The Kickoff

USSF D2 officially opens up today with two matches:
AC St. Louis at Carolina
Rochester at Miami

There is no official TV, however, live online streaming is available from the teams website.

The NASL launches a new and improved website: http://www.nasl.com
Given the issues with MLS' new site, perhaps they should take some notes.

Soccer By Ives previews the D2 season: http://http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2010/04/ussf-division-2-season-preview-nasl-conference.html#more

Former New York Red Bulls Goaltender Daniel Cepero has reappeared with the Harrisburg City Islanders.

Our thoughts go out to DC United rookie Goalkeeper Andrew Quinn. Quinn will be sidelined 5 months with a knee injury.

Why am I not playing soccer right now?

Crystal Palace Baltimore has rescheduled it's friendly against DC United from never to April 5th. Details: http://www.palacebaltimore.com/home/415724.html

Crystal Palace Baltimore 1
Real Maryland 0

Goal by Randi Patterson.

Miami FC 4
St. Thomas University 0

NSC Minnesota Stars are up 2-0 in the 19th minute against the Des Moines Menace.

Palace Friendly

The Crystal Palace Baltimore-DC United friedly is never going to happen...errr...I mean...postponed until further notice.

Palace takes on USL 2's Real Maryland today at 6:30pm.

A USSF Division 2 season preview: http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2010/03/31/2010-ussf-division-ii-pro-league-season-preview-nasl-usl-soccer/

Under The Weather

Carolina Railhawks 1
Montreal Impact 1
The game report: http://www.nasl.com/news.php?id=106

Austin Aztex 2
Laredo Heat (PDL) 1
The game report: http://usl1.uslsoccer.com/home/414168.html


Crystal Palace Baltimore's game versus DC United today was cancelled. The official reason: weather. My speculation? DC United played terribly Saturday night and has alot of injury issues.

Saturday Afternoon

Crystal Palace Baltimore 1
Harrisburg City Islanders 0

Tampa Bay Rowdies 3
UCF 0

Portland Timbers 2
Vancover Whitecaps 0
The Game Report: http://ow.ly/1rrcL

Carolina plays Montreal tonight.

Crystal Palace Baltimore Striker Jordan Seabrook has set up an official twitter account. twitter.com/JordanSeabrook

Austin Aztex Insurance Company

Former MLS MVP Christian Gomez has signed with Miami FC.

Austin signs forward Maxwell Griffin to a one year deal with a team option for two more years. Griffin is a UCLA alum who scored 28 goals in his college career.

Austin also released forward Leonel Saint-Preux and goalkeeper Ben Dragavon after failing to pass physicals for "pre-existing conditions."

Apparently, Austin is an insurance company.

Does Anything Really Rythme With Wednesday?

According to www.rythmezone.com, no.

(The?) NSC Minnesota Stars intrasquad scrimmage ends 2-2. The game report: http://www.nscminnesota.org/news/features_blogs/412694.html

Montreal Impact 1
Charleston Battery 1

Miami FC unveils their uniforms tomorrow.

DC Reunion in Minnesota

DC United trialist Two-Boys Gumede sings with NSC Minnesota. Gumede is a 5'9" forward out of UAB. Gumede joins former DC United goalkeeper Louis Crayton in Minnesota.

If you google "Two Boys," Gumede is number 6 on the list. I wouldn't click on any of the other links if I were you.

Rochester signs former Toronto FC midfielder Tyler Rosenlund.

It's All About Results

New England Revolution 2
Carolina Railhawks 1

Kansas City Wizards 2
AC St. Louis 0
Pictures: http://sodagraphics.blogspot.com/

Vancouver Whitecaps 5
University of Victoria 0

Rochester Rhinos 1
Montreal Impact 0

Crystal Palace Baltimore 1
West Virginia University 1

Portland will take on Puntarenas (Costa Rica) May 1st.

This is where the title goes

Tampa Bay Rowdies 1
Philadelphia Union 0

Goal by Aaron Wheeler.

A week away from a possible MLS strike, you have to wonder what intensity the MLS players are bringing to these games.

Today:
Carolina takes on New England. The preview: http://carolinarailhawks.com/article/railhawks-revved-for-new-england

Crystal Palace Baltimore takes on West Virginia University. Last time I checked, it was at 11am, Maryland SoccerPlex Field 18. But it's been moved twice before, so who knows.

Palace News

Crystal Palace Baltimore adds former striker Gary Brooks and defender John Jonke.

Brooks, 29, spent last season with Real Maryland, scoring 6 goals in 14 games.

Jonke, 23, is a 6'2" defender who spent last season at AC Oulu in Finland.

Crystal Palace's friendly this saturday against West Virginia University has been moved to 11am at the Maryland SoccerPlex, field 18.

Tampa Bay plays MLS Side Philadelphia Union tomorrow.

NSC Minnesota Stars unveil their 2010 kits: http://www.nscminnesota.org/news/press_releases/410997.html

Miami FC sings goalkeeper Lance Parker. Parker, 24, spent last season with Chivas USA.

More signings

Tampa Bay gets FC Dallas goalkeeper Josh Lambo on loan.

Miami FC signs 6, including forward Abe Thompson. Thompson spent the last 4 seasons in MLS, most recently with Houston. Thompson is a former player at the University of Maryland.

Palace Returnee's

9 Crystal Palace Baltimore Players return from last season's roster, they are:
Andrew Marshall
Stephen Basso
Paul Robson
Zack Flores
Dan Lader
Val Teixeira
Neil Vranis
Pat Healey
Jordan Seabrook

11 players will not return.

Carolina signed Defender Ramak Safi. Safi earned his position through an open tryout.

NSC Minnesota Stars sign two goalkeepers: Joe Warren and former DC United keeper Louis Crayton.

Sunday

Today:
In a return match, Austin takes on the Houston Dynamo at 5pm. Austin and Houston drew 1-1 last week.

Yesterdays Results:
Tampa Bay 2
FC Dallas 2

Chad Burt scored a free kick from 30 yards out.

The article: http://fctampabay.com/news/index.html?article_id=9172

Tampa Bay takes on the Philadelphia Union March 19th.

Friendly Results

New York Red Bulls 3
Miami FC 1

The article: http://www.miamifc.com/article_info.php?articles_id=439

Portland Timbers 1
Seattle Sounders 0

Trialist Striker O.J. Obatola scored in the 44th minute.
The recap: http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/409400.html

Tampa Bay takes on FC Dallas tonight.

Well. At least we had offense.

Q & A with Korey Veeder: http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/ussoccerplayers/2010/03/10-questions-with-korey-veeder.html

Palace Baltimore loses the friendly v. Loyola 4-3. The good news? Palace never scored 3 goals in a game last season.

The Starting XI: Bush, Robson, Marshall, Jonke, Nishimura, Versailles, Sanchez, Yoshitake, Mbuta, Patterson, Perez.

2 players from last seasons roster.

Tampa Bay will play a friendly tommorow against FC Dallas.

Palace Add Two

Crystal Palace Baltimore added more firepower today with the addition of two players:

Yaikel Perez: 25 year old striker who spent the last two seasons with Sevilla Bayamon in the Puerto Rican 1st Division. Perez was part of the Cuban National Team before defecting.

Kenold Versailles: 25 year old, 6'2" central midfielder who spent last season with Vancouver. (8 games, 1 goal) Prior to Vancover he played 110 games and scored 17 goals over five years in the Haitian First Division. He has 5 caps for the Haitian National Team.

Crystal Palace Baltimore takes on Loyola University tomorrow in a friendly at 7pm. For further details: http://www.palacebaltimore.com/home/405694.html

Harada Trial Ends

Friendly:
Austin Aztex 1
Houston Dynamo 1

Austin scored on an own-goal by Bobby Boswell. Houston tied the game in the 86th minute. Brian Ching missed a PK. The Game Report: http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/407942.html

The Washington Post's Steve Goff is reporting former Crystal Palace Baltimore Midfielder/Defender Shintaro Harada's trial at DC United has ended after a week.

Weekend Friendly

Vancover Whitecaps 0
Seattle Sounders 0

The "highlights": http://ow.ly/1fa6T

The Tampa Bay Rowdies tie the University of Tampa 2-2 in front of 1,500 spectators. The Rowdies tied the game up on an 87th minute own goal.

Long Live The Weekend

AC St. Louis will play the Kansas City Wizards twice this preseason: March 20th and April 3rd.

Crystal Palace Baltimore's second home game against Puerto Rico has been rescheduled to Saturday, April 24th at 7pm.

Miami FC will take on the New York Red Bulls March 12th. Miami takes on FIU tomorrow.

Mbuta Is Back

As speculated about 3 weeks ago, Matthew Mbuta has re-signed with Crystal Palace Baltimore. Mbuta had 3 goals in 12 games in MLS for the New York Red Bulls. In 2007, Mbuta was named to the USL 2 All-League First-Team with 5 goals and 7 assists in 16 games. Last season, Mbuta had 1 goal in 2 games on loan at Palace.

The Carolina Railhawks go on the road to take on Elon University, Friday at 7pm.

Vancover will play the Seattle Sounders this Saturday, March 6th at 4pm. The game preview: http://ow.ly/1dT2u

In Portugal, Montreal loses 2-1 to Celta Vigo.

Austin signs 24 year old, 6'1" forward Leonel Saint-Preux. Saint-Preux has 14 caps and 1 goal for the Haitian National Team.

Harada On Trial With DC United

The Washington Post's Steve Goff reports that former Crystal Palace Baltimore midfielder/defender Shintaro Harada is on trial with DC United. It is thought that United is look at Harada for a central defensive role.

We here at BCPB think Harada is best as a defensive/holding midfielder, but what do we know?

Miami FC signs 3 Defenders:
Cristiano "Kaka (not that one)" Dias, a 6'3" Brazilian
Mike Randolph, ex-LA Galaxy, and
Chris Gbandi, formerly of FC Dallas and FK Haugesund (Norway 1st Division)

Montreal continues their tour of Portugal with a match verse Celta De Vigo Wednesday.

Carolina re-signs 6' Striker Sallieu Bundu. Bundu, 26, has scored 14 goals in a 38 game USL career with Cleveland and Carolina. He has 4 caps for the Sierra Leone National Team.

Palace Pre-Season Schedule

Palace's pre-season schedule is released: http://www.nasl.com/news.php?id=80

Palace will play Loyola University on Wednesday, March 10 at 7pm. Admission is free. The event will serve as a fundraiser for Haiti. The facebook page: http://www.nasl.com/news.php?id=80

Loyola Alum and ex-DC United goalkeeper Milos Kocic is expected to attend.

The game will be played at the brand new Ridley Stadium Athletic Complex.

Elsewhere..
Carolina signs goalkeeper Nic Platter. Platter played 58 out of 60 games for the Minnesota Thunder over the past 2 years.

NSC Minnesota Stars signed their 8th player, Kyle Altman. Altman, 24, is a 6'1" Defender. He was a 2008 draft pick of the New England Revolution.

The Harrisburg City Islanders formed a partnership with MLS' Philadelphia Union. Philadelphia will have an option to loan players to Harrisburg.

Places warmer/colder than here

Miami FC announces it will play its home games at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

Carolina defeated Wake Forest 2-1 in a friendly on 2 goals by Andriy Budnyy.

If you're not watching the USA-Canada hockey gold medal game today, I don't know why.

Quavas Kirk and DC

The Impact's friendly in Portugal today has been cancelled due to the weather.

Interviews with (the?) NSC Minnesota Stars players: http://www.nscsports.org/community/nsctv.htm

The Austin Aztec's added Defender Leonard Griffin. Griffin, 27, signed a three year contract. He spent last season with the LA Galaxy. Prior to LA, Griffin played for Portland.

Portland now has 19 players under contract, recently re-signing Scot Thompson. Thompson is in his seventh year with the club, tallying 144 games, 9 goals and 9 assists.

Portland Timbers player Quavas Kirk (ex-DC United) Q&A: http://usl1.uslsoccer.com/home/405190.html

Washington D.C. was Kirk's favorite place to play.

Friday Night

Carolina signs midfielder Jun Marques Davidson. Davidson, 26, is 6'1" and has played professionally in Japan since 2002, last with Albirex Niigata in the first division.

Miami FC promoted assistant coach Victor Pastora to head coach. Fernando Clavijo had some nice things to say, but we here at BCPB don't pay attention to Fernando Clavijo because we have seen him coach.

AC St. Louis signed 6 players. The highlights: Jeferson Lima de Menezes ("Gauchinho" for short, don't ask me how) who previously played for Naestved BK (Norway: 4 years, 87 games, 15 goals) and Flamengo (Brazil, duh). and...
Alex Dufty 23 year old goalkeeper. Spent last season with the New York Red Bulls.

Tomorrow Is Friday

Carolina signs Maltese International Etienne Barbara. Barbara, 27, is a 6'1" striker. He has 30 caps and 3 goals for the National Team.

NSC Minnesota Stars sign 4 new players, including Neil Hlavaty, a 23 year old midfielder who spent 2007 with Cleveland before playing in Sweden and Poland.

Montreal Impact 5
SC Freamunde (Portugal Second Division) 1

The game report: http://www.impactmontreal.com/News/News.aspx?language=EN&ArticleID=1316&Focus=0

Americans In Norway

Miami FC signs Kyle Veris. Veris, 26, was born in Washington DC and made 18 appearances for the LA Galaxy between 2006-2007. After LA, Veris spent a season in Norway's First Divison (the Tippeligaen) at I.L. Hodd and was last with Puerto Rico.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies unleased their new uniforms, and the away uniforms are awful. They're just awful. http://fctampabay.com/news/index.html?article_id=9148

Portland signs US Goalkeeper Adin Brown. Brown, 31, spent the last 5 years at Aalesunds FK in the Norweigan First Division. Brown is currently nursing a foot injury and isn't expected to be available until mid-June.

Canada in Portugal

Montreal will face SC Freamunde (Portguese Second Division, or "Liga de Honra" for those of you who are really picky.) Freamunde finished 7th out of 16 teams last season, going 10-11-7.

Tampa Bay is set to announce their uniform colors tomorrow.

Baltimore Roster Breakdown: Part Two

Midfielders:
Aduato Neto: 29, 5'10" Attacking midfielder who has spent the past 5 years playing indoors in America. Last outdoor season was 2004 in Rochester. Spent 2002 with the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) Only has one goal in his adult professional outdoor career.

Santiago Fusilier: 26, 5'9" Spent last season in Argentina training with Chacarita Juniors. (Recently promoted to the Primera Division.) Made 40 appearances for Carolina between 2007-2008 with 4 goals.

Lucio Luiz de Oliveira Gonzaga: 29, Developed his game in Brazil, last with AD Sao Caetano. Most recently played with Real Maryland. (7 games, 2 goals).

Tsuyoshi Yoshitake: 28, 5'8" Another recent signing from Charleston. Played 27 games last year with 6 goals and 5 assists. Started his career in the J-League (Tokyo Verdy 1969, Yokohama FC) where he totaled 150 games, 15 goals and 10 assists.

Pat Healey: 24, 5'11" Played collegiately at Towson. In 2 seasons with Baltimore, has played 38 games with 7 goals and 3 assists. Finished second in minutes played for Baltimore midfielders last season.

Bryan Harkin: 29, 5'10" Has been with Palace for three seasons and logged 48 games total. (1 goal, 3 assists). Only played 14 games last year.

Dan Lader: 26, 6'1" Salisbury University product. Had 3 goals and 1 assist in 18 games last year, finishing third on the team in points. 32 career appearances for Palace.

Comlan "Kevin" Gnatiko: 23, 5'7" UMBC alum. Logged 16 games but only 552 minutes last season in a substitute role. Didn't make it onto the scoresheet.

Forwards:
Randi Patterson: 24, 5'9" 2007 draft pick of the New York Red Bulls. Spent last season with Charleston. (29 games, 6 goals, 2 assists) Has 2 caps for the Trinidad & Tobago National Team.

Val Teixeira: 32, 6'3" Led the team last season in points. (5 goals in 18 games.) Had nearly twice as many shots (43) as any other player on the roster.

Thoughts on the players?

New Signings

Carolina re-signs Andriy Budnyy. Budnyy, 27, had 5 goals in 21 games last season.

AC St. Louis signs 27 year old midfielder Luke Kreamalmeyer. He becomes the fifth player on the roster. Kreamalmeyer was a 2005 draft pick of Real Salt Lake and spent last season with Carolina.

Miami FC signs two players, including Guyana National Team member JP Rodrigues. (9 caps.)

The Portland timbers now have 9 signed players and 22 trialists. A list: http://www.uslsoccer.com/home/403634.html

What's the difference between USSF2 and MLS?

Vancover Whitecaps 2
Real Salt Lake 1

Both Vancouver goals scored by Marlon James.

Match Report: http://ow.ly/19wbe

The difference may be that USSF 2 will have a season this year.

Baltimore Roster Breakdown

With the pre-season just beginning, let's take a look at how Crystal Palace Baltimore's roster is forming. New players are in italics.

Goalkeepers:
Chase Harrison: 25, 6'3" Virginia Tech product. Drafted by in 2006 by Real Salt Lake but soon found himself in USL 1 with Rochester and Portland. Spent last season in USL 2 with Harrisburg. Led USL 2 in shutouts (8 in 16 games) and GAA (0.812). Finished 8-4-4.

Evan Bush: 23, 6'2" spent 3 seasons in the PDL before landing in the backup spot at Cleveland (USL 1) last season. Pitched 2 clean sheets in 7 games for a sub-par team.

Defenders:
Shaun Pejic: 27, 6'2" central defender. Prior experience with Vancover and English Conference Side York City FC. Started his career with 8 years at Wrexham AFC. (League 1, League 2, Conference)

Takuro Nishimura: 32, 5'9" Last played with Portland. Career started in the J-League with the Urawa Red Giants (J-League 1) and Omiya Ardija (J-League 1 and 2).

Korey Veeder: 18, US Youth National Team Member. Useful in defense and midfield. Signed with Palace Baltimore. However, it appears Veeder will travel across the pond shortly to join up Palace UK (and perhaps end up at G.D. Estroil in Portugal). Unless the situation changes, Veeder will not likely be a big part of Palace's lineup this year.

Andrew Marshall: 26, 6' Played his college soccer at Towson. Solidly built defender who helped anchor a good Palace defense last season. Marshall has spent his entire career with Baltimore and has made 58 appearances for the club.

Stephen Basso: 22, 6'1"A bit undersized for a central defender, Basso compensates with speed, athleticism and his skills on the ball. Has experience in Europe.

Paul Robson: 26, 5'9" A staple at defense last year, Robson played more minutes than any other field player except Marshall and Shintaro Harada and notched two assists.

Zach Flores: 27, 5'11" Commited just 13 fouls in 19 games last year. Was also the Palace defender who suffered the most fouls. We'll try to forget about the two own goals he had in the friendly against Palace UK. We'll try to focus on 8 years of experience he has in Argentina and Bolivia. We'll try.

What are your thoughts on the players? Did I miss anyone? Disagree?

Midfielders and Forwards to come...

USL updates

The Austin Aztex sign goalkeeper Ben Dragavon. Dragavon spent last season as part of the MLS reserve goalkeeper pool, often finding himself with the Seattle Sounders.

The Aztec's have announced two games against the Houston Dynamo: March 7th and March 14th.

Puerto Rico adds three players, including Richard Martinez. Martinez has 5 caps for the Puerto Rican National Team.

Minnesota Makes It 3

Forward Brian Cvilikas becomes the 3rd NSC Minnesota Stars. Cvilikas, 25, spent last season with USL1 Minnesota Thunder. (32 games, 6 goals) He, somehow, becomes the easiest last name to spell currently on the Minnesota roster.

Meanwhile, Portland signed defender Ian Joy. Joy, 28, who spent last season with Real Salt Lake and has 8 years of experience in Europe.

Palace Makes It Official

We here at BCPB reported it a while ago, but now it's official:

Palace Baltimore Goalkeeper Brian Rowland will become an Assistant Coach for the University of Maryland men's soccer program. He will not be back with the team this season.

Chase Harrison (Harrisburg) will compete with newly signed Evan Bush (Cleveland) for the starting job.

While highly regarded, both goalkeepers are quite young. Harrison 25 and Bush 23. How will they fare against USSF D2 Competition?

Also reported earlier, the Montreal Impact are now in Portugal for pre-season training. They will face several Portuguese teams including League 1's Rio Ave FC.

Not reported earlier, but reported now: Rochester signed Midfielder Darren Spicer (Charleston, 66 games, 10 goals 5 assists).

The Washington Post's Steve Goff reports that Crystal Palace Baltimore will play DC United in a pre-season friendly March 29 at 11am at the RFK training fields. DC will also take on Real Maryland April 11, 11am.

Palace's New Deal

Crystal Palace Baltimore announced today that purchasers of Season Tickets will receive a Crystal Palace Baltimore scarf (not for general sale to the public), coupons for local businesses and entry into a prize drawing for a trip for two to London to see a Crystal Palace UK game and a Premier League game featuring one of the "big four."

If you have to ask who the "big four" are, you probably don't deserve to win.

NSC Minnesota Stars sign local product Andrei Gotsmanov. Gotsmanov becomes the second player in Minnesota history. Season ticket information will be released later this week.

Another PDL Champion Ventura County Fusion player has landed a USSF D2 contract. Midfielder Hagop Chirishian (16 games, 5 goals, 3 assists) joins AC St. Louis, who added 4 players today for a total of 16 players under contract.

Rivals, Rhinos

With Real Maryland and Western Massachusetts out of the picture, who will be Crystal Palace Baltimore's big rival? "I don't know" said one Palace player, "I guess we'll play a season and see who we hate the most."

Rochester signs 2 former Chivas USA draftpicks: Anthony Hamilton and Isaac Kissi. Hamilton, 24, played last season for PDL Champions Ventura County Fusion notching 8 goals and 3 assists in 16 matches.

Interview with Montreal's Matt Jordan on CONCACAF TV: http://www.concacaf.com/page/VideosDetail/0,,12813~1964518,00.html

Ring In The New

The Portland Timbers signed Central Defender Ross Smith from Ebbsfleet United (English Conference National/Blue Square Premier)

A team of Timbers trialists will face the University of Portland in a special charity match for Haiti, February 17th at Merlo Field.

The Timbers will take on the San Jose Earthquakes in a friendly on March 20th at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Scandinavian Football Teams Have The Best Names

Carolina signs midfield Floyd Franks. Franks spent the past 2 seasons with Blockhus FC in Denmark's Second Division. While in Denmark, Franks played 33 matches tallying 4 goals and 13 assists.

Crystal Palace Baltimore is looking for sales staff and interns. This years interns will make twice as much as last years interns.

NSC Minnesota Stars are also hiring interns. Pay is $8-$10 an hour.

Vancouver takes on the Chicago Fire today. In the 58th minute, Chicago leads 4-1.

UK and America

Crystal Palace UK ties Aston Villa 2-2 in the 5th Round of the FA Cup. Replay next week at Villa Park.

I'm told the Crystal Palace Baltimore pre-season schedule is set but is not available to the public yet.

As previously reported here, Crystal Palace Baltimore is likely looking to fill a roster hole at goalkeeper. Is former New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Danny Cepero an option? Probably not, says a source.

On that note, I'm told Richmond (USL 2) goalkeeper Mark Murphy recently trained with Crystal Palace Baltimore. However, it appears Murphy is still under contract and not currently an option.

Sleepy Sunday

Approximately 600 people attended an inter-squad match between featuring players from Montreal Impact and it's reserve side the Trois-Rivieres Attak. The Blue team, composed mainly of senior players, won 3-0 on goals by Tony Donatelli, Reda Agourram and Roberto Brown. Dontelli, 25, resides in nearby Glendale, PA and played his college soccer at Temple.

The Impact will be on the their way to Portugal for training shortly.

The Carolina RailHawks will play the New England Revolution in the second annual Community Shield match on March 20 at WakeMed Soccer Park. Carolina won the Shield last year 1-0. Carolina will play a friendly versus Montreal a week later on March 27.

Portland opens it's mini-camp tomorrow in preparation for the season.

Austin will take on the Houston Dynamo March 14 at Nelson field.

Crystal Palace UK is tied 1-1 at halftime with Aston Villa.

Palace Player News

BCPB has confirmed the signing of goalkeeper Chase Harrison. Harrison, 25, was a 2006 draft pick for Real Salt Lake. Harrison never saw action for RSL, but has experience with Rochester and Portland. Harrison spent last season with Harrisburg (USL 2) where he registered 8 shutouts in 16 games. He led USL 2 in shutouts and GAA (0.812).

Elsewhere, I'm told by a source...
Goalkeeper Brian Rowland, starting keeper for practically the club's entire history, has been selected for a coaching position at the University of Maryland College Park. Congratulations to Brian. This is a dream job for any soccer player and we wish him the best of luck.

Goalkeeper Will Chiles is currently the goalkeeping coach at Towson and may not be back with the club.

Will Palace Baltimore fans see former US U-17 National Team midfielder Korey Veeder this season? Veeder, 18, has been expected to join Crystal Palace UK before heading to Portugal for two years for eligibility purposes. Will the European club fighting financial issues derail this plan? I'm told the plan is still on and Veeder will head over to CPUK shortly.

How many players will be back from last season? I'm told about 10. Who will they be? We'll have to stay tuned.

Team workouts start next week.

NSC Minnesota Stars Create A Color

Minnesota announced today that it's home uniform will be cobalt blue. Away uniforms will be "Sunshine (Yellow)"

I didn't realize sunshine was a color.

Interview with Minnesota Coach Manny Lagos and first player Johnny Menyonger:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=105268562833200

Thanks to the Palace Squires, USL 2 Updates

We here (ok, "I"here) at BCPB would like thank the Palace Squires for the mention on their website. Having attended Palace games with both the general masses and the Squires, I can say first-hand that the Squires provide a great atmosphere. Check out their website: http://www.palacesquires.com/

With the USSF is overseeing the new USL/NASL, they have launched a website for the league.
http://www.ussoccer.com/USSF-D2-Pro-League/USSF-D2-Pro-League.aspx

With neither the USL or the NASL website going out of their way to acknowledge eachothers teams, this is presumably the official website of the league. Did they spare no expense on the site? You be the judge.

USL 2:

The USL Reports that 72 players from 22 different nations are at the Charleston Battery's tryouts.

Richmond re-signed goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale, 33, for an eleventh season with the club. It is believed that this will be Pascale's final season.

Snowy Saturday

The Montreal Impact will hold an intersquad match at 3:30 p.m. at the Bell Sports Complex in Broussard. Admission is free. Montreal estimates attendance at their last intersquad match at 800.

Miami FC and the Carolina Railhawks are holding open tryouts.

Yesterday's Friendly:
Seattle Sounders 3
Vancouver Whitecaps 2

Vancouver went up 2-0 in the first half on goals by Marlon James and Ansu Toure. Seattle fought back in the second half.

Full Match Report: http://www.whitecapsfc.com/men/schedule/2010_02_11_v_Seattle_Sounders_FC.aspx

James, 34, is the captain of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines National Team. James has 55 caps and 12 goals, including a goal versus Canada in the two leg qualifying series of CONCACAF for the 2010 World Cup.

Vancouver will host a return match on March 6.

Tomorrow, Fox Soccer Channel will carry Crystal Palace UK in the 5th Round of the FA Cup versus Aston Villa at 10:30am.

Happy Valentines Day From Puma

http://www.pumahardchorus.com/

I'm still going to wear Nike, but this is worth a watch.

Mbuta Waived

The New York Red Bulls have declined the option on Matthew Mbuta, the former Crystal Palace USA (err...Baltimore) midfielder. Might we see a reunion?

Also waived of note was goalkeeper Daniel Cepero. Cepero played his college soccer at Penn and spent part of 2008 on loan at Harrisburg in USL 2 before playing later playing a leading role in New York's first MLS Cup appearance. Cepero also became the first MLS goalkeeper to score a goal in open play. You can see how he was rewarded.

We here at BCPB feel bad for Cepero and wish him the best, but we can't help but wonder if this is karma for him after refusing to be our facebook friend.

Minnesota Fires Back, Happy Mothers Day

In a move that once again shows the tremendous power of this blog, NSC Minnesota Stars (or is it "The NSC Minnesota Stars"?) sign Johnny Menyongar to a one year contract. Menyongar, 30, is a midfielder/forward who spent the past 4 seasons with Rochester. Menyongar has 38 caps and 10 goals for the Liberian National Team. The signing increases the size of Minnesota's roster by infinity percent.

Video of the signing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoVr0FiDwFc

The May 9, 2010 fixture between NSC Minnesota Stars and the Montreal Impact has been moved up to May 8th. Why? Montreal didn't want to play on Mother's Day.

Rochester signed 3 players today: Neal Kitson, Carloa Aguilar and Adam West.

Readers may remember Adam West, 22, from both the PDL's Tacoma Tide and the original Batman.

Aguilar hails from UC Irvine where he recorded 6 goals and 7 assists last season.

Portland signed Haitian National Team Midfielder James Marcelin yesterday. Marcelin spent the past two years with Puerto Rico and has 3 caps with the full National Team.

It's Friday

The Rochester Rhinos are set to announce the addition of 3 new players today.

AC Saint Louis now has 12 players under contract.

Carolina Railhawks tryouts set for this weekend.

Tampa Bay announced the signing of 5 players, including Aaron Wheeler, last seasons PDL MVP, and a former player at Towson University.

An interview with Tom Soehn. Former DC United coach, now an executive with Vancouver.
http://www.whitecapsfc.com/archive/feature02111001.aspx

Minnesota Roster Breakdown

2 months exactly to the start of their season versus the Vancouver Whitecaps, our crack staff breaks down the roster of NSC Minnesota. (Catchy Name!) http://www.nscsports.org/sports/soccer/nsc_minnesota/team.htm

No one. Apparently NSC stands for No Such Club.

The team has a player combine set for March 1-4, 2010.

Can I still call them the Raging Rhinos?

Kudos to the Rochester Rhinos offering Supporters Section Season Tickets for $99. Student tickets in the Section are just $35 with a valid High School or College ID. (And let's face it, any old College ID will probably work.) http://www.rhinossoccer.com/

What better way to encourage new and excited fans? With the new pitch at UMBC, will we see a Palace supporters section? I have a college ID that I can still pass of.

An Ego Boost

In a move clearly designed to counter the tremendous pressure of this blog demanding offensive firepower, Crystal Palace Baltimore has announced the signing of 3 more players to their roster:

1. Takuro Nishimura (Defender, 32, spent last season with USL1 Portland Timbers)
2. Santiago Fusilier (Midfielder, 26, formerly of US1 Carolina Railhawks, apparently spent all of last year on trial with Chacarita Juniors in Argentina.)
3. Lucio Luiz de Oliveira Gonzaga (Attacking Midfielder, 29, last with Real Maryland of USL2 and multiple indoor soccer teams)

Clearly, the club is trying to mess with my spell check.

A look at the rosters of the other clubs in USSF Division 2 shows players who have experience at higher levels. Do we have reason to be optimistic?

Vancouver boasts Jay Nolly, Justin Moose, Greg Janicki (ex-DC United) and Blake Wagner (ex-FC Dallas).

AC Saint Louis signed Steve Ralston.

Miami FC has Tristan Bowen (loaned from LA Galaxy last season), Reinier Alcantara (18 caps for the Cuban National Team) and Gale Agbossoumonde (US Under 20 National Team, currently on loan at Sporting Braga in Portugal.)

USL1 teams pushed and even performed better than MLS and Mexican teams last season. How will Crystal Palace Baltimore fare against this competition?

Glad All Over

One of the highlights of last season was Crystal Palace Baltimore's insistence on playing the Dave Clark Five's song "Glad All Over" over the PA system at every possible opportunity: pre-game, half-time, post-game, rain delay, you name it. Can this streak continue in the new year? The key is dedication and focus. Don't let me down.

I'm not saying the Dave Clark Five is old, but two of their members have died (as far as I can tell) from reasons unrelated to drugs or suicide.

Offensive Juggernaut

One of the biggest disappointments for Crystal Palace Baltimore last season was the finishing. The team was less offensive than Dave Coulier. 16 goals in 20 games, shockingly, didn't lead to a playoff appearance. The team never scored more than 2 goals in any game and ended the season with just 1 goal in 4 games.

The new season won't get any easier. The level of play has gone up and the defense will be stronger. Palace has responded by signing Randi Patterson (24 games, 6 goals, 2 assists last year for USL 1 Charleston Battery) and Aduato Neto (16 games, 0 goals in 2004 for USL 1 Rochester, playing indoors for the last 6 years)

Will the changes this year restart the offense?

Because Wikipedia Is Too Accurate!

Crystal Palace USA (errr....Baltimore) has announced that its home games will move from UMBC Stadium to the UMBC Soccer Stadium. Coach Pete Medd noted that this move was a distance of 100 meters, which is almost 110 yards if you're in America. What he fails to mention is that it's up a hill, so it's probably a bit more when you really think about it.

The soccer stadium will get a big upgrade: New Bermuda grass pitch. New lights. New LED scoreboard. And, of course, fireworks!

The soccer pitch is far from perfect, however. The pitch is on the small side and the seating is limited at best. Aluminum benches cover the near side. There are no permanent bathrooms. Not the most comfortable or spacious of setups.

On the plus side, the benches are literally 3 feet from the touchline (sideline). Don't like the call from the Linesman (Assistant Referee)? Just stick out your foot next time they run by. Players will not only hear your heckles, but they'll also smell the beer (V8 juice) on your breath.

A New Blog, A New Year

USSF Division 2 released its schedule on Monday, February 8, 2010, 3 days after it was promised and approximately 2 months after we watched the USL as we know it implode. Among the highlights of the schedule:

1. The USL cannot use the phrase "tortious interference with contract" in a press release for 3 years.
2. Though the USL and NASL were able to agree on most aspects of the schedule, 2 different versions of the Canadian National Anthem will be played before each interleague game.
3. Fireworks! Woo! Fireworks!

Meanwhile, Charlestown moves down to USL 2. And Bermuda and Wilmington move to...uhhh...let's just not talk about it.