. They’re nothing to abandon or grow beyond. They are human responses. You boys are every bit as human as a desperate defender, a local leader, a billionaire owner, or a global soccer icon.

When you’re afraid, know that you’re not alone. If you make a mistake based on your fear, you have good company. If you want help, you have hosts of people who have been through it before.

Fear makes us do foolish things. That’s okay. Just know that fools always have company.

Week 16: Best in the Big Sky!

Week 16: Best in the Big Sky!

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Scores

Universidad Catholica 2 – 3 Emelec [M]

Doff your caps to Alejandro Cabeza. The young striker raced out to a brace in 10 minutes and got his hat trick in the second half. Just what every Ecuadorian side wanted to see, another in form striker for Los Bombillos.

Leones Negros 1 – 1 Alebrijes

It took just about everything that Alebrijes had to keep up the pressure throughout the match. Johan Alonso took charge of the right flank and peppered a wide array of opportunities that went awry. In the end, the greatest contribution came from Center Back Oscar Torres, who played a critical role at both ends of the field: disrupting a barrage of Leones’ attacks and being in the right place at the right time to net the equalizer.

University of Montana Grizzlies 2 – 1 University of Northern Colorado [Big Sky Semifinal]

After a steady and solid season Taylor Stoeger got a great moment to shine in the conference Semifinal. She was instrumental in the midfield and delivered the golden goal in overtime to get the Grizzlies to the much awaited and much deserved conference final.

Seattle Sounders 4 – 0 Minnesota United

That wasn’t great, but the video we sent to trash talk our Sounders friend Aly was.

Freiburg 4 – 0 Schalke

Boy did Freiburg need this one. Christian Gunter blasted some beautiful goals and Roland Sallai made his presence felt. (Oh also, Schalke is terrible, but every win gets 3 points.)

Dunkerke 1 – 1 Grenoble

Speaking of beating bad teams, it’s something les Grenobloises have failed to do lately. It probably owes something to Jekyll/Hyde games like Maumodou Diallou whose first half assist was mitigated by his second half red card, forcing a team fighting for promotion to simply play not to lose against a team battling to avoid relegation. Their next four all come against teams jockeying for playoff position too so, this time next month things will be great or absolutely not.

University of Montana Grizzlies v. Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks [Big Sky Final]

CANCELLED DUE TO NAU VIOLATIONS OF COVID PROTOCOL–Griz named champions by default

As Homer [Simpson] once said, “the two sweetest words in the English language: De-Fault!!”

TBA Guayaquil City v Emelec [F]

Que soprisa!! Another delay to the women’s league. We’ll see if May 1 proves more lucky than March or April.

Wolfsburg 3 – 2 SC Freiburg [F]

Hasret Kayikci continued her strong showings but Wolfsburg blasted back to confirm their place among Europe’s elite.

Medema 2 – 1 Legon Cities

The Royals made a comeback even without top Center Back Joseph Adjei who got red carded in the first half. Adjei’s absence was felt on Medema’s second and game winning goal 8 minutes from time.

TSC Backa Topola 4 – 1 FK Vozdovac

This thumping put the Red Dragons firmly in the relegation scrap. Napredak’s great form has capitalized on Vozdovac’s lousy showings. One reason for hope: 3 of the last 6 will be against fellow fighters separated by goals and two points. Here’s hoping the turn around is straight ahead.

Emelec 2 – 0 Técnico Universarito [M]

I hope you boys learn to love beauty in life. Hugs from little kids when they are sleepy, your mom’s smile, monsoon mists in Mussoorie. Caciedo and Barcelo dominating Ecuador isn’t quite at that level, but it’s getting close.

Grenoble 2 – 0 Sochaux [M]

It was quite a crunchy match in the offing with Sochaux on the outer edges of the playoff scrap. A win would have made their last months extra tense. But while Sochaux’s energies seemed to unsettle Esteban Salles, they also led to foolish errors that earned two penalties for Grenoble (both of which were duly buried by Jessy Benet). The win gave a little more breathing room for Grenoble (now 7 points clear in the playoff spots) but likely knocked Sochaux out of the running for progression.

Mineros 6 – 0 Alebrijes de Oaxaca

That was…what’s the word? Bad. That was bad.

News & Notes

Big Sky Superlatives

With the Griz getting both the Northern Division trophy AND the Big Sky trophy we have the first hardware won by any team on our Favorite XI. But the fun doesn’t stop there.

Four Griz were named to the All-Big Sky team: Holding Midfielder Avery Adams, Wingback Taylor Hansen, Striker Alexa Coyle and (quelle surprise) goalie Claire Howard were named best in the conference at what they do. Howard also won the Goalkeeper of the Year honors (not a shock with her record breaking form). Centerback Alli Lang was named to the second team and attackers Rita Lang and Taylor Stoeger took home honorable mentions.

The Griz came into the year as favorites to win, and they delivered. Now all that’s left is…

The Big Dance

The NCAA tournament is one of our family’s favorite events. You boys got a taste of that this year when we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s, ate tasty snacks, talked with family, and played and played and played. While we usually watch the basketball tournaments, Soccer has one too. This year’s tournament will be in North Carolina (one of the biggest hotbeds for college competition in the country).

Thanks to their regular season dominance (and the Lumberjacks’ illness) the Griz are Charlotte bound to be part of the Fabulous 48, and the chance to play into the thrilling thirty-two.

Up first a game with the South Carolina Gamecocks. If you extrapolate out the regular seedings the Griz would be 12th seeded in the region of 12 (45th of all 48 teams). The Gamecocks were a potent force in a powerful league, which means the Griz will be an underdog for the first time this year…but that’s a fine place to be. Win and the Griz tie a best ever season showing, lose and they still have a couple pretty Big Sky trophies in tow.

Superliga Feminina Forever

As in forever waiting to start.

This delay’s irrational cause for optimism that this time it’ll really happen. A detailed and stylish schedule tweet from the official league account! Surely a graphic designer’s work is always respected and honored.

Super League Salvos

The biggest news in soccer this week is the promised beginning of a new European Super League. This will be the 15 biggest clubs in Europe (plus five of their friends) raking in oodles of money, while their former opponents just make gobs of money.

Depending on who you ask, this is either a bad idea or a sign that the world is nearing an implosion of epic proportions. League officials are threatening to banish the big sides. Global leaders in the game claim that they’ll impose harsh fines and punish the players. Fans are mulling boycotts. It’s a fraught subject that brings to mind questions of “nationality”, “tradition”, “fairness,” and “global society.”

None of which matters to you two in the slightest. After all, you are under 4, by the time you bring full attention to any sport this league will either be an established institution or a bygone bit of trivia. Still this is my sporting journal of our times, so…there’s the big news.

Player of the Week

Jessy Benet had a huge impact on Grenoble’s standing for the end of the season, but Alejandro Cabeza had far and away the best performance, the least we can do is acknowledge it again here.

Bienvenido a nuestro casa Alejandro

Standings Update

The Loons debut provides a much appreciated cushion to FK Vozdovac in at least one table as Freiburg and Legon Cities continue to jockey for the advantage in the middle of the table.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
University of Montana9012.72.10.6
Emelec7212.32.01.0
Grenoble Foot8651.61.31.1
Punjab FC–b7461.471.20.9
Freiburg9291.451.61.5
Legon Cities FC5451.361.30.8
Alebrijes4751.21.51.9
Ross County5281.11.31.6
FK Vozdovac2570.80.61.7
Minnesota United0010.00.04.0
Rosenborg BK-b000–––
Table Updated 4/20/2021
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Wednesday, April 21st

1:45 Ross County v St Mirren

Thursday, April 22nd

2:00 Talleres v Emelec [Copa Sudamerica]

Friday, April 23rd

Saturday, April 24th

8:00 Troyes v Grenoble [M]

8:30 Freiburg v Hoffenheim

10:00 Legon Cities v Dreams FC

1:00 Vozdovac v Cukariki

7:00 Minnesota United v Real Salt Lake

Sunday, April 25th

7:00 SC Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt [F]

3:00 Órense v Emelec [M]

Monday, April 26th

Tuesday, April 27th

Week 14 & 15: Spring Break in Play

Week 14 & 15: Spring Break in Play

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A note: I might have gotten behind, but if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have been Owen’s pillow or Alex’s marble run co-designer. I’ll take a delay for that trade

Scores

Olmedo 2 – 3 Emelec [M]

It was a tight affair on Thursday night. Pedro Ortiz was unsettled early on and gave up the lead to the hosts. But los bombillos capitalized on their set pieces. All three goals came off of follow ups to first touches. Anibal Leguizamon, Facundo Barcelo, and Lucas Sosa all capitalized when Olmedo were caught napping.

FK Vozdovac 0 – 0 Macva Sabac

Again…I got nothing.

Sacramento State Hornets 0 – 1 University of Montana Grizzlies

Make it six in the row for the Griz and another crucial clean sheet from Claire Howard. This time it took an overtime header to pull the squad over the line, but, as usual, the Griz got the job done.

Ross County 1 – 3 Inverness CT [Cup]

Buried in the bottom half of the Scottish table, Ross County’s last chance for silverware ended with their defeat to arch rivals Inverness. While Billy McKay fired them in front early on, the collapsing defense sent the Staggies out of the Cup in the third round. The one plus, it will allow them to focus fully on saving their top flight status.

Grenoble 2 – 2 Chateroux [M]

Up two goals and one man within 30 minutes, you would probably expect Grenoble to cruise over bottom of the table Chateroux. You would be disappointed . Our Alpine side struggled, ceding two goals through sloppy man marking (and a tentative/tender Esteban Salles) and watching Adrien Monfry leave the field to end up all square with a side they surely should have dispatched.

Borussia Munchengladbach 2 – 1 Freiburg [M]

Rolland Sallai gave the griffins a great start, but Gladbach got them back quickly (courtesy of Marcus Thurman whose dad Lillian is one of my favorites). Freiburg continued to press for a goal and got one from Keven Schlotterback at the death…only for video review to rule him offsides, and seal the defeat.

CS Emelec v. CD Macara [F]

Postponed…again…sigh…

Berekum Chelsea 2 – 1 Legon Cities FC

Samimento (Photo from GoGriz.com)

Hans Kwofie continued to show up for LCFC, but the second half of the season started much like the last, with the Royals struggling to balance attack and defense

Sacramento State Hornets 0 -3 University of Montana Grizzlies

Sami Seims was awesomely opportunisitic, capitalizing on two opportunities in the box to give her three goals for the weekend and making Sacramaento “Samimento”. Another Claire Howard shutout (it might get dull if it weren’t always awesome), and the Griz locked down their division title and a spot in the Big Sky Semifinals in two weeks

Emelec 2 – 0 CSD Macara [M-Cup]

A convincing 2-0 win over fellow Ecuadorians sees Los Bombillos into the next round of the Copa Sudamerica. When your attack is as linked as Facundo Barcelo and Ramario Caicedo it seems quite easy.

Alebrijes 4 – 1 Jaibos

A pair of insurance goals for Oaxaca made the score line look more flattering than it ought to. Still Alebrijes should wear the win with pride. Especially when they were fluid and effective in Johan Alonso setting up Fernando Vasquez and Carlos Fonseco scored on a sterling run.

FK Spartak Subotica 3 – 0 FK Vozdovac

The collapse of Vozdovac’s defense is only slightly more surprising than Serbia’s superb COVID Vaccine rollout.

Arminia Bielefeld 1 – 0 Freiburg [M]

In an otherwise solid first campaign in Breigsau, Baptiste Santamira would probably rather forget this one. His second half own goal cost the Griffins dearly, especially against a lower tier opponent, as Freiburg’s lost four of five.

University of Montana Grizzlies 2 – 3 Eastern Washington Eagles

The first loss of the Griz season came against their Spokane rivals. But it also came, stunningly, at home. Avery Adam’s and Taylor Hansen came through late to force an overtime. But they couldn’t grab the golden goal and a hungry Eastern Washington got the win to keep their hopes for the Conference tournament alive.

Kilmarnock 2 – 2 Ross County

The Staggies started the relegation rumble with a sprint to the goal. Within 5 minutes each side had a goal (worth it for Michael Gardyne’s textbook move). But when Kilmarnock took the edge through some sloppy positioning ten minutes later and held it through much of the match, it looked like County was destined for defeat and relegation. As the game got extra chippy, you could tell each team knew how important it was. Some ratty gamesmanship started silly shoving matches. County came through when Ian Vigurs cross met with Alex Iacovitti’s head and the draw was preserved. From there it got more brutal with Vigurs getting a busted nose (that only merited a yellow card) and Iacovitti getting a make up call with no whistle on a fairly blatant penalty. It wasn’t the knock out punch we might have hoped for, but it keeps the highlanders in good position to stay afloat.

Vozdovac 1-1 Proleter

Good news: Vozdovac scored early to put them in control and provide some positive momentum.

Bad News: Aleksandar Bogdanavic’s foolish red card gave Proleter its equalizer and turned a win into a draw. (I mean…goodness sakes, there’s no need to pretend you didn’t commit a foul when you actively drag a guy’s arm…cryin’ out loud Aleks!)

Grenoble 3 – 1 Caen

While Grenoble often pioneered the kind of collapse that Vozdovac is falling into, the Alpiners have been quite steady this year. After a dull first half, Yoric Ravet did quite well to finish a loose through pass from Jordy Gaspar and create several more opportunities.

Emelec 1-1 LDU de Quito [M]

A long-standing Quito v Guayaquil rivalry, remained hard fought, with both sides pressuring and pushing for every positive position. In the end Facundo Barcelo set up an equalizer for Alejandro Cabeza and Emelec kept pace at the top of the table.

Legon Cities 2 – 0 Great Olympics

The Royals locked in their strongest showing yet as they pestered and penned in the Olympics offense. Nicholas Mensah’s header eked over the line and Jonah Attuquaye persisted in the face of high pressure defense to give Legon a solid win.

May be an image of 24 people, people standing and outdoors
Photo from GoGriz.com

University of Montana Grizzlies 3 – 1 Eastern Washington Eagles

The Griz got a great rebound win on Senior day and we tip our collective caps to the stellar squad that continues to run roughshod over rocky mountain lady’s soccer. At the same time it’s rather exciting to start expecting the next class to rise up given that Rita Lang and Sami Siems have another year to go, and everyone benefits when you work with stars this talented. Up next a trip to Ogden Utah and a match with old rivals Northern Colorado.

News & Notes

Súper liga Súper late

Another couple weeks another couple delays to Ecuador’s women’s league: the new goal? April 17th. Fingers crossed.

Dragons Dilemma

Since the calendar flipped Vozdovac has only taken 11 points from a possible 33. With their strong start they can afford a slip, but this is starting to look less like a slip and more like a crashing back to earth.

While Serbia expanded its top tier for this post-pandemic season, they’ll be squeezing down to 14 for next year. The Red Dragons spent most of the fall around the top 7, but they’ve slipped to 13th, (4) points from the drop. To make matters worse, only 2/3 of their last 7 come against teams below them on the table.

Abila looking like….it snowed…in April?!?

Loons Launch

In the last run up to America’s Major League Soccer, Minnesota United did two things. First, train in sunny Orlando. Two, bring north Boca Juniors striker Ramon Abila. Bébelo Reynoso’s old teammate brings with him 39 goals in 89 matches for one of Argentina’s most storied clubs. Whether he provides the Loons with a difference making attack option we will soon see. (But one things for sure, “Boca du Nord” is a fun new nickname.)

Players of the Weeks

With two players to recognize, we have plenty of options to choose from. We’ll consider both one player who was superb in an individual week and one player who has been holding things down for weeks now. Sami Seims deserves all the credit for dominating the Hornets in Sacramento and Romario Caciedo has been superb both on defense and linking up the attack for Emelec as they continue to hover around the top of the standings.

Romario in full flow

Standings Update

Despite their slip, the Griz hold strong at the top of the table, and Freiburg takes a big step back, sliding from third down to sixth in the mid table log-jam.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
University of Montana8012.72.10.6
Emelec5212.11.91.0
Grenoble Foot7551.51.21.1
Punjab FC–b7461.471.20.9
Legon Cities FC5441.461.20.9
Freiburg8281.441.41.4
Alebrijes4641.31.61.6
Ross County5281.11.31.6
FK Vozdovac2350.90.71.6
Rosenborg BK000–––
Minnesota United000–––
Table Updated 4/14/2021
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Wednesday, April 14th

3:00 Universidad Catholics v Emelec [M]

5:00 Leones Negros v Alebrijes

Thursday, April 15th

University of Montana Grizzlies v. University of Northern Colorado [Big Sky Semifinal]

Friday, April 16th

8:30 Seattle Sounders v Minnesota United

Saturday, April 17th

8:30 Freiburg v Schalke

10:00 Medema v Legon Cities

1:00 Dunkerke v Grenoble

1:00 TSC Back Topola v FK Vozdovac

[Big Sky Final, if applicable]

TBA Guayaquil City v Emelec [F]

Sunday, April 18th

7:00 Wolfsburg v Sc Freiburg [F]

3:00 Emelec v Técnico Universarito [M]

Monday, April 19th

Tuesday, April 20th