Soccer Blogs Posts Tagged USL

Atlanta Siverbacks Soccer Club Shut Down Men’s Pro Team for 2009

2008-11-19T21:22:36+00:00

2008 United Soccer Leagues (USL) runners-up, the Atlanta Silverback, haves announced that they will not be fielding a Men's team for the 2009 season. On the club's site, the organization cited the poor US economy and the possibility of an MLS franchise arriving to the Metro Atlanta area in the near future.

USL Needs to Compete Directly against MLS

2008-11-13T21:09:45+00:00

The United Soccer Leagues has been a doormat to the MLS for too long. They have allowed MLS to walk all over them. MLS has taken multiple cities from the USL to put into their league and have not suffered any kind of legal troubles or image issues. This has been a coup for MLS. They [...]

REPORT: USL Poaches MLS Players Using Offers of Cars, Houses

2008-10-31T17:20:00+00:00

We have all heard stories about the salaries of developmental players in MLS being bad. We've heard stories of houses full of young MLS players. Now we hear that the USL, the league one level below MLS on the US Soccer pyramid offers such perks as player's own apartments, cars and a better salary.

Offside Exclusive: Matthew Mbuta

2008-10-15T14:48:46+00:00

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the FIFA 09 release party, Matt Mbuta, the newly acquired right wing prospect for the Red Bulls, watched the gaming action on a huge 104 inch projection screen while sipping a glass of what seemed to be ginger ale. "I don't play video games.

Cuban Defectors Redux

2008-10-13T23:42:00+00:00

Another tournament, another defection. The Washington Post is reporting that two members of the Cuban National Team defected prior to Saturday's World Cup qualifier. That brings this year's grand total to nine.

Seeing as how you could almost field an entire team with this year's defections, it seemed like a good time to give a full list of those who have wandered away from their hotels to try their luck in MLS/USL.

Whitecaps win USL-1 Title

2008-10-13T14:17:08+00:00

Last night the Vancouver Whitecaps captured their second USL-1 title in three years defeating the tired and road weary Puerto Rico Islanders 2-1. Englishman, Jonathan Steele, the league's MVP and arguably one of the best footballers that plays on American soil had a subpar match for the Islanders, as did Peter Villegas.

USL-1 Final Thoughts

2008-10-11T13:52:26+00:00

Vancouver has been here before and has won before. The Whitecaps have been one of the elite teams in the A League/USL-1 now for many season. But while Martin Nash is still a key ingredient, the team has changed dramatically since the 2006 title. Eduardo Sebrango has been a revelation up front while Nicolas Addlery [.

USL Gets Humiliated on Matchday Four in CONCACAF

2008-10-09T02:10:39+00:00

With a league title on the line Sunday the Puerto Rico Islanders rested several regulars for tonight's Champions League match in Mexico against Santos Laguna. The results were disasterous even with Santos resting several regulars. 3-0 was the final scoreline which proves USL sides have neither the depth nor the quality to really compete against [.

By The Time I Get To Arizona: Pachuca USA?

2008-10-08T11:21:00+00:00

The only Arizona-related news I expected to read this moring was perhaps John McCain debate post-mortem. I certainly, definitely did not expect to find that FMF rippers Pachuca are exploring the possibilty of creating an Arizona outpost of the Hidalgo-based franchise. According to the Arizona Republic the club is also considering San Francisco and San Antonio as homes for a USL-1 expansion team but club officials may announce Arizona as the final choice tonight at an event at the oh-so-bigtime Peppe's Pizza on S.

USL Final Set

2008-10-06T01:47:41+00:00

It'll be Vancouver and Puerto Rico both of whom erased first leg defecits to advance. More later. Bookmark to:

USL Playoffs: Fixture Congestion Catches up with the Islanders

2008-10-04T02:50:47+00:00

The Puerto Rico Islanders had not lost 18 matches: thirteen USL matches and five CONCACAF Champions League matches. However that streak came to an abrupt end this evening at PAETEC Park against the Rocherster Rhinos. Having played late on Wednesday night in Guatemala, and having blown a late lead in that match the Islanders despite [.

Kandji, Gaudette headline USL All-League team

2008-09-30T20:01:08+00:00

The United Soccer League named it's All-League Teams on Tuesday. I know I don't report nearly as much about the USL as I should, especially given the league's recent success in the U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League, but here is a chance to get a look at the best the USL has to offer.

Red Bull Player Named USL All-Star

2008-09-30T19:30:00+00:00

He may not play in the league anymore but USL-1 has named taller than all get-out Red Bull New York striker Macoumba Kandji to it's 2008 All-League team. Congrats to my dude on the accolade and the precision assist in your MLS debut. Now get to scoring.

Lalas on MLS Salaries

2008-09-30T17:33:00+00:00

Here's an interesting article by Greg Lalas about soccer salaries in the U.S.: "MLS getting what it pays for". Rather than wanting more millions to import marquee players from around the world, he's advocating that MLS teams pay more for "mid-tier players". And according to Lalas, that means MLS would become a better career choice for some of the players currently in the USL.

USL Quarterfinal Wrap

2008-09-29T14:36:22+00:00

Darren Tilley was among the heroes of the 1999 US Open Cup final, the last major trophy won by a current USL side. Pat Onstad and Yuri Alnatt were also key figures that night at Crew Stadium for the Rochester Rhinos. Now nine years later after a near financial collapse Tilley has his team in [...]

Mac Kandji: the next Ching... or the next Tarley?

2008-09-28T02:40:00+00:00

This evening Macoumba Kandji made his debut with the New York Red Bulls, becoming the latest forward to jump from USL1 to Major League Soccer. Should Red Bulls fans expect a scoring explosion? Recent history suggests not.

A number of forwards have made the jump since 2002. The most successful of these is Brian Ching.

USL Playoffs: Steve Guppy’s Goal Lifts Rhinos

2008-09-27T04:28:50+00:00

Steve Guppy is one of two players capped by England's National Team at the senior international level to be playing his club football in the United States currently: the other is David Beckham. Guppy, now 38 scored the game winning goal Friday night as the Rochester Rhinos beat the Charleston Battery in the first leg [.

Morning Ticker: USL keeps rolling, MLS keeps stumbling in CONCACAF Champions League

2008-09-25T13:47:23+00:00

It was another good night for USL teams and another disappointing showing for MLS teams in the CONCACAF Champions League.

The Montreal Impact faced Mexican power Atlante on Wednesday and posted a 0-0 tie to stay in a tie for first place in its group with Atlante.

D.C. United's night wasn't quite as fun.

Noyes named GM of Real Maryland

2008-09-25T00:15:24+00:00

Real Maryland FC of the USL-2 has named Carolina RailHawks goalkeeper coach David Noyes as their new General Manager.
Noyes brings over twenty five years experience as a professional soccer player and coach to the USL-2 side. He has directed soccer programs ranging from youth camps and clinics to collegiate and professional levels.

USL's MLS Hopefuls Making Headlines

2008-09-22T21:39:00+00:00

Two of the men leading MLS expansion charges get the ink from their local papers today. Québécois dairy tycoon andMontréal Impact owner Joey Saputo has an enjoyable Q&A in the Montréal Gazette, while Portland Timbers impresario Merritt Paulson reveals loads of revenue and attendance related dirt on the Rose City club.

Photo of the Day: Soccer Returning to Tulsa?

2008-09-22T21:05:00+00:00

There's a soccer field in some official images that show the layout of the AAA Tulsa Drillers new ballpark. It's totally and completely irresponsible of me to make vague and spurious connections between seemingly unrelated events but perhaps, just perhaps, it's related to that long-distance call from Tampa to Tulsa that we talked about back in May.

USL Playoffs Set

2008-09-22T14:05:18+00:00

The USL-1 Regular Season concluded this past week and the playoffs are set. The Puerto Rico Islanders (pictured above) have won the Regular Season title, and gained the #1 seed in the playoffs. This gives the road weary Islanders a bye in the first round and a chance for now to focus on the CONCACAF [.

The USL/MLS Overlap II: The Wrath of Khan

2008-09-20T01:42:00+00:00

In a previous post I had researched the former Major League Soccer players that could be found on three USL1 teams - the Montreal Impact, Charleston Battery and Puerto Rico Islanders. Here's the rest of the league, broken down by team:

Atlanta Silverbacks
Scott Buete 21
David Hayes 18
Jerson Monteiro 5
Blake Camp 3
Justin Moore 2

Minnesota Thunder
Luchi Gonzalez 30
Mark Schulte 19
Melvin Tarley 12
Stephen deRoux 10
Tighe Dombrowski 4

Rochester Rhinos
Tenywa Bonseu 87
Andrew Gregor 23
Tiger Fitzpatrick 18
Alfonso Loera 15
John Ball 11
Luke Kreamalmeyer 6
Steve Guppy 5

Carolina Railhawks
Ronald Cerritos 224
David Stokes 24
Rey Martinez 8
Joey Worthen 3

Seattle Sounders
Taylor Graham 34
Josh Gardner 21
Leighton O'Brien 10
Nikolas Besagno 8
Roger Levesque 4
Danny Jackson 1

Portland Timbers
Chris Brown 208
Jamil Walker 77
Leonard Griffin 18
Byron Alvarez 8
Ray Burse, Jr.

Montreal IMPACTS, Santos SURVIVES, Marathon SHOCKS

2008-09-18T20:05:00+00:00

More of Matchday One in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League was played last night...

Montreal continued the USL's domination of this competition. Okay, that's overblown, but what you're hearing out of some of the USL supporters after both Puerto Rico and Montreal won their opening matches over teams that dispatched MLS teams in the qualifying round.

POLL: What Would Help MLS Clubs The Most in the CONCACAF Champions League?

2008-09-18T17:25:00+00:00

People are pissed off. And this is your place not only to vent but to answer our poll on what would possibly help to turn it around in the years ahead.

Some opinions on what has transpired over the last couple weeks with MLS clubs having less than stellar performances in the first run of the CONCACAF Champions League:

"Tonight's game looked like playing Soccer with
a National Forest, crossed with the Dawn of the Dead.

Thursday: UEFA Cup, farewell to turf

2008-09-18T14:38:00+00:00

Busy day for me -- some behind-the-scenes work and Friday's story on the Galaxy.

COMING TODAY (all times p.m. ET, home teams listed first)

- UEFA Cup on TV, with a big game for Americans on FSC (all times p.m. ET):

Besiktas-Metalist, 1:30, Setanta
Tottenham-Wisla Krakow, 3, FSC
Napoli-Benfica, 3, Setanta Premium
Lorraine-Motherwell, 3:30, Setanta
Everton-Standard Liege, 5, FSC (delay -- yes, that's Tim Howard vs.

MLS Raiding USL2

2008-09-18T02:24:00+00:00

There were a flurry of moves leading up to the Major League Soccer roster freeze deadline, and a surprisingly large number of them were signings of players from USL2 -- which is essentially the third division of American soccer.

Colorado: Kwame Sarkodie (Cleveland City Stars)
Columbus: Stanley Nyazamba (Richmond Kickers)
Dallas: Jeff Rowland (Wilmington Hammerheads)
DC: Greg Janicki and Thabiso Khumalo (both from the Pittsburgh Riverhounds)
New York: Terry Boss (Charlotte Eagles) and Matt Mbuta (Crystal Palace Baltimore)

Interestingly, Rowland and Khumalo were both drafted by MLS teams but didn't stick.

INCOMING: Kwame Sarkodie to Colorado Rapids

2008-09-17T22:54:00+00:00

Here's the press release:

Commerce City, CO (Sports Network) - The Colorado Rapids have signed midfielder Kwame Sarkodie, the Major League soccer team announced Tuesday. Per league and club policy, details of the contract were not disclosed.

INCOMING: Stanley Nyazamba to Columbus Crew

2008-09-17T20:32:00+00:00

Columbus crew have signed the midfielder from the USL's Richmond Kickers according to the Richmond club's website. Nyazamba was the USL-2 Rookie of the Year award following his 2008 season in Richmond.

Press Release:
RICHMOND, VA (Tuesday, September 16, 2008) The Richmond Kickers are pleased to announce that midfielder Stanley Nyazamba has signed a developmental contract with the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, marking the 22nd Kickers player to advance to MLS.

Rapids Sign Midfielder Sarkodie

2008-09-16T21:58:00+00:00

Official press release from the Colorado Rapids:
The Colorado Rapids today announced the signing of midfielder Kwame Sarkodie. Per league and team policy, details of the contract were not disclosed.
Sarkodie has played with the Rapids Reserves in their past two matches both in the midfield and as a defender.