Well, the Legion played to a less-than-satisfying 0-0 draw with The™ Miami FC Thursday evening, so there is no Three Sparks action this weekend. The good news from the result is that the team is now 6th in the East, but tied on points with Hartford Athletic and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. They play Detroit City and Louisville City respectively, so there is a good chance that will hold. Teams below the playoff line could also pass all 3. It’s tight right now. The Legion also now have the second-longest unbeaten streak (5 games) in the Championship, bettered only by the Tampa Bay Rowdies who have not lost in any of their 7 games so far.
Anyway, that leaves everything wide open for your viewing pleasure this week. Here are our suggestions (all matches are on Saturday):
Best of the rest
Chattanooga Red Wolves v. Sarasota Paradise (2:00pm, ESPN+)
Normally we would not include any League One games, but the Legion heads up to Chattanooga next weekend for a USL Cup game. The Red Wolves aren’t good this season, sitting 15th of 17 with a 1-2-1 record. Those 4 games are the least played by any team across both tiers for some reason. The only win was against Greenville Triumph back at the start of the season; the Triumph is 14th. Chattanooga also lost the firest USL Cup game 0-1 to expansion side Corpus Christi, who are dead last in League One. Sarasota is also an expansion team this year, although they played 3 seasons in League Two. They are 13th so this should be a close game.
A big bonus: the Legion has a supporters’ bus heading up to the game. $15 bucks gets you a seat on the bus, a game ticket, drinks (fairly sure that doesn’t mean alcohol!) and entry to the pre-game tailgate. Details here.
Brooklyn FC v. Loudoun United (6:00pm, ESPN+)
Brooklyn is next up in league play two weeks from now. They lost to Miami 2-3 last week but only by virtue of an own goal (by ex-Legionary Thomas Vancaeyezeele). They are 11th but only 3 points behind the Legion. Loudoun is one of 3 winless teams (Sporting JAX and Monterey Bay being the others). They are however on 4 straight draws against good teams and have a reasonable chance to break their duck.
Louisville City v. Pittsburgh Riverhounds (6:00pm, CBS Sports Golazo Network)
Lou City has been underperforming lately, their 2 wins in the last 5 games being both 1-0 affairs over Brooklyn and JAX. The Riverhounds are similarly struggling a bit but as noted above we really want them to lose (as we would regardless of the opponent). This one could be surprisingly dull or a breakout game for one team.
Phoenix Rising v. San Antonio FC (9:00pm, ESPN+)
Phoenix holds the league’s best win streak at 3 games and look to have recovered from a somewhat rocky start to the season. San Antonio are top of the West. They are also usually good for some fireworks, although of their last 6 games overall they have had 3 0-0 draws (including the USL Cup game with the Legion). Conversely, last week’s 3-3 draw with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks was about as crazy as it gets.
Back in the Old Country
The Blues’ season ended last week with a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth, not too great a result that left the team 10th overall. Wrexham, by the way, also fell at the final hurdle, drawing 2-2 with playoff-bound Middlesbrough to end their consecutive promotion streak at 3.
The Birmingham City Ladies also finished their season last week, defeating Charlton Athletic 2-0 in dominant style and winning WSL2. The win was crucial as Crystal Palace were at the same time whipping Portsmouth 6-1. That was enough for the second automatic promotion slot and doomed Charlton to the playoff against WSL cellar-dweller Leicester City May 23rd.
Off the pitch there is not much news yet, except that the team may be looking to sell Marvin Ducksch. Ducksch, who was very much a bright spot this season, is on a 3-year contract but got into serious trouble with a drunk-driving charge in a 3-car wreck Easter weekend. He could be heading back to the Bundesliga, with Hertha Berlin reportedly interested.
