After a highly entertaining and/or controversial slate of games in Round 1, Round 2 of the 2015 USL Playoffs is upon us. Only one “MLS 2” club, New York Red Bulls II, remains. Last year’s champion, Sacramento Republic FC, was eliminated, so the USL Championship Trophy (which, according to the most reliable internet rumors, hasn’t even been made yet LOL) will definitely change hands this year. Who’s taking it home? One of these eight clubs!
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Rochester Rhinos vs. New York Red Bulls II
Head to Head: 2W-1D-0L to the Rhinos, with five goals for and two against. The last match was a five goal thriller in Rochester, though, a 3-2 Rhinos win.
“Analysis”: New York is fairly average on the road, with one more loss than they’ve won on the season. Rochester, obviously, was unbeaten at home on the season and only drew twice. Even more terrifying, they only gave up five goals at home in 14 matches. New York can take some comfort in the fact that they at least scored two of those five goals in the last match of the season. There’s no telling what roster the Baby Bulls will take to Rochester, but New York is a team built on speed and counterattacking. Unfortunately for them, Rochester is almost perfectly suited to defend against that sort of thing, and most other things, I guess.
The Pick: Rochester 2-1 New York
Louisville City FC vs. Charleston Battery
I’m gonna save my valuable insight on this one for the March to the Match coming up tomorrow morning. Come back and see!
Orange County Blues vs. LA Galaxy II
Head to Head: 1-1-2 for Orange County. The most recent match was a 1-2 win for the Galaxy.
“Analysis”: This is a tough match to pick because Western Conference. Both of these teams had long hot streaks this season, though LA lost four in a row before its last match of the season against Colorado Springs, and then its win in Sacramento last weekend. Ariel Lassiter and Jack McBean are MLS-caliber players and lead Los Dos in scoring, while the Blues goal scorers are much more democratic, four players having at least six on the season. Both teams scored and conceded just over thirty goals this season. This should be a good matchup once they figure out where it will be played, as Anteater Stadium wasn’t available to the Blues on Saturday.
The Pick: I like Orange County 2-0.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Oklahoma City Energy FC vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Head to Head: 1-1-0 to Oklahoma City.
“Analysis”: You could pretty much cut and paste the “analysis” part of the last match on to this one. Both teams score a lot, both give up a lot of goals. Colorado scores more, I guess – 53 on the year, second only to Louisville City. Both defenses let in almost the exact same number of goals on the season.
The Pick: I like OKC’s chances at home, but I don’t trust them. 1-2 to Colorado Springs.
