Week Ahead Preview

Sat May 31 thru Fri Jun 6

First, some mid-week results

USL2 - Montgomery United 1-3 Birmingham Legion 2

TLfC - Gaffa FC 4-3 Union 10

USLW - Tennessee SC 1-0 Birmingham Legion WFC

WPSL - Gulf Coast United 2-1 Union 10

Birmingham Legion FC

Image credit: Birmingham Legion

Birmingham will be a headed to Tulsa this week for their next Jagermeister Cup match, Saturday May 31 at 7:30. Tulsa is riding high in league play at third place in the West. In their first Cup match, Tulsa drew against One Knoxville, and then lost the penalty shootout. The Legion will be without defenders Ramiz Hamouda and Phanuel Kavita, who have both been called up for International duty. Tulsa's style has produced mostly low-scoring games, including a 1-1 draw mid-week against San Antonio. Birmingham has quality depth at center back to handle the call-ups, but will also look for newcomer CDM Edwin Laszo to step up big against his former team. I'm predicting a 1-0 Legion win.

Huntsville City FC

HCFC won't play again until June 6.

USL2

Feature match:

Image credit: Montgomery United (Heather Gonsoulin)

This week's feature match-up sees Montgomery United away against Tennessee SC, Saturday May 31 at 7:30. Tennessee is undefeated after three matches and is tied for first place with Legion 2 in total points at 7. Montgomery comes into the match having lost their last two games. Expect this to be an intense match as Montgomery fights to avoid being shuffled down the table.

Other matches this week:

Sat May 31 Legion 2 vs Apotheos 6:00

Sat May 31 Dothan vs SSA 7:30

Wed June 4 Columbus vs Apotheos 7:30

The League for Clubs

This week's feature match will be the second game this week in three days for Union 10 against Gaffa FC. The first game was a hard-fought match at Gaffa, where the score at halftime was 1-0 in Gaffa's favor. The second half was loaded with scoring and appeared to be headed for a 3-3 draw until Gaffa got a late goal in stoppage time to get all three points with a 4-3 win. Union 10 needs to win the return match at home to keep the West competitive.

This week

May 31 Union 10 vs Gaffa 5:00

June 1 Tallahassee vs AFC Mobile 3:00

UPSL

Feature match:

UMA will be featured again this week, as they continue to climb in the standings. They will face Kalonji Pro-Profile on the road Sunday June 1 at 6:30. KPP is above UMA in second place, and UMA has the chance to pass them on points with a win.

Next week's matches

May 31 FC Columbus Elite vs Limeno 2:00

May 31 FC Birmingham vs Potros 5:00

May 31 Fountain City vs Filial Pachuca 6:00

June 1 Kalonji Pro-Profile vs UMA FC 6:30

May 31 FCB2 vs FC Atlanta 3:00

May 31 Albion SC Atlanta U23 vs UMA2 6:00

June 1 Columbus Knight Eagles vs AFC Lightning 5:00

Women's matches

I'll repeat here what I said on the weekly report at Southeast Soccer Report

Last week's feature saw Legion WFC lost 0-2 to Asheville City. The focus this week is just on the sheer volume of matches, and commentary on women's scheduling vs men's. IMO, the ladies are seeing a much harder time. Legion WFC is in a stretch of road games that went from Knoxville to Asheville to Nashville, and then home in an eleven day run. When do they get to practice?? And this week has FC Birmingham on the road for a Saturday match and another match at home on Sunday. I just don't see the men's teams burdened the same way.

Next week:

WPSL - Sat May 31 Union 10 vs Florida Roots 3:00

WPSL - Sat May 31 Jackson Ignite vs FC Birmingham 2:30

WPSL - Sun June 1 FC Birmingham vs Nashville Rhythm 4:00 (not a typo)

USLW - Tue June 3 Chattanooga Red Wolves vs Legion WFC 7:30

USLW - Fri June 6 Legion WFC vs One Knox 7:00