Any chance for a Texas team to finish in the top two of the Mid-South Division and advance to the PDL playoffs ended Saturday night when Brazos Valley lost to Mississippi Brilla. Despite the turnover in PDL rosters each year, the out-of-state returning teams, appeared to have a distinct advantage on the first year Texas sides and both qualified for the playoffs. OKC Energy and Brilla together lost only one match against a Texas team this year, when Brilla fell to FC Cleburne 2-0 back in early June.

The race to determine the best first year Texas team is still on.  The Cavalry are 3 points ahead of Texas United, but United has a game in hand.  Brazos Valley returns to the scene of the July 4 shootout in Cleburne this Saturday, where the two teams combined for 9 goals in a 5-4 Cleburne win.  Texas United has two games remaining, but a tough road to hoe, as they play against Brilla away and are home to OKC Energy U23.

PDL News:

Brazos Valley played their first international friendly this week against FC Monterrey Rayados U20’s and came out a 2-1 winner.  Here is a link to the game story on the Cavalry website.

http://www.bvcavalryfc.com/news/?article_id=26

Week 10 Game Results:

Tuesday, July 4

FC Cleburne-5   Brazos Valley Cavalry-4

A true Fourth of July fireworks display rolled out at The Depot in Cleburne on Tuesday. Behind a Anthony Powell 33rd minute goal, FC Cleburne went into halftime with a quiet 1-0 lead.  The second half was a completely different story…..8 goals later, Cleburne came out on top of a 5-4 victory over Brazos Valley.  Powell scored two more goals, including the eventual game winner, to complete his hat trick and run his season total to 5 goals. Additional goals by Julian Sanchez and Stefan Lukic completed the FC Cleburne bonanza. Wrapped around these goals were the four scored by the Cavalry that certainly kept the game interesting.  Two by Aneikan William, the seemingly weekly goal by Elochukwu Ozumba (his 8th in 7 games) and Christian Molina were just short of what was needed to get a result to aid in the chase for the playoffs.  The Cavalry will rue missed opportunites as it was unable to capitalize on a 16-10 shots advantage and 13 corner kicks.

FC Cleburne hat-trick scorer Anthony Powell:  (FC Cleburne Twitter)

Thursday, July 6

Houston FC-1    Mississippi Brilla-2

An 86th minute goal by Mississippi Brilla’s Carlos Garces overcame a valiant Houston FC effort to score a comeback win 2-1 Thursday evening in Houston.  Garces also assisted on the first goal scored by defender Jordan Skelton.  The Houston FC goal was scored by UT Tyler midfielder Erik Sanchez in the 21st minute.  According to the USLPDL website, Houston goalkeeper Patrick Michael Hillyard was extraordinarily busy, making 13 saves.

Pregame photo from Holloway Field at Rice University with the Texas Medical Center as a backdrop:  (Houston FC website)

Saturday, July 8

Houston FC-1    Texas United-5

Two goals each, in the first ten minutes of the first half by Patricio Botello (from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio) and in a five minute span late in the second half by Nenad Markovic, led Texas United to a blowout victory at Strake Jesuit High School, Houston FC’s second home, in Houston. Giovanni MontesDeoca chipped in with the other goal on a long range shot for United midway through the first half.  Joshua Bronstorph scored the only goal on the night from Houston.  The start of the game, the final home game of Houston FC’s inaugural season, was delayed by lightning, which forced players off the field during warmups.

Brazos Valley Cavalry-0    Mississippi Brilla-1

Any hope Brazos Valley had of making the PDL playoffs in its first season came to an end when they dropped a 1-0 decision to Mississippi Brilla, who are currently on an 8 game unbeaten run, in Bryan Saturday night.  Thomas Vancaeyezeele second goal of the season in the 71st minute was all Brilla needed to clinch their playoff spot.  The Cavalry, shorthanded due to injuries and players returning to college, played a number of kids from the U16 Houston Dynamo Academy team last night.  In an interview with Glenn Davis a few weeks ago, Dynamo GM Matt Jordan mentioned that one of the main purposes of the PDL side was to give minutes to young Academy players who have demonstrated the ability to play at that level.

In the game summary by Richard Croome in the Bryan Eagle, Cavalry head coach discussed the reality of needing to beat the teams ahead of them in the standings to get into the playoffs:

“The biggest disappointment for me is we lost to these guys three times,” Cavalry coach James Clarkson said. “We can’t complain, the two teams above us we haven’t taken a point off of them. That is really disappointing because we are much better than that, so [we need to move] onward and keep fighting.” 

The link to the game story in the Bryan Eagle is below:

http://www.theeagle.com/brazos_sports/bv-cavalry-fc-eliminated-from-playoff-picture-with–/article_d0a9e386-6464-11e7-9d89-bbc4fd1a07e5.html

Sunday, July 9

OKC Energy U23-6    FC Cleburne-0

OKC Energy U23 is very good to say the least.  The Energy are one game away (vs. Texas United this weekend) from sweeping all 11 regular season games it will play against Texas teams this year.  Sunday night, Julio Moncada, number 13 on the PDL Top 50 Prospects list, scored a hat trick and assisted on a fourth goal to lead OKC to a 6-0 blowout of FC Cleburne in Edmond, Oklahoma.  Moncada, a Honduran who attends UNC Wilmington, now has scored 11 goals, two behind the league leader.  FC Cleburne goalkeeper Casey Tilley had his work cut out for him as Cleburne was outshot 21-7 on the afternoon.

Julio Moncada (OKC Energy U23 Twitter)

The game story from the Energy website can be found in the link below:

http://www.energyfc.com/news_article/show/811750?referrer_id=2614758

STANDINGS:

Southern Conference/Mid-South Division:

 

Week 11 Game Schedule: (Home Team Listed First)

Wednesday, July 12

Mississippi Brilla vs. Texas United

Thursday, July 13

FC Cleburne vs. Houston FC

Saturday, July 15

FC Cleburne vs. Brazos Valley Cavalry

Texas United vs. OKC Energy U23

END OF REGULAR SEASON

 

PDL logo courtesy of ChrisCreamer’sSportsLogos.Net

http://www.sportslogos.net/index.php

With two victories last week, Brazos Valley Cavalry, now unbeaten in its last four matches, has firmly put itself back into the PDL playoff discussions.  The top two sides from the Mid-South Division will qualify for the 2017 playoffs that will start later this month. OKC Energy, who qualified last week, officially clinched its second consecutive division championship after defeating Texas United Saturday and second place Mississippi Brilla gave up a late goal and only tied its weekend match.

The Cavalry controls its own destiny in the playoff race.  Since it is only two points behind second place Mississippi, and because one of its remaining games is at home against Brilla, winning out will allow the Cavalry to advance to the first round of the playoffs, regardless of Brilla’s results.  FC Cleburne has a chance to be a spoiler as two of the Cavalry’s remaining matches will be played at The Depot in Cleburne.

Texas United remains mathematically alive for the playoffs, but after the loss against OKC Energy this past weekend, United would need to win out and be the beneficiary of a monumental collapse by the two higher teams above them in the standings.

Week 9 Game Results:

Wednesday, June 28

Brazos Valley Cavalry-4   FC Cleburne-1

After falling behind in the first half and facing strong pressure from the Brazos Valley’s attack, FC Cleburne’s  Kwabena Sapon-Amoah capitalized on a Cavalry mistake and tied up the match 1-1 when he scored his 3rd goal of the season in the 85th minute.  The Cavalry, who apparently took this goal personally, scored in the next minute and then twice more shortly after to eventually win 4-1 in Bryan.  Matt Dorsey, Elochukwu Ozumba, and substitute Christian Molina each scored in this flurry, and Molina and Ozumba had an assist each on the first two of these three late goals.  Robert Hernandez had opened the scoring with his second of the season for Brazos Valley in the 34th minute.  The Cavalry dominated the attacking statistics with a 19-9 shot on goal advantage and 13 corner kicks.  FC Cleburne goalkeeper Joshua Nieto was kept busy and made an impressive 12 saves, something a GK would prefer not to be necessary.

In the game story by the Bryan Eagle’s Richard Croome, Cavalry head coach and Houston Dynamo Academy Director James Clarkson discussed how uncomfortable the one goal lead became late in the match, but also how happy the team was with the result:

“It was good to score four goals at home, so that is 11 goals in the last three games and we are happy about that,” Clarkson said. “We should have taken care of it a lot earlier than the last 3 minutes, but it was a good response from giving the goal away to come back and finish the game strongly.” 

Here is a link to the game story on BrazosSports.com:

http://www.theeagle.com/brazos_sports/soccer/cavalry-fc-rides-past-cleburne/article_6fe09234-2d25-56a9-8142-b9ac0f700b69.html                             

Thursday, June 29

Mississippi Brilla-0  Houston FC-0

Houston FC Goalkeeper Patrick Michael Hillyard made 4 saves and stopped a late penalty to allow Houston to pick up an away point in Clinton, MS.  The penalty stop came after the first penalty, successfully completed by Brilla’s Thomas Vancaeyezeele, was called back because a Brilla player had entered the box too early.  Vancaeyezeele second chance was then saved by Hillyard.  Brilla outshot Houston 11-2 with zero Houston shots on goal, and according to the game account on the Brilla website, dominated possession.

Game photo:  (Mississippi Brilla Twitter)

Saturday, July 1

Texas United-1   OKC Energy U23-3

A 4th minute score by Julio Moncada was the first of three unanswered goals that led OKC Energy to a 3-1 win over Texas United in Grand Prairie.  A late consolation goal off a free kick by substitute Flavio Guzman, his third of the season, prevented a shutout. United had a chance to pull the score closer, but unfortunately missed an 83rd minute penalty.

Houston FC-1   Brazos Valley Cavalry-3

Brazos Valley built a 3-0 lead and held off a late Houston FC push to win the road match 3-1 at Holloway Field on the Rice University campus in Houston. Forward Elochukwu Ozumba, continuing his sizzling recent attacking form, opened the scoring with his 7th of the season in the 21st minute.  3 minutes later Ozumba combined with Aneikan William to score a second goal, with William putting the ball in the net.  The Cavalry scoring was completed by Robert Hernandez in the 53rd minute, his third of the season. Houston FC midfielder  Alex Reyes scored his second goal of the season in the 77th minute to prevent the BV shutout.

Houston FC Starting Lineup:  (Houston FC Twitter)

 

STANDINGS:

Southern Conference/Mid-South Division:

 

Week 10 Game Schedule: (Home Team Listed First)

Tuesday, July 4

FC Cleburne vs. Brazos Valley Cavalry

Thursday, July 6

Houston FC vs. Mississippi Brilla

Saturday, July 8

Houston FC vs. Texas United

Brazos Valley Cavalry vs. Mississippi Brilla

Sunday, July 9

OKC Energy U23 vs. FC Cleburne

 

PDL logo courtesy of ChrisCreamer’sSportsLogos.Net

http://www.sportslogos.net/index.php

After a wild game in Bryan last night, both Texas United and Brazos Valley Cavalry remain tied (13 points) in the race to determine who will be the best first-year Texas based Mid-South Division PDL team:

• The Cavalry has a game in hand on United, which will be made up when it plays 2-7 FC Cleburne Wednesday night in Bryan.  After that match it plays 3 of its last 4 on the road, including twice in Cleburne.
• Texas United’s last 4 matches are evenly split home and away, but include two at home against division leaders OKC Energy U23 and a trip to Mississippi to play second place Brilla.
• The possibility for both Texas sides to finish second were dealt a blow this weekend when Brilla traveled to Oklahoma and took 4 points in 2 matches against previously unbeaten Energy U23.

Texas PDL news:

It goes without saying that the 10-2 aggregate advantage undefeated OKC Energy U23 ran up on Houston FC and BV Cavalry in their two victories last week was painful.  The league added to the pain when they named Energy U23 forward Julio Moncada PDL Week 7 Player of the Week after the Honduran talent scored three goals and provided one assist in these wins. Moncada attends the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and has played for Honduras youth national teams.  He currently leads the Energy U23 in goals with six and has three assists.

Energy U23 remain atop the Southern Conference (Southeast and Mid-South Divisions) Power Rankings and now has 28 points in 10 games, 12 clear of Mississippi Brilla.  After the weekends results, it is also the first team to qualify for the PDL playoffs, which begin next month.

Week 8 Game Results:

Monday, June 19

FC Cleburne-2   Houston FC-3

Two second half goals by Alex Reyes and substitute Deniz Sipahi (in stoppage time) allowed Houston FC to come back from a halftime deficit to win 3-2 at The Depot in Cleburne.  After Christian Clarke had given Houston a 26 minute opener, Cleburne scored twice before the halftime break, William Taylor and the third of the season from Chris Escalera.   Cleburne goalkeeper Joshua Nieto made 6 saves during the loss.

Game photos: (FC Cleburne Facebook)

Wednesday, June 21

FC Cleburne-2   Texas United-3

Texas United scored three unanswered goals to come back from a two goal halftime deficit to defeat FC Cleburne 3-2 in Keene.  Cleburne, playing the third game in a brutal five day stretch (including a trip to Clinton, Mississippi), had built a 2-0 lead in the first 12 minutes from goals by Jose Ponce and Stefan Lukic.  Texas United came back and scored three in the final 30 minutes to win.  Miguel Velasquez got it started with his 5th of the season and two goals by substitute Alan Rivera, the last in the 87th minute secured the victory for United.

Game Photo:  (FC Cleburne Twitter and Jorge Velez)

Thursday, June 22

Brazos Valley Cavalry-4  Houston FC-0

Houston Dynamo Academy graduate and Northwestern University forward Elochukwu Ozumba scored his first, and the Cavalry’s first ever, hat-trick Thursday night as BV defeated Houston FC 4-0 in Bryan.  Ozumba didn’t waste any time getting started on the scoring as the first came in the 2nd minute.  Two second half goals completed his momentous evening. Midfielder Matt Dorsey completed the scoring off a Robert Hernandez cross for Brazos Valley. The Cavalry outshot Houston 20-6.  Not surprisingly, Ozumba had 7 of the Cavalry’s 20.

In an interview after the game with Bryan Eagle writer Richard Croome (@rwcroome), Cavalry head coach James Clarkson commented on Ozumba’s performance: “He’s always capable of scoring goals,” Cavalry FC coach James Clarkson said. “He has some pace. He’s strong, and tonight he managed to get on the end of a few things and put it away. Very good for him, but I think all-around it was a very solid team performance.”

BV Cavalry’s Man of the Match-Elo Ozumba (BV Twitter)

Starting Lineups:  (BV and Houston FC Twitter)

Saturday, June 24

Brazos Valley Cavalry-3   Texas United-3

A wild match in Bryan last night.  (1) 6 goals-5 in the last 30 minutes.  (2) The Cavalry came back from 2 goals down to take the lead on an 87th minute goal by Dynamo Academy’s U18 midfielder, Robert Hernandez, his first in 4 PDL appearances. (3) Then 2 minutes later forward Patricio Botello, from San Antonio and St. Mary’s University, converted a penalty off a rebound following an initial save from a shot off the crossbar. This tying goal was the second of the night for Pato.  The other Cavalry second-half goals were scored by Mitchell Cardenas (a penalty earned by defender Zach Jackson) and Elo Ozumba, his fourth of the week.  Yousri Ben Othmane had given United the early lead when he converted a rebound off a corner in the 6th minute.  The Cavalry had 19 shots on the evening, forcing Texas United goalkeeper Adam Zehme to make 10 saves.

In an interview with Bryan Eagle correspondent Richard Croome, BV coach James Clarkson was certainly not celebrating the comeback that earned the point: “We should be walking off, ‘what a great comeback and what a great win,’ but it was very naive to celebrate on our half of the field, which is why the ref can [allow the] kick off,” Clarkson said. “If we celebrate at this end it doesn’t happen, we get ourselves organized. We were disorganized from the kickoff and we gave away a ridiculous foul. Hopefully lesson learned, but it’s a tough one.” 

STANDINGS:

Southern Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	+/-
OKC Energy U23	10	9	0	1	28	29	8	21
Mississippi Brilla FC	8	5	2	1	16	14	7	7
Brazos Valley Cavalry F.C.	9	4	4	1	13	18	20	-2
Texas United	10	4	5	1	13	20	18	2
Houston FC	9	2	7	0	6	10	24	-14
FC Cleburne	9	2	7	0	6	13	25	-12

 

Week 9 Game Schedule: (Home Team Listed First)

Wednesday, June 28

Brazos Valley Cavalry vs. FC Cleburne

Thursday, June 29

Mississippi Brilla vs Houston FC

Saturday, July 1

Texas United vs. OKC Energy U23

Houston FC vs. Brazos Valley Cavalry

 

PDL logo courtesy of ChrisCreamer’sSportsLogos.Net

http://www.sportslogos.net/index.php

The Mid-South Division of the USL PDL is approximately 50% of the way through the 14-game regular season, which ends on Sunday July 16.  OKC Energy U23 has played two more matches (9 total) than all division teams except Texas United who has played 8 to this point.  The PDL Playoffs will begin with play-in matches on July 18, while the PDL Championship will take place on Aug. 5.

Energy U23, who are undefeated and on 27 points (impressive +21 goal differential too), are virtually guaranteed to win the division, barring a hard to imagine meltdown.  It just completed a two game road trip in Texas where the team won both, outscoring Houston FC and Brazos Valley FC 10-2. The race for second place, and if the 2016 PDL playoff format is repeated this year, a place in the playoffs, is still within reach for all Texas clubs. Mississippi Brilla, who along with Energy U23 are the only returning clubs in the division from last year, are 6 points clear of the Texas teams, though it does have a daunting road trip to Oklahoma where Brilla play two straight against Energy U23 during this upcoming week.

In the competition for the best first year Texas PDL team, Brazos Valley Cavalry, on a points per game basis, has a small lead over Texas United, only because it has played one fewer match.  One factor in the Cavalry’s favor is that it plays OKC one less time than the other teams and has finished the season series with Energy U23.

Texas PDL news:

The USL PDL website published a profile of Houston FC head coach Bruce Talbot last week.  Talbot was quoted in the article talking about opportunities the club is presenting for soccer players in Houston:

“We have been in the Houston area for three years now and think there is a great opportunity to unite a segment of soccer in Houston not in competition but complementing the MLS franchise,” Talbot told USLPDL.com. “Soccer is all over the city. You cannot drive five minutes without seeing a pitch. We believe that with the network we have in Houston, we can help shape the culture to one that helps benefit the youth of our community and give youth players in Houston another example and goal to reach in playing for our club and move them on to the next level.”

http://www.uslpdl.com/news_article/show/804505?referrer_id=2242498

Week 7 Game Results:

Thursday, June 15

Texas United-1   Brazos Valley Cavalry FC-2

First half goals, both on penalties, by Rimario Gordon and Emmanuel Usen (his third of the year) allowed the Cavalry to weather a furious late comeback by Texas United Thursday evening in Grand Prairie.  Gordon, who was named to the PDL Top Prospects list for the first time last week, scored his 4th goal of the season.  Flavio Guzman scored a late goal off a well taken free-kick for United in the 90th minute, but it was too little, too late and the Cavalry was able to hold on.

Texas United starting lineup from its Twitter feed:

Houston FC-1   OKC Energy U23-4

The bad news is that OKC Energy U23 scored three time in the second half to blow open the match against Houston FC, played at Strake Jesuit High School, Houston FC’s second home.  The good news is that the Bayou City club doesn’t have to play the undefeated (8-0-0) Energy U23 anymore this season.  Houston FC weathered the storm in the first half and went into the locker room only trailing 1-0.  Unfortunately, the quality of the Oklahoma side showed in the second half and Julio Moncada (who now has 5 goals on the season) scored twice for the Energy youth side in the space of 8 minutes to seal the victory.  Christian Okeke chipped in with 3 assists in 74 minutes for OKC.  Daltyn Knutson was able to pull one back for Houston when he headed in a Ismaiel Alkayali corner kick in the 83rd minute.  The Energy U23 domination was also demonstrated by the 22-8 shots on goal advantage during the evening.

Saturday, June 17

Texas United-3   Houston FC-0

Texas United defeated Houston FC 3-0 in Grand Prairie last night.  Houston FC, who had played a difficult match against OKC Energy Thursday night and then had to make the long journey from South to North Texas on short rest, were outshot 14-7 and unable to muster much offense.  Jackson Crawford opened the Texas United scoring with his first of the season in the 14th minute which forced Houston to chase the match in the June Texas heat. United’s Alan Rivera scored in the 62nd minute and Patricio Botello completed the scoring in the 78th with his second of the year.    United goalkeeper Charles Schober kept the shutout with 4 saves.

Texas United goal scorers and Emmanuel Kiwele in front who was welcomed back to AirHog Stadium           (Texas United Twitter)

Mississippi Brilla-5  FC Cleburne-0

FC Cleburne made the long trip to Mississippi and it turned out to be a tough payback for Cleburne’s home win over Brilla last weekend.  Brilla didn’t wait long to send a message, taking advantage of a defensive mistake when Badreddine Boulajoul was left unmarked in front of the goal and finished a nice cross.  After a methodical build-up Boulajoul scored his second of the night and the season in the 35th minute, when he was again given too much space at the back post.  Three second half goals finished up a rough night for FC Cleburne and, I suspect, made for a long trip back to Texas.  There will be no rest as Cleburne plays again on Monday and Wednesday nights.

Brazos Valley Cavalry FC-1   OKC Energy U23-6

Unfortunately, the Cavalry were also on the back end of a battering, losing 6-1 to an undefeated and very talented OKC Energy side 6-1 last night in Bryan.  Noah Keats scored twice and four different Energy players scored the others, 3 in each half.  Energy U23 had 19 shots on goal and Cavalry goalkeeper James Fetterly needed to make a staggering 14 saves, including a penalty kick stop, showing that the scoreline could have been a lot worse.  Forward Elochukwu Ozumba scored his first goal of the season and the only goal of the night for Brazos Valley off an assist by Rimario Gordon.  The Cavalry played the last 20 minutes a man down after defender Stuart Close picked up his second yellow and was ejected from the match.  In the game story on Brazos Valley Sports by David Campbell (@ScoopSports), Cavalry star Rimario Gordon was quoted discussing the team performance and the teams 11 shots:

“That just means we have to finish our chances. We did good. They’re a very good team, obviously first for a reason. We have to go back to the drawing board, regroup and come again.”

Cavalry Starting Lineup (Brazos Valley Cavalry Twitter)

STANDINGS:

Southern Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	+/-
OKC Energy U23	9	9	0	0	27	28	7	21
Mississippi Brilla FC	7	5	2	0	15	13	6	7
Brazos Valley Cavalry F.C.	7	3	4	0	9	11	17	-6
Texas United	8	3	5	0	9	14	13	1
FC Cleburne	7	2	5	0	6	9	19	-10
Houston FC	7	1	6	0	3	7	18	-11

Week 8 Game Schedule: (Home Team Listed First)

Monday, June 19

FC Cleburne vs. Houston FC

Wednesday, June 21

FC Cleburne vs. Texas United

Thursday, June 22

Brazos Valley Cavalry vs. Houston FC

Saturday, June 24

Brazos Valley Cavalry vs. Texas United

 

NPSL logos courtesy of ChrisCreamer’sSportsLogos.Net

http://www.sportslogos.net/index.php

 

Texas PDL news:

The first PDL player from a Texas team, midfielder Rimario Gordon of Brazos Valley FC, was named to the USL PDL Top-50 Prospects list, entering this week at #41. Gordon comes to the Cavalry FC from Marshall University.  Gordon, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, was named to the All-Conference USA second team last season.

Week 6 Game Results:

Monday, June 5

Brazos Valley Cavalry-4   Texas United-3

The Cavalry scored 3 of the 5 total goals scored in the second half to win an exciting first ever home game at Nutrabolt Stadium in Brazos Monday night.  Emmanuel Usen scored the historic first goal at the stadium and the most highly regarded youth player in the Dynamo Academy, 16 year old Marcelo Palomino, scored twice on his debut with the Cavalry.  Texas United goals came from a brace by Miguel Velasquez and Nenad Markovic

Friday the horse joins Diesel and Toro as part of the Dynamo family. (Cavalry Twitter page)

Thursday, June 8

Brazos Valley Cavalry-2    Houston FC-0

Out-shooting Houston FC 21-4 on the night, the Cavalry were able to score twice to win their second consecutive game in Bryan Thursday night.  Rimario Gordon was involved in both goals-scoring the first and assisting on the second by Josue Palomino , started by Gordon with one of the 12 corner kicks generated by Brazos Valley.  In the game article by Brad Cox in the Bryan Eagle, Cavalry head coach and Dynamo Academy Director James Clarkson talked about the challenges of playing 3 games in 6 days:

“I think the scoreline flatters the other team a little bit,” Cavalry FC coach James Clarkson said. “We’ve got to be more clinical in front of the goal because if we could have put the game away earlier, I could have given them some more rest and it would have put us in better shape for Saturday. I’m really happy with the win but a bit little disappointed with our finishing and the wasted chances in front of the goal.” 

Cavalry starting lineup (Brazos Valley Twitter page)

Friday, June 9

FC Cleburne-2    Mississippi Brilla-0

Goals by Stefan Lukic (on his PDL debut) and the second goal of the season, by Chris Escalera, led FC Cleburne to its second win of the season, a 2-0 victory over Mississippi Brilla on the first of its two-game weekend road trip to Texas.  Esclara’s goal in the 82nd minute was a penalty that put the game away (below). Goalkeeper Casey Tilley was busy on the evening and had to make 5 saves to keep the clean sheet.

More fan photos from The Depot in Cleburne (FC Cleburne Facebook page)

Photo of The Depot in Cleburne (Brilla Twitter page)

Saturday, June 10

OKC Energy U23-3    Brazos Valley Cavalry-0

Three games in six days was too much for the Cavalry in Oklahoma Saturday afternoon. Going deep in it’s roster (only 5 played the entire game), the Cavalry were able to hold off the undefeated Energy U23 for close to an hour before conceding.  The final two goals from the Energy came after the 80th minute.

Below is a link to the Energy U23 game review:

http://www.energyfc.com/news_article/show/802251?referrer_id=2614758

Sunday, June 11

Texas United-0    Mississippi Brilla-1

Texas United suffered a tough 1-0 defeat to Brilla yesterday afternoon in Grand Prairie. A 26th minute red card to the team’s 2017 leading goal scorer Miguel Velasquez for a dangerous tackle forced United to play a man down for slightly less than an hour. Despite the challenge, United was only beaten by a strike from Brilla midfielder Thibaut Bourrier late in the first half.  United goalkeeper Adam Zehme saved 5 of the 7 Brilla shots, keeping the team in the game until the end.

Texas United starting lineup (Texas United Twitter page)

Texas United starting lineup (Texas United Twitter page)

STANDINGS:

Southern Conference-Mid South Division

Team	GP	W	L	T	PTS	GF	GA	+/-
OKC Energy U23	7	7	0	0	21	18	5	13
Mississippi Brilla FC	6	4	2	0	12	8	6	2
Texas United	6	2	4	0	6	10	11	-1
Brazos Valley Cavalry F.C.	5	2	3	0	6	8	10	-2
FC Cleburne	6	2	4	0	6	9	14	-5
Houston FC	5	1	4	0	3	6	11	-5

Week 7 Game Schedule: (Home Team Listed First)

Thursday, June 15

Texas United vs. Brazos Valley Cavalry FC

Houston FC vs. OKC Energy U23

Saturday, June 17

Houston FC vs. Texas United

Mississippi Brilla vs. FC Cleburne

Brazos Valley Cavalry FC vs. OKC Energy U23

 

NPSL logos courtesy of ChrisCreamer’sSportsLogos.Net

http://www.sportslogos.net/index.php