WEEK AHEAD PREVIEW

Birmingham Legion FC

Image credit: Birmingham Legion

Birmingham has two big games this week. First up is Indy Eleven in the next round of the Jagermeister Cup. Both teams are on six points in the Cup, with five goals scored. Indy recently handed Birmingham a 1-0 loss in league play, the single goal coming from a long-range blast. These two teams have had rough starts to their seasons, despite the Cup success so far. I can see this being a very physical, chippy game. The game will be played at Indy, Sat June 28 at 6:00.

Legion's other match for the week will be on Wed July 2 at 7:00 against Charleston. It's been almost three years since Birmingham has picked up a win against Charleston, who is flying high again this season. The Battery lost last year's Golden Boot winner to Europe, and promptly re-loaded, bringing in Cal Jennings for this season. What you need to know most is that Charleston has scored 32 goals this season (the most by any team in USLC), and Birmingham has scored 15. Never say never, but it would be a huge upset for Legion to get points from this one.

Huntsville City FC

HCFC will hit the road on Sun June 29 to face New England Revolution 2 at 2:00. Huntsville is in fourth place in the East, but are in a precarious position. Fourth place through ninth are separated by just three points. If Huntsville loses this one, they're at risk of being shuffled down the table ahead of squaring off against first place Red Bulls 2 one week later.

USL2

Image credit: Tennessee SC

Season standings; playoffs are near

The race in the South Central Divsion is still undecided on paper. It's theoretically possible that Dothan could jump ahead of Asheville City into first place, but highly unlikely. Dothan only trails by three points, but Asheville has a game in hand, and has the tiebreaker by virtue of their 1-0 win over the Dragons. Dothan is in the driver's seat for second place, but needs to finish strong. Legion 2 and Columbus are seven points behind Dothan - too far to expect to catch up - but can still be spoilers. Montgomery United is down near the bottom of the table. They've been very competitive, but are no doubt disappointed with their position.

Results last week:

Asheville City SC 1-0 Dothan United

Tennessee SC 1-3 Columbus United

Montgomery United 2-2 Apotheos FC

Legion 2 0-1 Tennessee SC

SSA vs Columbus United - postponed

Apotheos FC 0-5 Dothan United

This week's games:

Sat, June 28 East Atlanta vs Legion 2 at 7:30

Sat, June 28 Dothan United vs Columbus United at 7:30

Sat, June 28 SSA vs Montgomery United at 7:30

Tue, July 1 East Atlanta vs Dothan United at 7:30

Wed, July 2 Legion 2 vs Montgomery United at 4:00

Wed, July 2 SSA vs Columbus United at 7:30

The League for Clubs

Gaffa FC has just one match remaining and trails Union 10 by six points. Union has locked up first place in the West, and will host the second place team from the East (most likely Tallahassee) in the first round of the playoffs.

Last week's results :

Sowegans 1-3 Union 10

AFC Mobile 0-4 Tallahassee SC

Gulf Coast United 0-6 Union 10 (Jeb Scarbrough and Josh Bynoe with braces)

Next week's games:

Sat, June 28 Gulf Coast United vs AFC Mobile at 7:15

Mon, June 30 Union 10 vs Gulf Coast United at 5:00

Wed, July 2 Union 10 vs Pensacola Academy at 5:00

UPSL

UMA FC had a thrilling win over Dalton United in the first round of the playoffs, and this week the will be on the road again to face Kalonji Pro-Profile. The match will be Sat June 28 at 7:00. KPP is going to be very tough, and beat UMA 3-0 during the regular season.

Women's matches

Playoff pictures:

In USLW, Legion WFC are out of the running for a playoff, in fifth place with one game remaining.

Union 10 is in second place in the WPSL Gulf Coast- Third Coast division. I'm unclear on the playoff structure, but if it mirrors the men's, then Union would be on the road to face LA Krewe in the playoffs.

FC Birmingham is in fourth place in the WPSL Southeast Conference - Pioneer division, and our out of the running for the playoffs.

Last week's results:

USLW - Greenville Liberty 2-0 Legion WFC

WPSL - Union 10 1-0 TLH Reckoning

WPSL - FC Birmingham 1-11 865 Alliance

USLW - Legion WFC 4-1 Tennessee SC

Next week's matches:

WPSL - Fri, June 27 Pensacola vs Union 10 at 7:00

USLW - Sat, June 28 SSA vs Legion WFC at 3:30

WPSL - Sat, June 28 Tennessee Tempo vs FC Birmingham at 6:00