Tagged: Weekly Soccer Notes

Weekly Soccer Notes-June 17, 2017

Other news of interest in Texas Soccer this week.

United Soccer League (USL):

Rio Grande Valley FC (RGV FC)

Local UTRGV graduate makes professional debut in the Valley. (goutrgv.com)

http://goutrgv.com/news/2017/6/14/mens-soccer-garcia-makes-usl-debut-with-rgv-fc.aspx

Future El Paso USL team:

In a profile in El Paso Inc. on businessman and energy mogul Paul Foster, there was discussion about the future of soccer in that border city.  El Paso has a rich history of soccer in recent years. In a variety of configurations and names, most famously the El Paso Patriots, professional soccer existed in El Paso from 1989 to 2013.  A return would certainly be welcome by those supporters.

Foster and the other members of MountainStar Sports Group, which is involved in minor league baseball and has investors who are also involved in the second division Mexican team in Ciudad Juarez, are working to bring a USL team and a new soccer-specific stadium to El Paso.

In the article Foster stated: “I can almost guarantee that we’ll have soccer in El Paso within a couple of years.”  (elpasoinc.com)

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/article_4f8a4638-4eb6-11e7-88cf-0ff7824961f8.html

National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL):

  • After a week off, the Houston Dash will host the Orlando Pride at BBVA Compass Stadium tonight.  This match will mark the return of the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year, Carli Lloyd, to the Dash after a loan to Manchester City ended.  The last place Dash travel to Orlando next weekend for the return leg in a back-to-back. (houstondynamo.com)
  • The El Paso Times published a profile story documenting the steady path up the coaching ladder that has led El Paso native Omar Morales to be named interim head coach of the Dash.  Below is a link to the story:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/soccer/2017/06/15/bel-air-alum-makes-mark-head-coach-houston-dash/397690001/

United States Youth National Teams:

  • U.S. Under-16 Boys’ National Team has announced a 20-player roster for the team’s second international tournament of 2017, that started on June 6 and ends on Monday. After three days preparation, the team flew to Japan for the 2017 U-16 International Dream Cup.  Four Texas players are on the roster (all part of the FC Dallas Academy):  Goalkeeper:  Michael Collodi from Frisco, midfielders Adrian Munoz from Richardson and Thomas Roberts from Frisco and forward Bryan Reynolds from Little Elm.  (ussoccer.com)
  • Last week the Under-18 Men’s National Team named a 20-player roster for the team’s second international tournament of 2017, currently taking place in Portugal. Three Texas midfielders were named to the roster and, surprisingly, two are not from the FC Dallas Academy!:  Christian Cappis (Texans SC Houston; West Chicago, Ill.), Koby Carr (Texas Rush; San Antonio, Texas) and Brandon Servania (FC Dallas; Birmingham, Ala.) (ussoccer.com)

Weekly Soccer Notes-June 10, 2017

Other news of interest in Texas Soccer this week:

Major League Soccer (MLS):

Bleacher Report’s Noah Davis wrote an excellent long-form piece on former Dynamo defender/midfielder and sometimes forward Geoff Cameron.  He used the word “unheralded” to describe Cameron’s arrival in Houston and that is true.  He joined the team as a third round MLS Super Draft choice in 2008 and in this article Dynamo head coach at the time, Dominic Kinnear, admitted about Cameron’s pick “It was a gamble” .  It didn’t take Dynamo supporters long to consider him heralded.  He scored on his home debut against FC Dallas and was in the starting lineup for the second-leg of a CONCACAF Champions Cup match (predecessor to the current CCL) in Costa Rica early in his rookie season. Now he is one of the top American exports to the English Premier League.

The link to the story is below: (bleacherreport.com)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2714430-geoff-camerons-rise-from-unheralded-youngster-to-usmnt-star

CONCACAF Gold Cup:

  • The biennial CONCACAF Gold Cup will be held in the United States from July 7-26. The U.S. submitted a provisional 40 man roster to the Confederation last week…this roster needs to be reduced to 23 by June 27th. Players from Texas teams, or those that are Texas-natives, named to the preliminary roster include:

Defenders:  Greg Garza (Atlanta United), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca, Mexico),  Matt Hedges (FC Dallas)

Midfielders:  Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas)

Goalkeeper:  Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas)

U.S. born Gonzalez had previously announced his intention to play for Mexico, since he is a dual-national and has represented Mexico in youth tournaments. According to an article on mlssoccer.com, Fox Sports analyst and former Houston Dynamo Stuart Holden reported that he had recently spoken to Gonzalez’s agent, who said Gonzalez would accept the call if he is selected for the US 23-man roster for the Gold Cup. (mlssoccer.com)

  • Other CONCACAF counties also released their provisional rosters.  Players with current Texas connections include: (mlssoccer.com)

Canada:  Tesho Akindele (FC Dallas)

Honduras:  Maynor Figueroa (FC Dallas), Alberth Elis, Boniek Garcia and Rommel Quioto (Houston Dynamo)

Mexico:  Erick Torres (Houston Dynamo)

Panama:  Adolfo Machado (Houston Dynamo)

  • The CONCACAF website featured an interview with former Dynamo legend Dwayne DeRosario who played for Canada in five Gold Cups before his retirement in 2015. Here is a link to the interview: (concacaf.com)

http://www.concacaf.com/article/concacaf-qa-dwayne-de-rosario-retired-canada

National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL):

The Houston Dash were held scoreless for the second consecutive week, losing 2-0 to the Washington Spirit at the Maryland SoccerPlex last Saturday. Though held scoreless, the Dash forced eight saves from the Spirit goalkeeper.  With the loss, the Dash fell into last place in the league (2-6-0 and 6 points from 8 games).  The Dash now have a week off before their next match against Orlando on June 17th.  It is likely that a new permanent coach will be named at some point during the break, to replace Randy Waldrum who was fired two weeks ago. (houstondynamo.com)

United States Youth National Teams:

36 players have been called into the U.S. Under-15 Girls’ National Team training camp in Portland, Oregon, from June 11-18.  Four Texas players will participate in this camp, three from the North Texas Solar Chelsea club…midfielder Olivia Pena (Irving) and forwards Trinity Byars (Richardson) and Alexis Missimo (Southlake).  Goalkeeper Azul Alvarez (Lonestar SC; Round Rock) rounds out the Texas group.

Youth Soccer Development:

The U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs will take place June 22-26 in Westfield, Indiana (a suburb of Indianapolis). The Academy conducted its 2016-17 Playoff draw on Wednesday, with the qualified U-15/16 and U-17/18 teams drawn into eight groups of four teams each.

  • FC Dallas, the defending champions at both age levels, was one of 23 club programs to qualify teams for the 2017 playoffs at both age levels.  At the lower age level, FCD has been grouped with Crew SC Academy Wolves, New York City FC and Baltimore Armour.  The older group will face New York Red Bulls, Seattle Sounders FC and Beachside Soccer Club in the group Stage.  The game against Red Bulls will be one of the marquee match-ups of the group stage.
  • The Houston Dynamo qualified a team at the U 15/16 level and face an all MLS group stage bracket, the first time this has happened in the Academy playoffs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, LA Galaxy, Philadelphia Union join the Dynamo in what will certainly be a challenging group.

Further details can be found in the link below:  (ussoccer.com)

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/06/08/21/32/20170608-news-group-pairings-announced-for-2017-us-soccer-development-academy-playoffs

Weekly Soccer Notes-June, 3 2017

Other news of interest in Texas Soccer this week:

Major League Soccer (MLS):

An article by Anne M. Peterson from AP Sports reported on the recovery of FC Dallas’s Ryan Hollingshead, who was severely injured early this year when acting as a Good Samaritan on a Metroplex roadside. (AP Sports)

http://www.theintelligencer.com/sports/article/FC-Dallas-Hollingshead-continues-to-improve-11180901.php.

Sticking with national coverage of FC Dallas players, USA Today published a profile this week on goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez and the difficult decision he has made to represent Mexico in any future national team career.  Despite rumors that FC Dallas continues to look at players in Mexico to fortify the goalkeeper position, Gonzalez was signed to a new deal this week that will keep him in Dallas until at least 2020. (Multiple sources)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mls/2017/06/01/jesse-gonzalez-fc-dallas-united-states-mexico/102354798/

United States Men’s National Team (USMNT):

  • World Cup qualifying resumes next Thursday night when the U.S. plays Trinidad and Tobago in Colorado.  Ahead of this qualifier, the USMNT will play a friendly against Venezuela in Sandy, Utah tonight. (ussoccer.com)
  • The 26 man roster (Timothy Chandler withdrew from the original 27 named) includes 5 players with Texas ties:  FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges and midfielder Kellyn Acosta, Houston Dynamo defender DaMarcus Beasley, Nacogdoches-native and Seattle forward Clint Dempsey and Dallas-native and Pachuca defender Omar Gonzalez. (ussoccer.com)
  • The next goal Dempsey scores will be his 57th and will tie Landon Donovan for the U.S. goal scoring record.  Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) from SB Nation’s Sounder at Heart Blog put together a list of all of Dempsey’s U.S. goals from his first against England in 2005 to his 56th which was scored in the draw with Panama on March 28th.  He will certainly break this record (maybe tomorrow night, Thursday or in Mexico City Sunday) and hopefully play a key role in a deep U.S. FIFA World Cup run in Russia next year.  I have been fortunate enough to be in the stadium to see him score 4 of the 56:
    • #6 against Ghana at the 2006 World Cup in Germany
    • #10, 11 against Barbados in a 2008 World Cup qualifier in LA.
    • #22 a game-winner against Panama in a 2011 Gold Cup semifinal in Houston  (sounderatheart.com)

http://www.sounderatheart.com/2017/6/1/15711084/clint-dempsey-usmnt-goals-video

  • Former Houston Dynamo star, Geoff Cameron, is also on this USMNT roster named by head coach Bruce Arena.  Good news for his future career came this week as Cameron and Stoke City announced a contract extension that will keep him in England through 2020. (ussoccer.com)

United States Youth National Teams: 

  • U.S. Soccer released additional details and renderings this week of the National Training and Development Center currently under development in Kansas City.
  • The state-of-the-art facility will include five full-size fields, an 80,000-square-foot building and the nearby Wyandotte Youth Soccer Complex.  This facility will also serve as the first ever permanent home for the U.S. Soccer Coaching Department (which includes referee development).  Here is a link to the article on ussoccer.com.

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/05/15/20/27/20170515-feat-us-soccer-sporting-kansas-city-national-training-coaching-development-center

  • Three young forwards from North Texas were named to 24 player roster for the U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team camp in Chula Vista, CA that started yesterday:  Enzi Broussard (IMG Academy; Carrollton, Texas), Samantha Meza (Dallas Kicks SC; Dallas, Texas) and Diana Ordonez (FC Dallas; Prosper, Texas)
  • U.S. Under-14 Boys’ National Team head coach Clint Peay named a 20-player roster for the team’s second training camp of the year, that started earlier this week in Zagreb, Croatia.  During the camp, the U-14’s will play friendlies against Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, Bosnia, and will twice face Croatia.  Two Texas players were named to this roster, and as is becoming common, both represent FC Dallas: midfielder Reece Frage from Plano and forward Dante Sealy from Frisco. (soccerwire.com)

Central American Soccer News:

According to a report from United Press International, four people tragically died and several others were injured in a stampede before a soccer game in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. Apparently fans tried to force their way into a section of the sold-out stadium last Sunday for a Honduran league championship between Motagua and Honduras Progreso.  Details are in the wire service story below: (upi.com)

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/05/29/Four-die-in-stampede-at-soccer-game-in-Honduras/1681496063921/

Weekly Soccer Notes-Saturday, May 27

Other news of interest in Texas Soccer this week:

National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL):

  • The Houston Dash lost to Sky Blue FC in New Jersey last Saturday afternoon, falling 2-1 on a goal just minutes from the end of the game. Midfielder Andressinha scored the Dash goal, converting a rebound after her initial shot hit the post in the 40th minute.  The Dash are now 2-4-0 and sit in 9th place (in a 10 team league), 6 points behind league leaders North Carolina.  The Dash return home to face Seattle today at BBVA Compass Stadium at 3 pm.  (houstondynamo.com)
  • Four Dash midfielders have been called up to their national teams for games early next month.  Morgan Brian and Carli Lloyd, who currently is playing on loan in England, for the United States, Denise O’Sullivan for Ireland and Andressinha for Brazil.  (houstondynamo.com)

National Premier Soccer League (NPSL):

An article by Nipun Chopra (https://twitter.com/NipunChopra7) on the upper-Midwestern based Soc Takes website discussed the potential of a new Oklahoma City/Norman NPSL team to begin play next year.  In the article he spoke with the potential team’s lead owner, Dustin Hooker, who was previously involved in the set up of OKC Energy’s Premier Development League (PDL) side.  Hooker stated that the ownership group were in the process of filing a franchise application with NPSL.  They currently have a trial team that is playing against other amateur sides in the Midwest and Texas. In the article he alluded to the potential of other new NPSL teams in Texas in the future. Here is a link to the article that provides additional details on stadium locations and the team name:

https://www.soctakes.com/2017/05/23/potential-south-oklahoma-city-applying-npsl/

Premier Development League (PDL):

Part of the mission for the PDL is to bring top players in their league to the attention of USL, MLS and other professional soccer leagues.  As a reflection of this mission, one of their brands is “Path-to-Pro”.  The league has enlisted the help of 24 scouts across North America, including coaching directors, technical directors and head coaches, to provide the PDL with valuable insight on the top Under-23 performers in the league throughout the season. This feedback forms the basis of a Top Prospects List, which serves as a resource for professional clubs who are interested in identifying and scouting high-level players, ranks players based on their performance within the PDL, their technical and tactical qualities and their potential to play at the professional level.  The league published the first Top Prospects List this week (link below of the Top 50 prospects).  No players on our Texas based PDL teams were identified on this first list…not surprising given that the all of these teams are new and the season has just started. (uslpdl.com)

http://www.uslpdl.com/2017-top-prospects?utm_source=Premier+Development+League&utm_campaign=676ed6ee30-Espinal+Headlines+First+2017+Top+Prospects+List&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d48040a326-676ed6ee30-

National Soccer Hall of Fame (HOF):

  • FC Dallas and U.S. Soccer released new renderings and an updated schedule for the Hall of Fame, currently under construction at Toyota Stadium in Frisco.  The new timeline projects that the museum will be completed in the Winter of 2018. Other new seating and amenities in the south end of the stadium, which has been closed since construction began last year, will be completed and open next summer.  New renderings of the HOF can be found at this link: (fcdallas.com)

https://www.fcdallas.com/hof

  • The U.S. Soccer Federation and FC Dallas have hired Djorn Buchholz to serve as the executive director for the National Soccer Hall of Fame at Toyota Stadium. Buchholz has 15 years of experience in MLS, USL (Austin Aztex) and NASL team front offices. He comes to Frisco from Austin, TX where he ran his own soccer consulting firm that provided insight and operational leadership to teams, matches and large-scale tournaments. (fcdallas.com)
  • Former Houston Dynamo players Brian Ching and Pat Onstad are among 33 players nominated for the National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2017.  Ching retired following the 2013 season and is in his first year of eligibility. He is the Dynamo’s all-time leading scorer with 56 goals in the MLS regular season and 69 goals across all competitions. He led the Dynamo do MLS Cup titles in 2006 and 2007.  Onstad holds Dynamo records for shutouts, wins, saves and goals against average. (chron.com)

Youth Soccer Development:

A 64-player roster has been called to Carson, Calif. for U.S. Soccer’s first Boys’ National Team Futures Camp of 2017. The training camp, which consists of players who were born in 2002 and 2003, runs from May 26-30 at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center.  This is a very intriguing camp, designed to identify the most talented players in the ’02 and ’03 birth years who appear to be on a later physical development path and/or are born in the second half of the year. Such parameters serve to reduce the impact of physical maturity and relative age effect on identification and evaluation of talent, according to the US Soccer website.  Four North-Texas youth players, two each from the 2002 and 2003 classes and also from the Solar Chelsea and FC Dallas Academy clubs were selected to participate.  (ussoccer.com)

International Soccer in Texas:

The MoneyGram SocioMX Tour will come to both Houston and Dallas this summer. LigaMX sides Cruz Azul and CF Monterrey will play in Houston at BBVA Compass Stadium on Sunday, July 2 at 7 p.m.  CF Monterrey will then play Pumas UNAM and Cruz Azul will play Toluca in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, July 8 at 6 p.m. (Match organizer press releases)

Weekly Soccer Notes-Saturday, May 20, 2017

Other news of interest in Texas Soccer this week:

Major League Soccer (MLS):

FC Dallas young star, Paxton Pomykal, suffered a knee injury during training on Wednesday and will miss four to six weeks while recovering from surgery. (fcdallas.com)

United Soccer League (USL):

Rio Grande Valley FC’s midfielder Todd Wharton was named to the USL Team of the Week as a result of the game winning goal he scored against Swope Park last Saturday

U.S. Open Cup

San Antonio FC eliminated Dutch Lions FC (HDL) from the U.S. Open Cup Wednesday night with a 2-1 second-round victory in Conroe.  Goals by Victor Araujo and Aly Alberto Hassan led a reserve-heavy side to the win.  Araujo’s direct-kick goal was his first since returning from a season ending injury he suffered last June.  After the match, SAFC head coach Darren Powell discussed the lineup choices on the SAFC website.

“We’re very pleased with our guys,” SAFC Head Coach Darren Powell said. “We have a lot of guys who haven’t been playing in the first team in regular season games, so it was a good opportunity for them to play tonight in a competitive environment and show what they’re capable of doing.”

The Dutch Lions made a game out it in the 62nd minute after Nathaniel Coons converted a ricochet shot off a clearance to pull HDL within a goal.

SAFC now advance to the third-round to play in Oklahoma against fellow USL side, Tulsa Roughnecks, on May 31.  If SAFC wins this match, they would play FC Dallas in a fourth-round match in San Antonio on either June 13 or 14. (sanantoniofc.com)

National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL):

The Houston Dash lost their second consecutive match last Saturday, when they fell 3-1 to Sky Blue FC at Houston’s BBVA Compass Stadium.  Poliana scored the only goal on an assist from Kealia Ohai for the Dash.

The Dash play a rematch against Sky Blue FC this afternoon at their home in New Jersey on the campus of Rutgers University; Yurcak Field. (houstondynamo.com/dash)

United States Youth National Teams:

A 40 player roster was named for the U.S. U-17 girls national team camp to be held May 14-21 in Florida.  Two of these players are from North Texas: Hollyn Torres and Diana Ordonez, both from the FC Dallas program. (socceramerica.com)

International Soccer in Texas:

  • A Tecate Summer Tour match between Liga MX clubs Chivas de Guadalajara and Club Atlas will be played at Toyota Field in San Antonio on Wednesday, July 5 at 7:30 p.m. This match will be Chivas’s first game in San Antonio in over 18 years. (sanantoniofc.com)
  • Also at Toyota Field, SAFC will play a friendly against LigaMX side, Santos Laguna, on Saturday night July 8.  This game will be Santos’s third trip to San Antonio since 2013, having played against Club America in the Alamodome last summer and at Toyota Field 4 years ago. (sanantoniofc.com)

Weekly Soccer Notes-Saturday, May 13, 2017

Other news of interest in Texas Soccer this week:

Major League Soccer (MLS):

  • Will Parchman weighed in on mlssoccer.com this week about the quiet “Greatness” of FC Dallas in our midst.  I especially found a couple of points in this article interesting. First, a question:  “Are FCD one of those perennially underrated franchises routinely passed over for the glitz of the coasts?”  My answer to this question is yes and I went off on this earlier this week in my rant about how ignored Maxi Urruti has been. Second, when comparing FCD’s current run to the Galaxy domination earlier in the decade Parchman stated:  “FCD’s system is instead many different points of pressure at a smaller magnitude, like the numbing drop on the forehead in lieu of one giant swing. It’s incontrovertible proof that living, breathing depth can exist in MLS.”  A link to the full article can be found here. (mlssoccer.com)

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/05/08/parchman-time-wake-mls-greatness-our-midst-dallas

  • FC Dallas (FCD) has loaned highly-touted left back Anibal Chala to L.D.U Quito in Ecuador until the end of 2017.  Chala has been unable to get on the field during the regular season due to a sports hernia injury he suffered in the preseason.  FCD apparently rejected a $2 million loan/buy option from the Ecuadorian first division team, indicating he still remains in their long term plans.  (Dallas Morning News)
  • Former FCD youth player Emerson Hyndman, who was playing for Scotland’s Rangers on loan from English side Bournemouth FC., announced on his Twitter feed that he would miss the remainder of the season with an injury.  Hyndman is the son of former FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman and a future U.S. National team prospect.  (BigDSoccer.com)
  • The MLS transfer window closed on May 8th and only a few roster moves can be made by clubs between now and early July when the window opens again.  Kurt Larson wrote an article this week that anointed the Dynamo as “winning” the just closed transfer period.  Here is the full break down:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/05/11/kurt-larson-five-mls-teams-won-2017-primary-transfer-window

  • C.J. Brown, the legendary Chicago Fire defender who now is an assistant with Orlando, talked with Alicia DelGallo in a post on the Orlando Sentinel website this week about last Saturday’s blowout in Houston and how hard it is to prepare to play the Dynamo.  He also provided a template that Houston will probably see much more, especially at home, in the future.

“The biggest challenge was the speed, and the other part to that would be the organization … figuring out how to handle our back line when we’re under attack,” Orlando City defensive assistant coach C.J. Brown said. “A team like that basically sits around waits for your mistake and then has three blazing guys up top, put it forward and see what they can do.

“We should have probably been a little more conservative, sit back and see if they can beat us in a group versus one-v-one. That’s a lesson learned early. You don’t ever expect somebody to just leave three guys freely to sit up there like that.

Later in the article, he went on to discuss how hard it is to simulate the speed Houston brings in practice, noting that Orlando City only has one player capable of matching the pace of the Dynamo attacking group. (Orlando Sentinel)

United Soccer League (USL):

The RGV FC Toros signed Pharr-native and defender Omar Ontiveros late last week to a USL contract. Ontiveros, who was identified in January during the Toros’ Open Tryout, most recently played in Luxembourg for Club Sportif-Grevenmacher. During his two-year stint in Europe he played in 12 matches and scored twice. According to Houston Dynamo Assistant GM Nick Kowba, Ontiveros was signed to provide depth for regular Toros players who are on contracts with the first team.  (rgvfc.com)

“Our goal as a staff was to strengthen our depth in the center-back position. As Kevin Garcia and Taylor Hunter have signed with the first team and continue to contribute to RGV FC, it is important that we also sign players that are based here with RGV FC. The fact that Omar is a local player who made it through our open tryout process makes it even more of positive for our club.” 

National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL):

The Houston Dash lost in Chicago 1-0 last Saturday.  They return from a three-game road trip to play New Jersey’s Sky Blue FC today at 3 p.m. at BBVA Compass Stadium.  The Dash are now 2-0-2 and are tied for third place with Chicago and Boston.

U.S. Open Cup:

Houston Dutch Lions FC (HDLFC) defeated NTX Rayados 3-1 Wednesday night in a first round Open Cup match at HDLFC Soccer Facility in Conroe. After a scoreless first half, Jose Pablo Cova and Lawal Olayimika scored second half goals in a short period of time. After an own goal brought Rayados back to within a goal at 2-1, Jerry Scholman finished off the scoring in the 89th min to finish the victory.  Remy Broekmans was named the Heineken Man of the Match.  HDLFC now advance to the second round where they will play San Antonio FC at Dutch Lions Soccer Facility next Wednesday evening. (twitter.com/HouDutchLions)

Picture from the Houston based “Peel” podcast, at the match, posted on the HDLFC Twitter feed.

Mexico Border Soccer Clubs:

Bravos de FC Juarez, who are partially owned by Texas-based Mountain Star Sports Group, lost the second-leg of the Ascenso MX (second division) League Championship 2-1 (4-2 on aggregate) at home to Puebla-based Lobos BUAP last Saturday night.  Juarez, who had fallen behind on a 25 minute corner kick, leveled the match in the 73rd minute off a Cristian Gordillo corner.  Unfortunately, Lobos scored in the 88th minute as Juarez desperately pushed players forward to get the goal they needed to make up the aggregate deficit and send the game into overtime. (El Paso Times)

Weekly Soccer Notes-Saturday, May 6, 2017

Other news of interest in Texas Soccer this week:

Major League Soccer (MLS):

Steve Fenn, who has his own website-stathunting.com-put together this statistically rich Tableau Software table to graphically depict the recently released MLS salary data from the MLS Players Union.  FC Dallas are 14th in spending in the 22 team league.  The Houston Dynamo are dead last, which won’t come as any surprise to their fan base.

https://public.tableau.com/views/MLSPUApril2017/Salaries?:embed=y&:display_count=yes&:showVizHome=no#1

National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL):

The Houston Dash defeated the Washington Spirit 1-0 on the road last Saturday evening. Kealia Ohai, who scored the 28th minute game winner, was named to the NWSL Team of the Month for April on the heels of her two goals and an assist in three matches. NWSL put together a video that features the 13 goals she has scored in the last 13 games (link below).  The Dash remain on the road this week, playing a rematch of their opening week victory over Chicago Red Stars today at 4 pm in Chicago.  The Dash are now 2-1 and tied for second place with two other teams.

http://www.nwslsoccer.com/videos/16965190

Youth Soccer Development: 

  • Major League Soccer announced that four Texas MLS Academy coaches will participate in the third-phase of a partnership with the French Football Federation (FFF) to provide a 14-month training program to MLS youth Academy coaches.  The program includes field and classroom training in both France and the U.S., a one week immersion visit to a European Academy and assistance in integrating aspects of the program into existing MLS Academies.
    • Texas participants are Chris Hayden from FC Dallas and Scott James from Houston Dynamo. (mlssoccer.com)
  • MLS also announced that a partnership with Spain’s La Liga has been established to provide continuing education to graduates of this FFF program and other MLS Academy Directors.
    • Texas MLS participants in this program are the two Academy directors-Luchi Gonzalez from FC Dallas and James Clarkson from the Dynamo. (mlssoccer.com)
  • The Houston Dynamo U-14 Academy team is participating in the 2017 Cayman Airways Invitational Youth Football Cup for the second consecutive year. (houstondynamo.com)

Mexico Border Soccer clubs:

FC Juarez, a Mexican Liga MX Ascenso second division team, played the first leg of the Torneo Clausura Final against Lobos BUAP (Puebla) Wednesday night.  Lobos was the winner of the first leg 2-1.  FC Juarez took an early 1-0 lead and also gained a vital away goal off a redirected direct kick.  The second leg is tonight in Juarez’s Olympic Benito Juarez stadium.  FC Juarez is partially owned by Texas-based Mountain Star Sports Group and other El Paso investors.  Mountain Star has had conversations with both MLS and USL within the last few years to potentially establish a soccer team in El Paso also. (various sources)