Here’s a brief overview of NPSL Final Four topics: 1. How will CFC cope with the loss of starters Russell Courtney, Tim Sparks, Ivan Heredia and Chris Ochieng? 2. What are our opponents like? 3. How many Chattahooligans will make the trek to the semi-final on Thursday night?
Here are our attempts at answers:
1. Four seasoned starters out:
This past weekend defender Russell Courtney suffered a knee injury that will keep him out of the Final Four competition. He is the latest in a slow series of starters lost over the course of the season. As you’ve noticed, up until now we’ve been able to carry on without noticeable drop off in talent. Tim Sparks went out early in the season with a hamstring injury, and we seemed to find a suitable replacement as the defense held strong in games that followed. Ivan Heredia left the squad over halfway through the season due to schedule or work complications of some sort. Still we managed to maintain the midfield. Two weeks ago Chris Ochieng went out with a dislocated ankle. We seemed to score well against Rocket City anyway, but were decidedly lacking in attack against DC United.
While Courtney was able to play most of Saturday’s game against DC United, these three other starters were absent. In our estimation, the DC United squad was a little bit stronger than the FC Atlas U23 squad, though the two teams are very close in talent level. We had those three players for the Atlas game and we won 2-1. Without them we lost 3-0 to DC.
So is the sum of the loss greater than the individual parts? Of course.
The bigger question is: how to substitute for Russell? It has been clear that Coach Crossman has been reluctant to substitute any defenders until a good lead is established. Thomas Clark is equal to Courtney in size, but based on his defending last year vs his offensive position this year, it is clear he is not comfortable as a defender. John Calderwood played well for short minutes in the past 3 games, but is he strong enough for a whole game?
Well, it won’t be easy and we do not envy the coaching staff. Perhaps a large part of the answer lies in the level of skill in the competition. Should they be equal to our NPSL Southeast Region opponents, we have a fine chance. But if they are stronger?
2. Our opponents:
Our opponent on Thursday, the third ranked Madison 56ers from the NPSL Midwest Region: This is the third Midwest Championship for the Wisconsin team. They went 8-2-0 in NPSL league play, with losses to the Chicago Fire NPSL squad as well as the St Paul Twin Stars. They went 2-3-1 in friendly matches for an overall record of 10-5-1. The team seems well-balanced statistically, with many players scoring a few goals. Scoring leader Adam Lysak has 5 goals on the season. Starting goalkeeper Jon Szafranski averages one goal against per game.
They are coached by Head Coach Jim Launder and Assistant Coach (and player?) Henry Aiyenero. Launder, 57, was fired by University of Wisconsin in February of 1997, after 15 years as coach and a little more than a year after leading the Badgers to the NCAA title. The Badgers made the NCAA tournament in four of Launder’s final six years but have not returned since. After leaving UW, Launder was hired as the coach at Dayton, where he took a team that finished in last place the year before and led it to the Atlantic-10 title and an NCAA berth in his first year. Launder works as a scout for the U.S. Soccer Academies Program, is the coach of the Princeton 56ers and serves as director of coaching for the WYSA.
Fourth ranked Sacramento will face first place FC Sonic in the other semi:
Sacramento Gold
Managed by Richard Novoa, Sacramento went 7-1-2 in NPSL league play, winning both the West Region regular season and the playoff tournament. The West Region champions have a player who has 15 goals in only 7 games! Manolo Piña was even out for a month with a face injury. Now he is back and is on a roll.
FC Sonic
Coached by Dave Weitzman, the Lehigh Valley (PA) won the NPSL Northeast Region’s Keystone Conference by one point with a 1-0 88th minute goal victory over the Eerie Admirals. FC Sonic finished the regular season with a 10-1-1 record in NPSL play. They then went on to defeat the New York Red Bulls Academy team 3-2 in the Northeast Region Championship.
Coach Weitzman is also General Manger at Iron Lakes Sports Club and Director of Operations for FC Lehigh United youth soccer club. His previous coaching experience includes positions at Muhlenberg College, Lehigh University, Parkland High School and other Lehigh Valley soccer programs.
FC Sonic won the NPSL 2008 National Championship as the “Pennsylvania Stoners” but did not participate in the 2009 season.
3. How many Chattahooligans will be there on Thursday?
Our team needs you. Let’s swamp Madison AL with at least 250 fans on Thursday and cheer our CFC onto victory!
FYI, stoners did play in 2009, they finished 3rd in the Keystone Conference.
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