Weekend Preview: March 11, 2016

Philadelphia Union: Away at Columbus Crew SC, 7:30pm Saturday March 12. Available on MLS Live.

After an opening weekend loss to FC Dallas, the Philadelphia Union travel to Columbus to take on Crew SC at Mapfre Stadium. Columbus lost their first match of the season 2 – 1 to the Portland Timbers is an 2015 MLS Cup rematch. Philadelphia has lost four of their last five matches against the Crew and will face another serious challenge on the road this weekend.

Staff Prediction: Columbus Crew SC 2 – 1 Philadelphia Union

USL Preseason

Pittsburgh Riverhounds: Host Michigan University, 12:00pm Sunday March 13

USL

Bethlehem Steel FC: 14 days until away at FC Montreal (7:00pm)

Harrisburg City Islanders: 15 days until away at Richmond Kickers (5:00pm)

Pittsburgh Riverhounds: 22 days until host Rochester Rhinos (7:00pm)

NPSL

Erie Commodores FC: 77 days until away at FC Buffalo (7:00pm)

The schedule for the Keystone Conference has not yet been released.

Weekend Preview: March 3, 2016

Major League Soccer kicks off its 21st season this Sunday when the New York Red Bulls host Toronto FC at 1:30pm.

Philadelphia Union: Away at FC Dallas, 3:00pm Sunday March 6. Available on MLS Live.

The Union will look to begin the new season with a win, but face tough competition from FC Dallas. The Hoops finished the 2015 season tied for the Supporters Shield with the Red Bulls but were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals by the eventual MLS Cup Champion Portland Timbers. FC Dallas have maintained their talented core while added some young attacking power.

Staff Prediction: FC Dallas 2 – 0 Philadelphia Union

USL
Bethlehem Steel FC: 21 days until away at FC Montreal (7:00pm)
Harrisburg City Islanders: 22 days until away at Richmond Kickers (5:00pm)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds: 29 days until host Rochester Rhinos (7:00pm)

NPSL
Erie Commodores FC: 84 days until away at FC Buffalo (7:00pm)
The schedule for the Keystone Conference has not yet been released.

Fort Pitt Regiment withdraw from NPSL

The schedule for the 2016 NPSL Great Lakes East Conference was released today with one noticeable omission: The Fort Pitt Regiment.

News surfaced earlier this week that the Regiment had folded. When contacted for comment, a source with the organization told PENN97 that the club was preparing for the 2016 season and that they “have not distributed any statements of folding the team.”

Today PENN97 learned that the board of directors for PA West Soccer, the organization that owns and runs the Fort Pitt Regiment, sent a letter to NPSL requesting to leave the league late last week. The source within the organization said that the letter was sent as an option for the club. In addition to sending the letter, the Regiment were looking into hotels and prices for a roadtrip to Indiana to play against the Indy Eleven NPSL and FC Indiana.

The club was making plans for the 2016 season while also looking into the possibility of withdrawing. After much debate among the Board of Directors, PA West decided to exercise the option to leave NPSL for 2016 this week.

However, that does not mean that the club has folded. PA West is looking to establish a U-23 division as a portion of their larger adult league, which features over 6,000 participants. The U-23 league would provide developmental opportunities for soccer players returning to western Pennsylvania in between semesters at college. The Regiment could be a team in that league when it launches.

The organization isn’t opposed to re-entering NPSL in the future. However, PA West is going to focus on developing the skills and abilities of soccer players in western Pennsylvania through their existing leagues while creating a U-23 league.

With the Fort Pitt Regiment withdrawing from NPSL, Erie Commodores FC are the lone representatives from Pennsylvania in the Midwest Region.

Electric City Shock SC (Scranton, PA), Buxmont Torch FC (Perkasie, PA), Junior Lone Star FC (Philadelphia, PA), and Hershey FC (Hershey, PA) will also represent Pennsylvania in the NPSL Northeast Region (Keystone Conference).

Full schedule for Great Lakes East Conference
(The schedule for the Keystone Conference has not yet been released)

NPSL Midwest Region divided into East and West

The National Premier Soccer League, NPSL, will be dividing the Midwest Region into two conferences for the 2016 season.

Erie Commodores FC and the Fort Pitt Regiment will compete in the Great Lakes East conference against FC Buffalo, AFC Cleveland, FC Indiana, newly rebranded Indy Eleven NPSL, and expansion club Rochester River Dogz.

This division comes as a change to the 2015 arrangement when all thirteen clubs in the Midwest Region were in the same conference. The new arrangement has a more regional focus, which is something that NPSL promotes.

Tim McCoy, executive director of PA West Soccer and the Fort Pitt Regiment, said that the change of format wouldn’t have much effect on the clubs. “Our travel budget will be about the same as last year,” McCoy told PENN97. “The only difference [is that we] didn’t travel to FC Indiana and Rochester last year but traveled to Lansing and Cincinnati (now Dayton).” The distances are approximately the same.

With two Great Lakes conferences, NPSL will be able to better develop the regional rivalries that make soccer exciting. The dates of those rivalry matches and the 2016 schedule are being finalized and will be released in the near future.

NPSL: New faces in the Midwest Region for Fort Pitt and Erie

The 2015 season was not a successful one for either the Fort Pitt Regiment or Erie Commodores FC. Ft. Pitt failed to follow up on their successful inaugural season, finished 2015 in second-to-last place. Erie finished with a record of 5-7-0 and missed the playoffs by 10 points.

However, the Midwest Region will have a different look in the 2016 season. Here is the breakdown of the changes from the 2015 season:

The Madison 56ers, who finished the regular season at the top of the table, have elected to leave NPSL for the seven-team Great Lakes Premier League.

In exchange, the Grand Rapids FC will leave the GLPL and join the NPSL in the Midwest Region. GRFC began as a crowdfunded project in 2014. In their first season, Grand Rapids and had an average attendance of 4,500.

The Indiana Fire, who finished fourth and won the Midwest Region playoffs to become Midwest Region Champions, will have a new name. The Fire have announced a partnership with NASL’s Indy Eleven that will see the club renamed “Indy Eleven NPSL.” The coaching staffs remains the same.

On November 30, NPSL announced the addition of Rochester River Dogz FC, an expansion franchise. The Dogz will join the Midwest Region and play their home matches at Boulter Field, 12 miles from downtown Rochester in Webster, NY.

Then on December 1, NPSL announced that Kalamazoo, Michigan would be awarded an expansion franchise. The club name and home field are yet to be determined, but will most likely play in the Midwest Region with Michigan Rivals Grand Rapids FC, Detroit City FC, Lansing United, and the Michigan Stars.

Finally, the Cincinnati Saints have announced that they will be relocating to Dayton due to the arrival of FC Cincinnati in the USL. The Saints have rebranded as the “Dayton Dynamo,” taking the name of an indoor soccer team that played in Dayton from 1988-1995.

There will be at-least five new faces in 2016, but the region looks to be as competitive as ever.