WEEKEND UPDATES

Games through Sunday June 23

Huntsville City FC

Huntsville has made several changes over the past few weeks, and has seen some improvement in their results. Sunday's game against Cincinnati 2 on the road was a huge test, as Cincy is a top team in the league. HV kept it close, but couldn't quite pull off the upset. They lose 1-2.

USL2

Dothan United Dragons

Dothan went on the road to Asheville looking for a big upset against the top team in the division. The Dragons were down 0-2 at that half, and were hoping to rally in the second half. But the second half was more of the same, and Asheville finished them off, winning 4-0.

GCPL

Alabama FC South at Union 10

This second, and final, meeting between these two teams had huge implications for the GCPL standings. The score was 1-1 at the half, after a late penalty was converted by Union 10. Union came out strong in the second half, and scored two more goals. The Storm pulled one back on a late penalty kick, and then failed to get the ball across the line in a play in the box at the death. Union wins 3-2. The current East standings have Sowegans with 21 points, ALFCS with 16, and Union with 15. Union has won four games in a row, and has a game in hand on both teams above them. Finally, Sowegans’ two remaining games are against ALFCS and Union 10. You could not ask for a more exciting finish.

Other news and tidbits

Birmingham Legion WFC faced Asheville City at home, and were hoping for the upset. I was fortunate enough to get to the match in person, and it was a good game. The Three Sparks came out with an aggressive gameplan that saw them completely dominate the first thirty minutes. That included a shot from long range that wasn't controlled by the keeper, and was put into the net on the rebound. Unfortunately, it was waived off for offsides. Then Asheville got a play forward that went out for a corner. The left-footed player that took the corner bent in a beautiful shot to give Asheville a 1-0 lead. At that point, Legion's gameplan started to unravel, and they went into halftime trailing. The second half was more of the same. I thought they would have a chance to wear down Asheville in the heat and humidity (AC only brought two subs to the game), but Asheville put it out of reach in the second half. Legion loses 0-2.

In the USL Championship, there were 9 games on Saturday. It's always a weird deal when Legion doesn't play on a busy day because there's a feeling that they're falling behind. However, five out of the nine games ended in a draw, which was good news for Legion. Ten teams got one point, and didn't get much movement. Rhode Island beating up on Louisville 5-2 was a bonus.

The Adjacency

I'm making a small change here to split out the three Columbus teams, as a grouping.

Fountain City came into last week's automatic promotion playoff undefeated. They faced to top team in the North (the Sharks), and were handed their first loss of the season. That put Fountain City into an eight team playoff, and as the top seed they faced the eight seed - FC Columbus Elite. Elite came out swinging and scored two early goals. Fountain looked stunned. But they rallied behind their star player, Tristan Shytle, who scored two goals. Elite scored a third goal midway through the second half, only to see Fountain equalize a few minutes later. But Elite would not be denied. They got the final word with just a couple of minutes to spare. Elite wins 4-3. Fountain City remains in UPSL1, while Elite moves forward seeking promotion.

Columbus United faced Tallahassee at home on Saturday night. CU has had a very good inaugural season, and earlier tied Tallahassee on the road. Columbus controlled this game comfortably throughout, and won 3-1. They remain undefeated at home.