Quarter Volley

Mmmm… road trip.

Every Monday/Tuesday I’m going to run the weekly roundup of local soccer, primarily focused on the semi-pro happenings in the area. Once these teams start hosting games that I can attend you’ll be seeing more in-depth posts on those games.

US WNT 6 - 0 Canada
Yeah, it wasn’t local in the sense that it was the National team, but it was at local because it was played at RFK Stadium. Natasha Kai’s hat trick as well as single goals by Carli Lloyd, Leslie Osborne and Lindsay Tarpley were more than enough for the US to dispatch with Canada. Kai’s hat trick came over a 21 minute span, with goals in the 54th, 60th, and 75th minute.

Freedom 3 - 1 Long Island Lady Rough Riders
Opening the defense of their 2007 W-League title on the road, the Washington Freedom defeated Long Island behind a Christie Welsh brace and a single goal by Sarah Huffman. Welsh’s first strike came on 6 minutes to give the Freedom a 1-0 lead which they held at halftime. Long Island’s goal did not come until the 80th minute. The Freedom open the season with 4 road games, not playing at home until June 1st. Next up is a May 15th date at the Fort Collins Force.

Royals 1 - 0 Hampton Roads Piranhas
The Northern Virginia Royals opened their season with a 1-0 victory over defending regular season champions Hampton Roads at their home field at Virginia Wesleyan College (what happened to the Hampton Roads Soccerplex?). The lone goal of the match came in the 2nd minute of 2nd half stoppage, courtesy of Royals forward David Atkinson. The Royals play Thursday 5/15 at the Fredericksburg Gunners before the hope opener at Fairfax High School against the Vermont Voltage on 5/17

Whew.

I’m incredulous.

This morning, it was disclosed that Luciano Emilio has been made, for all intents and purposes, a DP for the season. Usually I defend the Front Office until the moves they make prove to be errors, even if they really look like errors at the time. I can’t wait on this one.

If DC United had decided to make Luci a DP over the winter it would’ve been difficult to argue against them. He’d just won the Golden Boot and the MVP, and the team had just won the Supporters’ Shield. I would’ve supported the move. However, making the move now, 6 matches into the season with the team having a 2-0-4 record and Emilio having garnered just a goal and an assist, doesn’t make sense to me. Why are we rewarding him now for what he did last season when he’s started so poorly this season. He’s having trouble holding the ball. Well, he’s having trouble staying on his feet long enough to hold the ball, and it’s clear that he isn’t scoring. Looking ahead, this stands out to me as a big deal:

His original contract remains intact, but at some point this year, one of three things must occur: United must sign him to a new deal, trade him or sell him abroad.

Okay, so let’s say Emilio recovers and scores oh… 15 goals over the course of the season. After taking a statistical step back of 5 goals from the 2007 to 2008 seasons, the team would be justified in offering Emilio a new contract at less than what he makes now, and at less than DP money (see: Twellman, Taylor and his 16 goals for non DP money), but would Emilio accept that money now that he’s making a DP salary? I say no. If the club wants to keep him, they’re probably going to have to give him at least a minor raise. So then what happens? Emilio hasn’t earned the raise, so he tries his hand elsewhere, and the team is back to having a DP slot available. So why even let Emilio take up the DP slot to begin with if it’s going to end up being free at the end of the year? Sure, the club probably wasn’t going to go out and use the slot on a new player over the course of the year anyway, but now we certainly don’t have the option. And really, when’s the last time a professional athlete in any sport got the money and then ratcheted up their performance?

I hope Luci proves me wrong here, but for the time being I can’t defend this move. Not one bit.

Yes, DC United has a match tomorrow, but for the time being my focus is off of MLS and on…

Royals to open home schedule at Fairfax High School
In what appears to be a first round US Open Cup match, the Northern Virginia Royals are hosting the Vermont Voltage at Fairfax High School on Saturday May 17th at 7:00pm. Usually the team plays their home games in Woodbridge, but this match is an exception. Quarter Volley will likely be there.

Royals and Majestics matches find the same home
Originally the Royals’ schedule had them playing their home matches at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, VA. The Majestics’ schedule had them playing their home matches at something called “Hellwig Memorial Field Stadium.” Now the Royals’ schedule has them at Hellwig too. Originally I was not sure what/where Hellwig actually is. Now I have an idea.

This article on uslsoccer.com details some of the USL facilities that are getting Sprinturf installed. Written on April 28, 2008, the article says…

USL’s Northern Virginia Majestics (W-League) and Royals (PDL), along with their local youth club affiliate, the Northern Virginia Soccer Club, are the latest organizations to contract with Sprinturf. Groundbreaking on the new field in George Hellwig Memorial Park in Prince William County, VA will begin later this month.

…which sheds a little bit of light on the situation.
View Larger MapThe park is close to the Quantico base, and a bit further afield than Gar-Field High. The question then is as to where the games will be played if the groundbreaking has already happened. There appear to be two fields on the park grounds, so presumably they’ll be playing at one of those. I don’t see any bleachers on this sat image though, so I hope they’ve installed them since it was taken.

I don’t write a lot about European soccer, specifically the Champions League, but something needs to be addressed.

Yesterday’s semifinal at Stamford Bridge between Liverpool and Chelsea…

**SPOILER ALERT**

…went to extra time. As you know, there’s no more golden goal, so they were playing 30 minutes no matter what. ESPN ran a graphic about the rules governing the extra time, and contained within was the fact that away goals count.

Now I’m no fan of the away goals rule. I think it’s garbage, and that it assumes that every team’s home field advantage is the same, and punishes the teams for whom the advantage is inferior. But if the away goals rule must stay in Europe, then surely they shouldn’t make it so that away goals still count extra in extra time.

Look at it this way. Chelsea got their away goal (even if it was an own goal) in 90 minutes of soccer at Anfield. Liverpool got their away goal in 90 minutes of soccer at Stamford Bridge. That’s even. It’s a wash. But then Liverpool gets 30 minutes more to score an away goal that would count extra? How is that just? The teams played to an aggregate draw after 180 minutes of soccer. At that point the match should be played as if it was on neutral ground. If Liverpool had scored first to make it 2-1, then a goal by Chelsea should have sent the match to penalties. If UEFA wants to continue to use the away goals rule, then they need to abolish the bit about away goals counting in extra time.

4-0.

Really Tom Soehn shouldn’t need to write anything else but that on the board in the locker room. When DC United took to the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium, they were flat out embarassed by the home side. Not only is this reverse fixture a chance for retribution, but it’s also a chance to start the climb back up the table.

Heading into the match, the only apparent injury of concern is that to Devon McTavish. I am not a fan of the idea of playing him at the wide midfield spot, but not having him as an option to sub defensively is a bit of a worry, particularly with Gonzalo Peralta declared healthy but having recovered from a minor knee knock. With another wide midfield option, Domenic Mediate, doubtful with a hamstring injury, Santino Quaranta will get the start in place of McTavish, somewhere I wish he would have been playing all along. Everything else should be status quo.

After beating United 4-0, RSL came crashing back down to earth last weekend, losing 1-0 at Toronto. I’m waiting for my eternal optimism to be overtaken by realism, but since that isn’t happening anytime soon, all three points are United’s, 2-1.

I have very very little to say about Saturday night’s debacle in Salt Lake City, other than this:

How many times are we going to go to Salt Lake City, knowing that we have trouble winning there (from the end of The Streak to the beginning and immediate ending of the Jay Nolly experiment), and throw out a starting lineup that includes our backup goalkeeper among a group of reserves? Is a match on the road on that surface the right way to introduce a young reserve goalkeeper to MLS play? No. And it’s a sad state of things when I say “this match is going to either end 2-1 or 3-0″ only to see RSL score immediately after that and amend my moments-earlier statement to say “nevermind, it’s going to either end 3-0 or 4-0.” At that point there was no question in my mind that United were completely cooked, and coming to that conclusion is never a good thing.

It seems one of this blog’s favorites has left the country in search of greener soccer pastures. After being released from US Women’s National Team camp in February prior to the Algarve Cup, official Quarter Volley Favorite Joanna Lohman has gone to Sweden to ply her trade. She’s joined Balinge IF in Uppsala, where fellow American and former member of the Washington Freedom Noelle Keselica also plays.

While we are sad to learn that Jo is not returning to the Freedom this summer (the Swedish league season runs from April to October), it appears as though this is the right step for her to take to find her way back onto the WNT, especially if you believe this.

[Lohman] was released from the USA national team camp only last week and was encouraged by USA coach Pia Sundhage to take the offer from Bälinge as a way to keep sharp in case she will be called up again.

Even as a diehard supporter of DC United, I know that Saturday night’s 4-1 win over Toronto is not the cure-all victory. It was clear we were the better side from the beginning, and after the sending off of Kevin Harmse DC notched two more goals, putting their foot on the inferior and undermanned side’s throat and closing out the match. Still, there’s no question that it feels damn good.

Saturday’s win may not have been perfect, as I really would have liked to maintain the clean sheet, but I don’t think we need to split that hair in particular. A three goal victory, whether it’s 3-0, 4-1, or 5-2 is something to smile about, and smile I am. Emilio scored, Quaranta made an argument for either starting or being the first offensive option off the bench, and Gallardo appeared to keep the offense moving and even checked back to do some ball winning in the deep midfield. Defensively the Super Gonzalo Brothers had their fire flowers and invincibility stars working, even though I could do without Martinez getting adventurous with his dribbling.

The offensive awakening of the black and red was a relief. Two straight matches in all competitions that resulted in 0 goals was a worrisome turn of events at the very least. The four goal explosion on Saturday should be somewhat tempered by the fact that half of them came with United up a man, but the hope here is that the team has established the sort of offensive rhythm that could give us a shot at coming back from a 2-0 deficit on Wednesday night against Pachuca. And that’s just it, this team doesn’t have the luxury of basking in the glory of victory. They have to get ready for their midweek opponent. Perhaps it’s a good thing in that it should insure that they remain focused. Next up is Pachuca, and while I would still not be wagering money on us clawing all the way out of our 2-0 hole and forcing extra time or winning outright, I feel a lot better about it now than I did on Saturday afternoon. And really that’s the least I could ask for.