Photo credit: Oliver Mallich

Norwich City turned in its most comprehensive attacking display of the season Saturday in a 3-1 away victory at Bristol City. Following the conclusion of the weekend’s fixtures, the club currently sits in fourth place in the Championship table on 17 points.

The Canaries finally prioritized directness, regularly finding the likes of Teemu Pukki, Emi Buendia and Przemyslaw Plancheta sprinting into space. Pukki completed a brace by the 14th minute and Buendia added the third in the 45th.

The Norwich defense once again showed its vulnerabilities — an ongoing problem that obviously dates back to the 2019-20 Premier League campaign — but Tim Krul bailed out his teammates with fully extended, fingertip saves on more than one occasion.

Since dropping two consecutive results in the last week of September and first week of October, the Canaries have now taken 13 points from their last possible 15.

The Norwich U-23s found themselves in third place upon the end of the weekend after losing at home and conceding the top perch in Premier League 2 Division 2 to Middlesbrough.

The Boro U-23s rallied from a 1-0 deficit to deliver three unanswered in the second half through Rumarn Burrell (65′) and Hayden Hackney (76′, 89′) to claim a 3-1 win.

Tyrese Omotoye recorded the lone tally for the Canaries reserve side in the 41st minute. The 18-year-old Belgian youth international already has three goals and an assist in league play to go along with his four goals in two EFL Trophy matches.

Both the Norwich senior side and U-23s briefly sat in second place in their respective leagues at fulltime, but later results nudged them down the table. The U-23s entered Friday’s fixture atop PL2D2 and still remain just a point off first.

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Image credit: Westchester United FC

Westchester United FC, based in Westchester, N.Y., is the WPSL‘s latest expansion side, the league announced Thursday. The team will debut in 2021.

The 4-year-old club already fields a men’s squad in the UPSL, and now brings a women’s side to the second tier of the American pyramid.

Antonio Corrado has been appointed Westchester United FC’s manager for its first season. The team will host its home matches at Fox Lane High School.

“As an organization, we have strived to help players play at the highest level,” Corrado said. “With the addition of a women’s WPSL team and a men’s UPSL team we feel that we are providing player pathways that are fundamental to changing a soccer landscape within the USA that needs more consistent playing throughout the year and at a higher level.”

The club intends to take a very hands-on approach in the community. With several of the team’s staffers having worked as camp counselors at the nearby Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester, the plan is for the Westchester United FC players do to likewise.

“We are extremely excited to be the first WPSL based club in Westchester County, N.Y.,” Corrado added. “We believe that this will provide local female players in high school and at the collegiate level an immense opportunity to play over the late spring/summer months.”

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INDIANAPOLIS — Indy Eleven forwards Nick Moon, 24, and Jeremy Rafanello, 20, found the back of the net in Indy’s 2-1 triumph over Sporting KC II on Wednesday evening. SKC II substitute Tyler Freeman pulled one back late on a free kick and the visitors nearly got an equalizer on a Danny Barbir header in stoppage time, but Barbir was whistled for a controversial foul that disallowed the goal. The result carried the Eleven back into first place in Group E.

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Photo credit: Jamie Smed/Soc Takes

U.S. Soccer unveiled head coach Gregg Berhalter’s roster for the upcoming U.S. men’s national team friendlies against Wales on Nov. 12 and Panama on Nov. 16.

The Wales match is at Liberty Stadium in Swansea, then the USMNT will travel to Austria to take on Panama at the neutral grounds of Stadion Wiener Neustadt.

Interestingly, every single player selected by Berhalter this time around is European-based. Here’s the complete 24-man roster:

ForwardsGio ReynaKonrad de la FuenteChristian PulisicTim WeahJosh SargentSebastian SotoNicholas Gioacchini

Uly Llanez

MidfieldersYunus MusahTyler AdamsWeston McKennieOwen OtasowieRichard Ledezma

Johnny Cardoso

DefendersAntonee RobinsonMatt MiazgaReggie CannonSergino DestJohn BrooksTim Ream

Chris Richards

GoalkeepersZack SteffanChituru Odunze

Ethan Horvath

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Hurriance Dorian forced the postponement of Monday’s Memphis 901 FC-Charleston Battery match. How might the lower divisions of U.S. Soccer juggle climate change-related schedule changes in the future? Photo credit: Robbie Mehling/Soc Takes

Currently, Memphis 901 FC personnel are on a 10-hour bus ride back from Charleston. Soc Takes understands that club personnel shared concerns over the likelihood of Hurricane Dorian making landfall on the East Coast of the United States this week. Sources with direct knowledge of the situation informed Soc Takes that Memphis personnel recommended the game be canceled.

While the sources suggested that the league required the squad to travel down to Charleston, a USL spokesperson suggested the decision involved an equitable conversation between the club and league.

“Memphis and the league were in dialogue regarding the weather on Thursday, Aug. 29,” USL communications and public relations senior manager Scott Stewart told Soc Takes via email. “Both parties agreed that the team should travel, given there was no way to determine how the weather will materialize. The city issued a mandatory evacuation on the Sunday evening after Memphis had already traveled into market for the match. The club was given options to fly back but opted to bus.”

Regardless of whether the club had as much agency in the decision making as Stewart claims, players and staff are having to deal with the consequences of shoddy travel arrangements that could have — and should have — been avoided.

In the big scheme of things, however, particularly given the catastrophic reality of what Dorian is doing to the island of Bahamas, travel inconvenience is perhaps a trivial concern.

Yet, at some point the USL and its clubs will have to deal with the unfortunate reality which faces all of us:

1. Climate change will continue to produce adverse weather events such as hurricanes.
2. These will affect cities in which USL clubs operate.

* * *

The lower divisions don’t have the best record with making responsible decisions around hurricanes.

Two weeks prior to the catastrophe of Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Irma made landfall close to Puerto Rico. At the time, Puerto Rico FC was still an active member of the then-Division II NASL.

At the time, three PRFC players reached out to Soc Takes revealing that the squad had been asked to train even though people were being asked to leave the island. A few headed to the airport directly from training, and were able to get off the island before Irma hit. A few remained stuck on the island. Luckily for the latter, Irma was not as devastating as initially predicted.

At the time, both the NASL and PRFC did not address the Irma issue with the clarity that the issue required.

Luckily, all of them were off the island by the time hurricane Maria changed the course of Puerto Rico and PRFC.

* * *

Leagues face a difficult predicament, as they have to balance the logistics and cost of rescheduling games with player and fan safety. And the uncertainty dancing upon the fulcrum upon which that seesaw swings is summarized by Stewart’s statement, “… There was no way to determine how the weather will materialize.”

However, perhaps it is time to codify how exactly the league will respond to these increasingly common climate events.

Will the league simply wait until the last minute like PRFC and the NASL did, following city/state guidelines? Or will the league err on the side of caution when climate models are seemingly suggesting the possibility of doom, accepting that there will likely be false positives?

Should the USL schedule in extra game days at the end of the season as “make-up days” knowing that the likes of Tampa and Charleston are likely to need them? Should individual teams budget for an extra away travel day each season?

Should the league favor a lopsided schedule where coastal teams play fewer games during hurricane season?

For while the weather is unpredictable, we can confidently predict that this will happen again.

And again.

Edit: An earlier version of the article misidentified the Bahamas as Bermuda. This was corrected on 9/3/19.

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NPSL semifinals bracket | Image credit: NPSL

Four clubs will take the pitch Saturday in the NPSL national semifinals, two of which will punch their tickets to the final. CD Aguiluchos USA visits the Elm City Express in the first semifinal at 7 p.m. ET, while Detroit City FC hosts Midland-Odessa FC in the other with kickoff set for 7:30.

We checked in with our contributors to get their predictions for the semifinals:

Kevin Johnston | managing editor
Picks: Elm City Express and Midland-Odessa FC
Defense will make all the difference at Yale’s Reese Stadium. Elm City only allowed five goals total in the 12-game NPSL Atlantic Blue division season. CD Aguiluchos USA’s less-staunch defense, which conceded 1.75 goals per match, will likely be its undoing. And despite winning the NPSL Golden Gate division, CD Aguiluchos USA finished with a pedestrian +5 goal differential compared to the Express’ impressive +22. Midland-Odessa FC scored twice as many goals as it gave up — 24 to 12 — across the 10-match NPSL Lone Star division slate, earning the club “live dog” status for the semis. Detroit City has been in fine playoff form, but Midland-Odessa appears to have the recipe for grinding out close, low-scoring results after putting away its first four playoff opponents by scores of 3-1, 2-1, 1-0 and 1-0.

Nipun Chopra | staff writer
Picks: Elm City Express and Detroit City FC
I’ll take Detroit City for the home support and good mix of experience and youth. I’ll pick Elm City in the other, though I base this on no concrete knowledge.

Frank Dell’Apa | contributor
Picks: Elm City Express and Detroit City FC
Elm City is in its first season in NPSL, but has veteran players who are used to competing in elimination situations. The Express should be able to capitalize on home field advantage. Impressive home support gives Detroit City an edge. Stats indicate Detroit City has several attacking threats (17 players have scored goals this season), so that can be a sign of a team playing with great confidence.

John Lenard | contributor
Picks: Elm City Express and Detroit City FC
I’ll take Detroit City over Midland-Odessa, but in extra time. Midland/Odessa are a tough team, but City have home field advantage. Final score 3-2. I’ll also take Elm City Express over CD Aguiluchos. Elm City have a strong logo game, while CDA are clipartacular. Also, Elm City is better at soccer this year. Final score 3-1.

Jeff Kuhns | contributor
Picks: Elm City Express and Detroit City FC
I am taking Elm City and Detroit City. Both are home teams, with good runs, and quite honestly, California to Connecticut and Texas to Michigan are long treks for players not used to the distance.

***

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Photo credit: Trevor Ruszkowski/Indy Eleven

INDIANAPOLIS — Multiple sources inform Soc Takes that Indy Eleven will play in the United Soccer League (USL) during the 2018 season.

The decision was finalized this morning (Jan. 5) and is expected to be announced late next week by USL, along with the USL schedule for the 2018 season.

Soc Takes understands that Indy Eleven ownership was locked in negotiations with the city to find an alternate stadium solution to IUPUI’s Carroll stadium, the home of the team since its inception.

Unless unexpected changes occur, Indy Eleven will play its home games at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2018, the home of the Indianapolis Colts.

Soc Takes understands the league will ensure that Indy Eleven’s early fall games do not conflict with Colts’ preseason games which tend to be held on Saturdays.

The club is expected to pay the $25,000 “operational withdrawal” fee for leaving the NASL after the loss of second-division status.

Before the announcement of Indy Eleven as its newest franchise, the USL is expected to announce Memphis as an expansion team on Monday.

The future of the NASL remains in the balance as they await a decision on their appeal.

No change in ownership is expected for the Indy Eleven as they join the USL.

(Note: Contrary to much speculation, Soc Takes understands that Jacksonville Armada will not be joining the USL.)

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