~Soccer Thread~

[Brutus Buckeye]

On the bright side, not as bad as DC. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Heading into May...






So Seattle is 12/14 in the MLS West, and 26/28 overall. Yet since they tied the first leg of the Champions League Final on the road, they get to host a game with a Continental Championship on the line. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Concacaf Champions League

Seattle smoked 'em 3-0. First MLS team to qualify for the club world cup. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

US Open Cup 

Round of 32 gets underway on Tue and Wed, May 10-11. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_U.S._Open_Cup#Round_of_32

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Canadian Voyageurs Cup 

The US Open Cup's little brother gets underway also on Tue and Wed, May 10-11. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Canadian_Championship#Bracket

The only MLS team playing in the opening round is the Vancouver Whitecaps, who are dead last in the MLS. They get Valour, a CPL team out of Winnipeg MB. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Canadian Voyageurs Cup

The US Open Cup's little brother gets underway also on Tue and Wed, May 10-11.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Canadian_Championship#Bracket

The only MLS team playing in the opening round is the Vancouver Whitecaps, who are dead last in the MLS. They get Valour, a CPL team out of Winnipeg MB.

The Vancouver Whitecaps prevailed over Winnipeg Valour. They will get the Calgary Cavalry in the quarterfinals, who defeated Edmonton in the Battle of Alberta.

The two amateur clubs were soundly eliminated by the Halifax Wanderers and Hamilton Forge. They will play Toronto and Montreal in the quarterfinals, respectively.

Montreal has the top seed as the defending champion, but their draw is rather brutal. They get Forge right out of the gate, in a match between Canada's two champions league participants. Then presumably Toronto in the semifinals, who is their primary adversary in this tournament as the two teams have combined for 18 of the 19 Voyageurs Cups that have been awarded to date. The Final, should they make it, would be their easiest draw against whoever emerges from the West.

Pacific will host York in the lone quarterfinal match up that doesn't feature an MLS team.

The Quarterfinals will be May 24-26.

[Brutus Buckeye]

US Open Cup

Round of 32 gets underway on Tue and Wed, May 10-11.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_U.S._Open_Cup#Round_of_32

.

There were no sub-MLS upsets of MLS teams this round, but a trio of sub-MLS teams will advance to the Sweet 16 by having not had to play an MLS team this round. Louisville beat Detroit Rock City on penalty kicks. Sacramento Republic defeated Phoenix Rising. Union Omaha got the best of Northern Colorado.

Biggest MLS vs MLS upset was probably Orlando taking down Philly, who sits alone atop the MLS East standings.

Nashville had a huge comeback win vs Atlanta in the lone MLS East vs West match up.

Minnesota vs Colorado had a weather delay, and the match will resume Thursday tied 1-1.

Seattle just won Champions League, but they are also tied with Vancouver for dead last in the MLS with 7 "points." So which team showed up to the US Open Cup? The lost to lowly San Jose on Penalty Kicks. 

California is sitting pretty, with four of their eight teams still alive, including all three MLS clubs. Texas on the other hand has had a brutal showing. They started with 16 clubs, which not only led the nation but it was double the number of the second place state. They are down to just Houston, who beat San Antonio, who beat Austin. Dallas just lost to Sporting KC. 

The Sweet 16 will be May 24-25. The MLS playoffs have 14 teams, with 7 from the East and 7 from the West. So the next round is similarly situated, with 7 teams from the West, 6 from the East, and 3 sub-MLS teams sprinkled in; 2 USL and 1 USL1 (Omaha).

[Brutus Buckeye]

Caribbean Cup 

In the meantime you have the major Caribbean Club tournament with the group stage this weekend and the semifinals next week. The three countries with Tier 1 leagues, Jamaica, Haiti and the DR each submit 2 clubs to this thing, a champion and a runner up. The three champions will be grouped together in "Group A" while the three runners up will be grouped together in "Group B." The top two teams from each "Group" will advance to the semifinals. 

The four teams that make the semifinals will each be guaranteed at least one more game on the international circuit beyond this tournament. 

• The Caribbean Cup champion will qualify directly to champions league. 
• The Caribbean Zone also gets three bids to the Concacaf League qualification tournament with the Central American teams. 

• The runner up gets the first and most favorable Concacaf League bid as it includes a first round bye, which means they only have to win one game to have a pretty good shot at a champions league bid, or two games to clinch it. 
• The winner of the consolation game gets the second Caribbean bid to the Concacaf League qualification tournament. No first round bye. 
• The loser of the Consolation game will play a one game playoff against the Caribbean Shield winner, which was Bayamon out of Puerto Rico, and the winner of that game will get the third and final Caribbean bid to the Concacaf League qualifying tournament. Also no first round bye. 

[TyphonInc]

Nashville had a huge comeback win vs Atlanta in the lone MLS East vs West match up.

This game was off the charts. Ridiculous weak penalties called, and ridiculous goals called back for imaginary off sides.  

[Brutus Buckeye]

US Open Cup 

The Sweet 16 match ups are set. 

The three USL teams all have to play MLS teams. So they aren't going to shoehorn one of them into the quarterfinals by putting them up against each other, they have to earn it. Union Omaha draws Minnesota United. Louisville locks horns with Nashville. Sacramento Republic plays the San Jose Earthquakes. 

The two Los Angeles MLS teams will play one another, as will the two Florida teams. The NYC teams are still one round away from playing one another; NYC gets New England, and Red Bull NY gets Charlotte. Sporting KC gets a chance to finish off the state of Texas, playing Houston this time around. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_U.S._Open_Cup#Round_of_16_and_Quarterfinals

[Brutus Buckeye]

Caribbean Cup

In the meantime you have the major Caribbean Club tournament with the group stage this weekend and the semifinals next week. The three countries with Tier 1 leagues, Jamaica, Haiti and the DR each submit 2 clubs to this thing, a champion and a runner up. The three champions will be grouped together in "Group A" while the three runners up will be grouped together in "Group B." The top two teams from each "Group" will advance to the semifinals.

The four teams that make the semifinals will each be guaranteed at least one more game on the international circuit beyond this tournament.

• The Caribbean Cup champion will qualify directly to champions league.
• The Caribbean Zone also gets three bids to the Concacaf League qualification tournament with the Central American teams.

• The runner up gets the first and most favorable Concacaf League bid as it includes a first round bye, which means they only have to win one game to have a pretty good shot at a champions league bid, or two games to clinch it.
• The winner of the consolation game gets the second Caribbean bid to the Concacaf League qualification tournament. No first round bye.
• The loser of the Consolation game will play a one game playoff against the Caribbean Shield winner, which was Bayamon out of Puerto Rico, and the winner of that game will get the third and final Caribbean bid to the Concacaf League qualifying tournament. Also no first round bye.

The group stage concluded this evening. Dominican Republic got both teams in as the host. They have to play each other in the semifinals though, so an all DR Final is off of the table. 

Jamaica had their champion eliminated, and Haiti got their runner up eliminated. 

The Jamaican team that's still alive is Waterhouse. 

The Semifinals are on Thur May 19. 

The Final and the Consolation game will be on Sun May 22. 

The single game playoff pitting the Consolation game loser against Bayamon PR will be on Wed May 25. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Caribbean Final  

The Final will be Cibao (DR "Champion") vs Pantoja (Haitian "Runner Up") on Sunday, with a Champions League bid on the line.

The Consolation game will be Waterhouse (Jamaican "Runner Up") vs Vega Real (DR "Runner Up") also on Sunday

Bayamon (Puerto Rico "Champion") will play the loser of the Consolation game on Wednesday for the third and final Concacaf League spot. 

[Brutus Buckeye]

Caribbean Cup 

Violette (Haitian) defeated Cibao (DR) on penalty kicks in the Final. So Violette gets the Champions League bid, and Cibao gets the favorable Concacaf League bid with the first round bye. 

In the Consolation Game Vega Real (DR) defeated Waterhouse (Jamaica) on penalty kicks. So Vega Real gets the second of three Caribbean bids to the Concacaf League tournament. 

The third and final Caribbean bid to the Concacaf League tournament will be determined by a game on Wed May 25 between Waterhouse (Jamaica) and Bayamon (Puerto Rico). So you can choose between a team from a country that is technically a US territory (but doesn't count as a US team), or a team from a country that technically speaks English. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Caribbean_Club_Championship#CONCACAF_League_playoff

US Open Cup 

Wednesday May 25 will be a busy day, as all 8 Sweet Sixteen matches are scheduled to take place on that day as well. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_U.S._Open_Cup#Round_of_16_and_Quarterfinals


Canadian Voyageurs Cup

If that weren't enough you have the Canadian Quarterfinals on top of all that, with two games on Tues May 24 and the other two games on, you guessed it, Wed May 25. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Canadian_Championship#Quarter-finals

After Wed May 25 things slow to a snails pace in the US Open Cup and the Canadian Voyageurs Cup. After a month off, you have the Canadian Semifinals and the US Open Quarterfinals simultaneously in late June. Then another month off before the Canadian Final and the US Open Semifinals simultaneously in late July. Then the US Open Cup won't be decided for another month and a half after that, with the Final in early September. Somewhere in there should be the Concacaf League Tournament as well, with the Central American, Caribbean and CPL teams, but the dates are still TBD. (Fwiw it was in July last year, iirc) 

[Brutus Buckeye]

US Open Cup

The USL held their own, advancing two of their three teams to the quarterfinals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_U.S._Open_Cup#Quarterfinal_Matches

Southeast

Orlando beat Miami for the Floridian title. They will get Nashville, who defeated Louisville from the USL.

Northeast

NYC beat New England, and Redbull NY beat Charlotte. So the Northeast quarterfinal will double as a NYC championship (even though RBNY is technically in NJ; hence the original moniker of the NY/NJ Metro Stars).

Central

Omaha Union of USL1 took down the Minnesota United; adding a second MLS scalp to their mantle to go along with the Cicago Fire. They can crown themselves kings of the Midwest if they can get past their quarterfinal match up with Sporting KC, who defeated Houston.

West

LA Galaxy won their city championship vs LA. It was on the other side where the San Jose Earthquakes were defeated by Sacramento of the USL. So Sacramento will play the LA Galaxy for a state title in the quarterfinal round.

So the quarterfinal breakdown is

• MLS West: LA Galaxy, Nashville, Sporting KC
• MLS East: Orlando, NYC and Redbull NY
• USL: Sacramento Republic
• USL1: Omaha Union

The quarterfinals will be in late June.

Canadian Voyageurs Cup

The 3 MLS teams held serve in the quarterfinal round, and advance to the semifinals. York United was the CPL team that emerged as semifinalist #4, knocking off CPL Champion Pacific on the road in the quarterfinal round.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Canadian_Championship#Semi-finals

So it will be

• Toronto vs Montreal
• Vancouver Whitecaps vs York United

The semifinals will be in late June.

Concacaf League

Bayamon got their behinds kicked by Waterhouse in the one game playoff between the Carribean Shield Champion and the 4th place Carribean Cup team. So Jamaica is still alive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_CONCACAF_League#Teams

The field is mostly set with all the participants identified except for one Costa Rican team still yet TBD (probably Saprissa, but I'm just guessing).

The dates have been announced as well, as July - November, with one round per month. The quarterfinal round is in September, and that's the most important round as it determines the 6 Champions League bids. After that the tournament is fairly unimportant; mostly just jostling for who gets to be cannon fodder for the MLS instead of Liga MX.

[Brutus Buckeye]