Image credit: BIG EAST

INDIANAPOLIS — Expectations were modest just about everywhere but the Butler training grounds. After all, this team was only picked to finish sixth in the BIG EAST before the season. So much for predictions.

A brace from Paige Monaghan, the second of which was a jaw-dropping golden goal in overtime, paced Butler to a dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Villanova. The result earned Butler the No. 2 seed — and more importantly, a first-round bye — in the conference tournament.

The Bulldogs found themselves down early from an Emily Kuefler tally. The Villanova defender put away a set-piece service from Kristin Barbour to open the scoring in the 21st minute. And before that, the Wildcats flubbed a sitter that could’ve put them up even sooner.

Butler ramped up the attack, but multiple ventures in the box struggled to generate quality chances. Eventually the pressure got to the visitors, and the Bulldogs were awarded a penalty in the 80th minute. Paige Monaghan cooly stepped to the spot and converted in the upper 90 to level matters 1-1.

Here’s a look at the Paige Monaghan goal to tie up the game! pic.twitter.com/6nItzAckLo

— Butler Womens Soccer (@ButlerWSoccer) October 27, 2017

It wasn’t the only time Monaghan went top shelf.

The visiting side almost ended it in regulation, but Bulldogs goalkeeper Leonie Doege stonewalled a point-blank Villanova shot. In fact, the Wildcats found pockets of space inside Butler’s box multiple times throughout. An uncharacteristically lapse-prone Bulldogs defense wasn’t marking as tightly as the unit that’s produced 14 clean sheets this season normally does.

But the 20th-ranked hosts knew what was at stake: a chance for extra rest and an automatic berth into the semifinals.

Just 25 seconds into overtime, Monaghan jumped on a poor Wildcats clearance and arced a left-footed effort from distance up and over the outstretched arms of opposing goalkeeper Emily Harris. Game, set, match. Monaghan’s dagger happened so quickly that it left a gutted Villanova squad in utter disbelief.

GOOOOAL! Monaghan with the game-winner for the Dawgs! pic.twitter.com/0pI3zj5XrF

— Butler Womens Soccer (@ButlerWSoccer) October 27, 2017

Monaghan’s performance was demonstratively worthy of woman of the match, which should come as no surprise at this point. The junior from New Jersey has taken her game to uncharted heights this season on both sides of the ball.

It’s now onto the BIG EAST tournament for the Bulldogs. Next Thursday they’ll face the winner of Sunday’s DePaul vs. Providence first-round matchup.

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.

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Brian Andres Helmick, CEO of San Francisco Deltas, is passionate, humble and aware. Passionate about the beautiful game and the platform for social progress it provides. Humble about what he’s already achieved by bringing professional soccer to the Bay area. Aware of what he’s up against – specifically the challenges of the recent history of the league and seducing a thus far hesitant SF fan base. Throughout our interview, Helmick remained bullish about the team and the league itself. This is part one of a two-part interview with Helmick. 

SF Deltas CEO Brian Helmick. Credit: Twitter

Nipun Chopra – Wanted to start with asking you how the USSF delay has affected sponsorship and player signings for Deltas

Brian Helmick – I think the reality is, as a start-up guy, you can only control what you can control. When things change with market forces, you need to adapt. One of my favorite sayings is, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Would we have liked more time? Sure. But, do we feel like we can’t do anything about it? No. Fortunately, we are in the situation where a strong relationship between myself, the executive team as well as the investors. We are in an accelerated path to have the conversation about “here’s the schedule, this is where we’re going to be and these are the opponent.”

From the player signing perspective, the feedback we got was that they were really impressed with how we were treating them (the players), and the transparency we extended. It also helps to have someone like Marc Dos Santos whose reputation precedes him; he wouldn’t go somewhere he didn’t believe in. We have to be creative. There are challenges to any market, but some are specific to San Francisco. As an entrepreneur, I’m an eternal optimist – I understand things go wrong that are out of our control. 

We had a Deltas family happy hour where we got all the players, technical staff and their families together. We’re releasing this video (Update: This video is now available, and is a must-watch) about not who we are but WHY we are. The name of the video is “Only Together”. The players were like – “Holy crap, I got goosebumps watching it, when can we release it?”

NC – Here’s a question from John at American Pyramid Blog (@APyramid_Blog on twitter): In your recent AMA, you mentioned that you wished you had had more time to set up the team. Ideally, how much time would you have liked to have, and what would have you done with it?

BH – You can always benefit from more time. I believe the right amount of time is 18 months. If you have 24, that’s even better. In our situation, I spent a lot of time dealing with league stuff last year, so that slowed us down. If I had 3 more months, I would spend more time getting to the right people who are the ‘influencers’. They are the supporters and promoters. The fans who know us, adore us. They think we are going about it the right way. Things for our community – making it affordable – a 3rd of our stadium are discounted tickets. Making sure we’re giving back; all the VIP area is going to be done by La Cocina – a nonprofit which helps women become food entrepreneurs. Street cleaning after the game will be done by a nonprofit called “Taking it to the street” which houses and employs homeless youth. Concessions are being sold by homeless youth by a nonprofit called Juno Ventures.

NC – From everything I’m hearing, Deltas haven’t sold as many season tickets as you’d like. What plans do you have in place to help make the team a success from a season ticket/PR perspective?

BH – This is a business where if the public does not embrace this club as their own club, it’s not going to work. I don’t care how much  money you have or how many league championships you’ve won – we’ve seen that in our league. The fan needs to say – ‘I want this club’ – If the fans decide that they’re going to tell their neighbor, the Uber or Lyft driver, the coffee shop person next to them, then this can be successful. I can’t force anyone to come buy a ticket.

I think it’s going to be interesting to see what happens now that the league stuff is behind us. We have a schedule now, we can focus on marketing and other things to spread the word. On March 17th, on the anniversary of when the stadium was approved, we’re going to be doing an event on the steps of City Hall. We’re doing this with one of our nonprofit partners – America Scores – who encourage literacy using soccer. So, we are trying to get out there, but, honestly, at some point, we want fans to say, ‘this is our club, and we want it to be successful by getting our neighbors and colleagues out to the stadium.

“This is a business where if the public does not embrace this club as their own club, it’s not going to work. I don’t care how much  money you have or how many league championships you’ve won – we’ve seen that in our league. “

NC – Back in March 2016, the idea for Kezar Stadium was to spend around $500,000 on infrastructural upgrades. A year later, what’s the status on that?

BH – Great question. We ended up spending about twice as much – just under million dollars. One reason is related to the seats in the stadium – we have capacity for 10, 000 people. The stadium itself was 9000 bleachers and 1000 candlestick park seats. They were 49ers red, now they’re Deltas red. We looked at it and wondered why aren’t there 10,000 seats? We found the company that bought those 1000 seats and they told us that they had around 4000 candlesticks seats.

So that was a moment, where we had budgeted less, but, we felt it was the right thing to do from a perspective of the history of the community. We believe it looks beautiful. Kezar has so much history in it’s own right – I found fliers of national teams like Scotland and Germany playing there, Pele played there, Jesse Owens ran track there, Led Zeppelin concerts, Vietnam protests happened. There’s so much history that we have a certain responsibility to take care of it as well as highlight that history to some in San Francisco that might not know about it.

“Kezar has so much history in it’s own right – I found fliers of national teams like Scotland and Germany playing there, Pele played there, Jesse Owens ran track there, Led Zeppelin concerts, Vietnam protests happened.”

NC – About the 18 or so Investors. How is the partnership broken up? Is it equitable? Or are there some more heavily invested than others?

BH – It’s not even, we don’t spend so much time talking about that. We don’t differentiate how we treat one investor or another. We don’t like the word “owner”, because we believe the fans are the owners. For purposes of the way USSF is set up. This started with my friend Fabio Igel reached out to me and said – “Hey Brian, we should do professional soccer in the US.” My initial reaction was negative because soccer in Colombia and around the world isn’t a very transparent business. And then, when I think of sports in the US, most of these people are sons of billionaires. And, I don’t come from money. So, I just didn’t fit the profile.

Fabio was very insistent and eventually I came around to the idea of working this as an outsider. Coming from transparency, humility, and working bottom-up rather than top-down would be successful in a market like San Francisco. Fabio is very kind, generous and thoughtful and has a level of human sensibility. That’s important to me – it’s why Fabio and I have known the 18-19 investors for over 10 years. So, we’re treating this in a different way than people usually treat investors.

NC – So does Fabio count as the principal owner, as required by USSF?

BH – Yes.

NC – With 18 owners, how are decisions made? Are there veto votes for an even number? Or is it ultimately your decision

BH – Yeah so, this is why knowing people for over 10 years helps. The environment in valley is – you have a group of investors who hire a CEO and say, “Go, I trust you, if you need me, you can talk to me.” For really big decisions you need to consult the board. Such as fundraising or taking bank debt. But, it’s not the way other clubs are run. This is run like a professional business/startup model.

Join us for part two of our interview with Helmick which will be released on Sunday (March 12th). You can follow Nipun on twitter @NipunChopra7.

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Photo credit: FC Cincinnati

CINCINNATI — A potent striker returned to the FC Cincinnati lineup Wednesday night and immediately provided his club a huge boost. If you’re looking for a corny pop culture reference, you could say FC Cincy was “Gettin’ Djiby Wit It.”

With a spot in the next round of the U.S. Open Cup against Columbus Crew SC on the line, FC Cincinnati downed Louisville City FC 1-0 on Djiby Fall’s lone tally in a game that was as skillful as it was physical. And with guys incessantly dropping to the turf all evening, that’s saying a lot about the skill level.

“For me, goals are my job,” Djiby said after the match.

Both clubs featured lineups closely resembling their best XIs, with a few exceptions. Mark-Anthony Kaye, whom was recently called up to the Canada national team, got a rest from the Louisville City starting XI. A few other regulars for both teams were also absent from the starting lineups.

Lou City came out in its usual 4-2-3-1 formation, only with a tactical wrinkle thrown in. Left back Oscar Jimenez essentially played as a left midfielder, often getting up the flank in order to exploit FC Cincy’s thinly spread midfield in a 4-3-3. The move worked for the most part, which forced FC Cincy coach Alan Koch to pay a little extra defensive attention to that side of the pitch.

Jimmy McLaughlin nearly helped the home side strike first halfway through the opening stanza, but his effort from right in front of the goal was deflected by a Lou City defender then saved by goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh. Niall McCabe returned the favor in first-half stoppage time, almost scoring on a low, well-placed shot destined for the side netting, but FC Cincy ‘keeper Mitch Hildebrandt parried it away.

Here are your halftime stats for #CINvLOU in #USOC2017… pic.twitter.com/epu6fHg4pg

— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) May 31, 2017

After the break, FC Cincy quickly opened the scoring in the 48th minute when Djiby buried a rebound on a set piece after Ranjitsingh made a diving stop on the initial shot. Djiby, still amidst a multi-game USL suspension for biting an opponent, was eligible to play since the contest was a non-league match. He turned in a solid performance in his return and was a sporadic threat in and around the box.

Rather than panic and force long balls up field, Lou City used quick one and two-touch passes in the midfield to try to equalize. In the end though, its sharp passing couldn’t produce a goal, and the home side held on for the 1-nil win.

“It’s a Cup game,” said FC Cincy coach Alan Koch. “We’re playing at home. We’re obviously playing a local rival. They went all in too.”

The postgame handshake between the Koch and Lou City coach James O’Connor wasn’t exactly an exchange of pleasantries. Here it is courtesy of Twitter user @UCBearcats:

Fireworks 💥 tonight from start to….finish #FCCincy pic.twitter.com/whrlvHui6L

— UCBearcats (@UCBearcats) June 1, 2017

FC Cincinnati now gets to host another U.S. Open Cup match at Nippert Stadium with Crew SC coming to town on June 14.

“It’s exciting for us as a club and as a city to get to host Columbus Crew next round,” Koch added.

With the win, #FCCincy advance to the @opencup fourth round and earn the right to host our first Ohio Derby with @ColumbusCrewSC on 6/14! pic.twitter.com/omGi4gmX46

— FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) June 1, 2017

You can follow Kevin on Twitter @KJboxing.

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Bahrain made it back-to-back titles on the men’s side. Photo credit: Kevin Johnston/Soc Takes

INDIANAPOLIS — After three days of intense futsal action in the heart of the Circle City, the Bahrain men’s team and Chile women’s squad emerged victorious in the Mayor’s International Futsal Cup.

Bahrain took down Mexico in the men’s final, while Chile edged Mexico to win the women’s title.

In the men’s semifinals, Mexico topped Iran and Bahrain defeated Honduras to set up a date in the final.

Mexico finished second on the men’s side. Photo credit: Kevin Johnston/SocTakes

Mexico got past Serbia and Chile beat Puerto Rico in the two women’s semifinals.

Congratulations to Bahrain and Chile, winners of the 2017 Mayor’s International Futsal Cup, and to the Mexico men’s and women’s teams for their runner-up finishes.

For the full list of tournament results, click here.

***

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*crosses fingers*

2017 record: 3-6
Profit/loss: -173.39

Ouch. After a rough opening weekend, I’m back with a few more losers winners this week. Hey, if every degenerate quit after one bad weekend, the sports books wouldn’t get much action. #SocTakesLogic

Here are my plays for Week 2:

Chicago Fire/Real Salt Lake Draw +265
Risk 37.74 to win 100
I like both of these clubs to be among the most improved in MLS this season. How about a strong and gutsy showing from both Saturday in a hard-earned point for each? At +265 the draw has some real value in this match.

Philadelphia Union Pick ‘Em +105
Risk 50 to win 52.50
The Union simply have a solid roster from top to bottom, with talents like Roland Alberg not even able to crack the starting XI every week. Andre Blake is also one of the best young goalkeepers in the league. Toronto is an excellent club, obviously, but they tend to be a bit of a public darling with the bookmakers due to their star power. You can often find some value fading them on the road. Take the home side on the pick ’em line, but not on the three-way moneyline.

Montreal Impact Pick ‘Em -135
Risk 67.50 to win 50
It’s somewhat nerve-wracking to predict Seattle to start the season 0-2, but Montreal is a tough place to play already, then you toss in the the whole travel distance and timezone factor and it seems like the Impact should be favored to win a little more than they are. Much better days lie ahead for Seattle, but there’s a distinct possibility they begin their 2017 campaign with zero points across two matches.

Houston Dynamo/Columbus Crew Draw +240
Risk 41.67 to win 100
Houston turned some heads last weekend by taking it to the defending-champion Sounders at home, but I’m not ready to outright buy stock in this team just yet. Crew SC’s attack is potent enough to produce one or two road goals, so I think the draw is the play here at a solid price of +240 with hopes of a 1-1 or 2-2 scoreline.

San Jose Earthquakes ML (3-way) -115
Risk 57.50 to win 50
There isn’t much to this play other than the fact that I don’t foresee Vancouver Whitecaps FC winning too many road games this year. Their final roster and starting XI were a giant question mark up until the latter parts of the preseason when they signed Freddy Montero, but that stellar signing didn’t mask all their deficiencies. San Jose tends to to grind out low-scoring results at home, so look for a 1-0 or 2-0 Quakes win in this one.

Notes:

• Sometimes I play my draws to win 100, sometimes to win 50 — it’ll always be clearly indicated.
• All lines cited are based on the current odds at Bovada.lv at the time of posting.

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The NASL Spring season in now officially in progress. Eight teams play in this seventh edition of the second-division competition. There are 34 matches with opportunities to take points in the standings, but what the standings can’t show is the value of individual matchups.

That’s where the power rankings come in. With so few teams participating this year, head-to-head results will provide an unparalleled view when determining the best of the best.

These are the first power rankings of the season — pretend that we had done them after Week 1. I have attempted to eliminate any bias from bye weeks but that is impossible. Teams with only one match under their belts have only been mildly penalized in the early going.

Power Rankings

1. Miami FC

This one is easy. After two matches, the South Beachers have the best record. That is not why they sit in first place on this list of power rankings. Miami FC is dangerous in the attack and they blanked the “returning” champs in thrilling 3-0 fashion. I have a feeling Miami will flirt with the top section of these rankings throughout the season. Nabbing points on the road and domination at home will earn respect in the NASL. That’s hardly a hot take.

2. Puerto Rico FC

Sleeper pick, but PRFC is most improved. They have made moves in the offseason, they have come out swinging and they have taken a point from each of their first two contests. Those matches happen to be against the Indy Eleven and the unfortunate New York Cosmos. Last year, Las Naranjas were the worst in the NASL. This year, they are already ahead of the curve, in form and expect results.

3. Jacksonville Armada FC

With a win in their home opener, one might be surprised to find NASL FC behind a winless team. I will use them as an example of how some of these rankings work. Their 1-0 victory is good for second in the standings, but the Eddies had a long way to Florida and they aren’t known for scoring bunches on the road anyway. Breaking down a road team with the emotional boost from a new home field isn’t worth as much as holding your own against Indy or NYC. They have been slightly penalized for having only one result against a mediocre team. Good three points to start though.

4. Indy Eleven

Indy have two draws and are ahead of PRFC with a tiebreaker in the league standings. There is no safety in these rankings. The boys in blue squandered a 2-0 lead at home and were lucky to salvage after giving up three unanswered goals. This season will be filled with interesting scheduling quirks. The Eleven have a chance to return the favor next week in Puerto Rico. They might be up and down in the rankings this year.

5. San Francisco Deltas

Welcome the league! The Triangles were happy with the point, but we haven’t seen enough to move them any higher up the power rankings. Both NCFC and SF Deltas are sitting on home draws. What moves them ahead? Simple. Being an expansion team is tough. They are not expected to do well and the entire organization is brand new.  Carolina has been around since the beginning. Producing similar results to a well established team has a higher weighted score.

6. North Carolina FC

The Railhawks (change is hard) have played once. It was a draw at home to the current league leaders. That makes it difficult to judge just where they fit into the scheme. Carolina started off red hot last year and look what that got them. Maybe leaving something in the tank for back stretch is part of the plan for 2017. A lot of the attack is back so I don’t really think they belong this far down the list, but they will need more opportunities to impress.

7. FC Edmonton

They just don’t score enough. The defense will keep them in it, but I think a lot of teams have upgraded on the other side of the ball. With invigorated fan support at home, I expect Edmonton to be one of the toughest places to play in the NASL. That might get them out of the bottom 4 in the power rankings, but only just.

8. New York Cosmos of Brooklyn

HA HA! ZERO goals in 180 minutes. This is not the same team from November. Last year’s most proficient offensive team has failed to score both home and away. Cosmos 3.0 are clearly not the same team. Gio Savarese is still around and that is why I expected them to be in the top three, but I was wrong about that. Miami’s ranking was a piece of cake. This one is easier. Get in the basement, NYC of B.

Final thoughts: I am looking forward to a closely contested season. My hope is that the frequency of familiar matchups will spur an unprecedented level of competition. Rivalries will form. Fear will lead to anger, etc. This has the potential of being the most interesting American league. I am really hoping for a “playoff hockey” level of excitement and I don’t even watch hockey. 

Teams will flip-flop and I will make every effort to note the shift in momentum, but these power rankings are just for fun. Feel free to let me know how I am doing and if you have any suggestions for updates. I will promptly disregard them, but this is America and I want you to feel free.

You can follow Soc Takes and Aaron on Twitter @SocTakes and @AGunyon.

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U.S. Soccer presidential candidate and UPSL Northeast Conference manager Paul Lapointe shares his wide array of ideas to improve the sport across all levels domestically.

The panel covers everything from pay to play, pro/rel and equal pay for the USWNT, to making the position of U.S. Soccer president a full-time gig.

LISTEN HERE

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Join us tonight for our FC Edmonton vs. Indy Eleven live blog. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. ET and we’ll go live at 8:45 to share some pre-match thoughts. Join the conversation below:

Live Blog Live blog: FC Edmonton vs. Indy Eleven

You can follow Soc Takes on Twitter @SocTakes.

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• Indiana Futsal director Justin Becht joins host Kevin Johnston for a discussion on the latest happenings at Indiana Soccer, coaching, his trips to Cuba to build futsal courts, Fulham,…
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In their press release, NPSL’s Lansing United confirmed that they will be playing in the PDL next season, thereby becoming the first team to swap between the two leagues for next year. Lansing United President/CEO Jeremy Sampson said in the release:

“We are honored to be joining the PDL for the 2018 season. Joining the PDL is a positive step for Lansing United as we continue to evolve as a club now entering our fifth season. The opportunities for growth as a club and for our players as they aspire to play professionally are really exciting.”

Soc Takes emailed Sampson some questions and was given the following responses:

NC – Why is Lansing United making the switch from NPSL to PDL?

JS – We are really excited to be a member of the PDL and are looking forward to competing against some very good amateur clubs in the Central Conference. There are a few reasons that we have decide to join the PDL. The opportunities for our club to grow and evolve are important.  The rosters of the NPSL have changed over the last 4 years with less and less college players being used.

Mid-Michigan does not have many players ages 22-27 living and working in our area that we can tap into. Our roster composition has always looked more like a PDL roster. This move will also give our players additional exposure to the professional game which we believe is important.

NC – Will you retain the name of Lansing United while in the PDL?

JS – Yes, we will still be called Lansing United.

NC – Recently, NPSL filed a letter of complaint to USSF about what it believed to be were approaches made by USL-PDL towards its teams. Were you approached by USL-PDL in a similar way? If yes, explain. If no, what are your thoughts on the letter of complaint?

JS – No we were not. We reached out to the PDL to discuss expansion opportunities. I can only speak to our situation in which we were never contacted by the PDL or asked by the PDL to leave the NPSL

NC – How did the logistics of your decision to join PDL come about? Are you paying the same entry fee to join PDL as any other team? Or was the entry fee lowered to facilitate the move from NPSL?

JS – After every season, we evaluate our situation and we did so after the 2017 season. I contacted the PDL to discuss expansion opportunities. We submitted and application and we were approved. We do not discuss the financial arrangements between our club and the leagues that we are associated with.

NC – Is your decision to join PDL linked to your purported interest in USL-D3?

JS – Very much so. We have stated that we are very interested in making the move from an amateur club to a professional club. The USL-D3 made a site visit to Lansing earlier this year and they are very excited about this region. I am working each day toward developing a strong ownership group here in Lansing and I am optimistic that we can bring professional soccer to Lansing.

NC – There have been reports about organizational issues within NPSL – as indicated by player availability for the NPSL final. Is your decision to leave NPSL linked to any of those logistical or organizational issues?

JS – I have really enjoyed our four years in the NPSL. It was an excellent place for us to begin as a franchise. No league is perfect in the way that things are handled on a daily basis and if you ask those who run the league if there are improvements in certain areas, I’m sure they will say that the answer to that is yes.

I have watched the NPSL grow and develop over the past 4 years and I want to thank (NPSL commissioner) Joe Barone, (NPSL managing director) Jef Thiffault and the staff at the NPSL for all of their work and wish them all the best in the future.

NC – You are leaving the Great Lakes division of the NPSL – where you had five other Michigan teams and ready-made rivalries – for the PDL, where there is only one other Michigan team. Are you worried about the increased travel costs and drop in rivalries (which in turn, may result in lower gate revenues)?

JS – What we built in Michigan in the NPSL is something special, like nothing else that is happening anywhere else in the country and we are very proud of that and those owners are all friends of mine and will continue to stay that way. We are truly business partners off the field while competing on it for 90 minutes twice a season.

Our hope is that those rivalries will continue even if they are not considered “league” games.  We looked at the increased travel costs in considering the move to the PDL and have factored that into our budget for the 2018 season. Having competing clubs within a close proximity does not always equal a huge bump in gate revenues. 90-95% of our gate revenue comes from Lansing United fans.

I’m not sure that our numbers bear out that fans attend our games because we are playing a rival.  Our data suggests that fans come to our games in larger numbers to see league games.

———–x————

Soc Takes reached out to NPSL chairman Joe Barone for his comment on Lansing United’s exit from the league. Barone said – 

NPSL chairman Joe Barone. Credit: NPSL

“It’s tough to understand. I spoke to Lansing United’s chairman today (October 11th) morning. They play in a conference which is well followed on both social media and in attendance, which is tough to replicate.

Which leads me to believe that the undercurrent of the cold-calling of the PDL may have contributed. Here’s someone who said he (Jeremy Sampson) didn’t have the money to play in D3. Was he poached? Was he enticed financially to move? We don’t know. We plan on finding out, but we don’t know.

But, am I disappointed about his decision? Of course. Am I surprised? One hundred percent.

This further shows how US Soccer is so disinterested in the lower divisions that they are allowing the USL-PDL to cherry pick the NPSL. The lack of leadership from the US Soccer federation is absolutely unexceptionable.”

SocTakes also reached out to NPSL managing director Jef Thiffault for his reaction to the Lansing news. Thiffault said – 

“I think it’s like when any of our members leave, we take them at their word that they are in a better situation and we wish them luck.”

When asked, Sampson, Thiffault and Barone all said they don’t know of any other teams planning on leaving the NPSL for PDL.

———–x————

Soc Takes reached out to USL-PDL and was given the following responses on behalf of PDL director Todd Eason:

1. Your reaction to Lansing United joining the league?

TE – We are excited to have Lansing United compete in the PDL in 2018. They greatly strengthen our profile in the Great Lakes area, and provide another high-performing ownership group and developmental pathway for players in Michigan.

2. Did USL-PDL approach Lansing or vice-versa?

TE – The PDL was approached by Lansing United.

3. Did Lansing pay the same entry fee as any other team joining the league?

TE – We cannot disclose the terms of the agreement.

———–x————

Follow Nipun on Twitter: @NipunChopra7.

Support Soc Takes on Patreon for access to patron-only Soc Takes Pod episodes, exclusive written content and tier rewards. Click here to become a patron today.

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Photo credit: Uwe Welz/FC Edmonton

INDIANAPOLIS — After mustering a measly 13 points in 16 NASL spring matches, FC Edmonton desperately needed a kick-start.

A not-so-unlikely source provided one in the fall opener, though it wasn’t enough to avoid disappointment once again in the form of a 2-1 home loss to the Indy Eleven. The same bloke lifted the Eddies up on his shoulders the following week, this time resulting an impressive 3-1 away victory in a rematch with Indy.

That bloke was midfielder Ben Fisk, whose recent exceptional play has surely put himself back on the Canada national team radar. And if FC Edmonton plans to right the ship and contend for the NASL fall title or a playoff spot, it’s going to start and end with his keen ability to create chances. Fisk is tied for the NASL lead with 32 chances created. He about drove Eleven coach Tim Hankinson to the brink of insanity during the two clubs’ home-and-home series.

“Fisk, two weeks in a row, has been having his way on our right side,” said a disgruntled Hankinson following Edmonton’s win.

The lone Eddies goal in the first game was set up by a lovely left-footed chipped service that was out of the reach of Indy goalkeeper Jon Busch, but well within range for two Edmonton attackers to make a play on the ball in the air at the far post. Tomi Ameobi got on the end of it to tie the game 1-1. Here’s Fisk’s dime via the FC Edmonton Twitter account:

Starting to connect the dots like…

👟⚽🤨🥅 pic.twitter.com/P3IdlwHtw6

— FC Edmonton (@FCEdmontonNow) August 1, 2017

In Edmonton’s win the following week, the 24-year-old again delivered an assist. The helper was his third in the last four matches. Check it out courtesy of the NASL’s Twitter account:

.@albertw5 gives @FCEdmontonNow a two-goal lead after connecting with @benfisk‘s corner kick. #INDvFCE pic.twitter.com/G0ShwOrk7n

— NASL (@naslofficial) August 6, 2017

Fisk has earned two career caps for Canada so far, both in 2017. He debuted in Canada’s 4-2 win against Bermuda in January before appearing again in March in a 1-1 draw with Scotland.

Octavio Zambrano | Photo credit: Canada Soccer

Given his form and playmaking ability, CanMNT head coach Octavio Zambrano might soon be blowing up his young prodigy’s phone for a return to the squad. Fisk was optimistic about getting another call-up soon.

“I hope so,” Fisk said. “It’s always an honor to represent your country. I’ve been able to do it twice at the senior level.

“I’m just focused on my games here and if I’m playing well I think more calls will come, for sure.”

His next chance to do so will be for Canada’s home friendly against Jamaica in Toronto on Sept. 2.

The Eddies, meanwhile, will host the New York Cosmos on Saturday as they attempt to cultivate a winning streak. With their dynamic young midfielder constantly threatening up the left side, FC Edmonton could very well be one of the NASL’s biggest surprises of the fall season.

***

You can follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.

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