Conference Finals: all you need to know

Another great week for the Forge’s predictions. We were correct in 3 of 4 games, so we are now 10 of 12 for the playoffs so far. Not bad at all. Now we are down to just four teams and three games in the season before we go into the long dark night of the offseason. The game we missed was, unsurprisingly, the Rhode Island win over Players’ Shield winners Louisville City.

Both games this week will be played Saturday; barring extra time in the early game they will not overlap.

#2 Charleston Battery v. #5 Rhode Island (7:00pm, ESPN+)

The Battery went down early against the Tampa Bay Rowdies but came roaring back for the 2-1 win. They threw a massive 25 shots at Jordan Farr’s goal and 11 were on target. The Rowdies had no real response ad that ended up as Farr’s last USL appearance as he signed with DC United soon after the game. Rgode Island did the near-impossible, beating Louisville City 3-0 at Lynn Family Stadium. Lou City’s best chance was a penalty right as time expired and they even blew that. Rhody also blew a penalty (this seems to be a trend in the playoffs) but converted the rebound. Oh, and JJ Williams got a brace to add to his hat-trick last week. This game should be filled with action but the Battery will be all in to bring the final back to Patriots Point for the second straight year. Prediction: 0-0 and 1-1 in the regular season for these two. That’s not much help. Charleston win.

#2 Colorado Springs Switchbacks v. #4 Las Vegas Lights (9:00pm, CBS Sports Golazo Network)

The Switchbacks went down a goal to Orange County after just 4 minutes on a horrific goalkeeping error by Christian Herrera. They got back on even terms just 6 minutes later with a Zach Zandi goal and it stayed that until 15 minutes into extra time when Zandi doubled his tally for the win. Overall it was a pretty even game. No goalie flubs in Albuquerque as Raiko Arozarena carried the Lights on his back to a 1-0 win over Western champs New Mexico United despite being outshot 19-6 and 7-1 on target. And that one shot on goal was in the 86th minute. Still, they look like the better team in this week’s matchup. Prediction: These two went 3-3 and 1-1 in the regular season, so there could be some fireworks in this one. Las Vegas win.

Back in the Old Country

As previously noted, Birmingham City’s game against Stevenage this weekend has been postponed due to international call-ups. With several League One teams experiencing the same problems, there is now a growing movement for the league to observe the international calendar and avoid these issues. That won’t help the Blues much, though, as it would not take effect until at least next season. By then, they will hopefully be back in the Championship.

That objective wasn’t helped too much in last week’s game against Northampton Town, however. The good guys took the lead after 58 minutes on a Jay Stansfield goal only to blow it in the 6th minute of second half stoppage time to end 1-1. That was despite 78% possession and outshooting the visitors 23-5 (the teams managed 3 shots on target each, which goes some way to explaining the result). That leaves the team truly in second place, 2 points behind Wycombe Wanderers who have played one additional game.

The Blues will be back in action Saturday, November 23rd (6:30am) at Shrewsbury Town, who are dead last in League One.