First Kick 2015

It's the first week of the MLS season and that means the First Kick for the BSL too. Rose City will start the new season in the Match of the Week against a stacked Spartans team as they slug it out against the 2014 BSL Cup Champions. Is there enough firepower on the roster? Will the team finally figure out how to start quickly?

All of this is, of course, predicted on the increasingly large assumption that a Player Strike doesn't kill the MLS season.

Starters
Giles Barnes
Gaston Fernandez - C
Perry Kitchen
Sasha Kljestan
Luke Mulholland
Gonzalo Pineda
Nick Rimando - GK
Carlos Rivas
Robbie Rogers
Harry Shipp
Rodney Wallace

Subs
Quincy Amerikwa
Hector Jimenez
Luis Silva

Reserve
Drew Moor

Starting of the Back Half Right

Rose City 4 - 1 Spartans 1612

The Flyers just handed the Spartans their third loss in as many weeks and is definitely having an effect on the league if only by making them much easier to catch for the rest of the top table teams. But enough of that.

What's more important is that the Boys in Red are on a three game winning streak. What's more important is, more play like the last few weeks could put them in a position to threaten the playoffs. What's more important is that the Flyers are currently sitting in third for Majors Cup Qualifying. The team has never played in the Majors Cup and it's a big goal for the squad. One week in, you can't ever tell how things will play out, but getting a win in week one of qualifying is the best way to start. Look for next week's lineup soon.

Week Ten

Boy. What a week to get back on the horse. We're posting a lineup on time. That's a thing. But there's one big hurdle. The Spartans are 9-0. One more win and they hold the BSL record for best start to a season. Upside, some of the guys for the Flyers are starting to look alright. Let's get to work and see what we can do.

Before we get to the lineup, we have some roster moves to make though. Pending league approval Rose City will be dropping Robbie Findley for Raul Fernandez.

Starters
Eric Alexander
Giles Barnes (C)
Aurelien Collin
Marco Di Vaio
Diego Fagundez
Ned Grabavoy
Jordan Harvey
Jeff Larentowicz
Lamar Neagle
Jaime Penedo (GK)
Maxi Urruti

Subs
Drew Moor
Saer Sene
Marcelo Sarvas

Reserve
Raul Fernandez

Week Seventeen: The Rebound

The Flyers were absolutely destroyed last week by the Commissioner's Own Union SC by a score of 9-1. It can't really be helped. The Union had been averaging 2.1 ppg for the season and suddenly, every role player on their squad found their form at the same time.

"It happens in this game," Rose City's manager said after the game. "It was impressive. I wish it hadn't happened to us in the middle of a playoff chase, but what can you do? You've got to keep your highs low and your lows high and focus on the game in front of you."

And boy what a doozy it is. This week's matchup against the Spartans is a six pointer for the Flyers. 1612 sits just one place above Rose City in the league table and while a win last week would have made this the go-ahead game, three points paired with denying the Spartans three at the same time would go a long way toward buying the Boys in Red a playoff spot for the second straight year. For that matter, Alamo City could have finished them off last week too, but no. Make no mistake about it, the results this week could make or break Rose City's drive to once again find the playoffs. In addition Majors Cup Qualifying has been tight this season and the loss last week did no favors there either.

Finally, expect something of a "B" squad from the Flyers this week. Sure, a lot of the top names are there, but Gold Cup callups and a couple of injuries have made things more awkward than they need to be.

EDIT: In addition, given league approval, the team would like to acquire Jalil Anibaba (CHI) and drop Eric Hassli (DAL). If the transaction is approved, Anibaba will hold Hassli's assigned spot in the lineup.

Starters
Patrice Bernier (MTL)
Teal Bunbury (SKC)
Jaime Castrillon (COL)
Aurelien Collin (SKC)
Danny Cruz (PHI)
Marco Di Vaio (MTL)
Alan Gordon (SJ)
Eric Hassli (DAL)
Daniel Paladini (CHI)
Luis Robles (NY)
Mauro Rosales (SEA)

Subs
Martin Rivero (COL)
Rodney Wallace (POR)
Marvin Chavez (SJ)

Reserve
Zach McMath (PHI)

Week Sixteen: Flyers vs. Union

The boys are headed to Southern California to take on the Union for the second time this year in a game that could (if other results fall correctly this week) put the Flyers into a playoff spot for the first time this season. The Union have had dismal luck against the 2012 BSL Cup winners since their entrance into the league with Rose City owning the matchup 3-0-0 on an aggregate score of 10-6.

A few important guys are missing this week, mainly due to MLS byes. Some injuries could still be an issue but it's a pretty clear roster. That's good because the Gold Cup is about to mess with rosters big time, MLS and BSL alike.

Other league games are a big deal for the Flyers this week as well. Fourth place Spartans take on a number one Alamo City side that doesn't look to be losing any time soon so a win for the Rose City could put them even on points. 1612 will likely still have a slight apg advantage but a great week by the Flyers and a dismal one in New York could flip that as well. Six points hasn't been an uncommon score of the Flyers recently. In addition, Burud Town and Orange County, who are numbers three and two respectively go head to head this week and both of them continue to look catchable. Root for the OC in this one simply because the Stags are closer to the Flyers in the standings. Finally, MCQ standings are really volatile right now as well. APG is all that separates the 4th to 6th spots on the table while teams as far up as third and as low as ninth could realistically do a lot of moving there this week. Keep your eyes open and pull for your Boys in Red.

Starters
Patrice Bernier (MTL)
Teal Bunbury (SKC)
Jaime Castrillon (COL)
Marvin Chavez (SJ)
Aurelien Collin (SKC)
Danny Cruz (PHI)
Marco Di Vaio (MTL)
Alan Gordon (SJ)
Zach McMath (PHI)
Daniel Paladini (CHI)
Martin Rivero (COL)

Subs
Eric Hassli (DAL)
Rodney Wallace (POR)
Mauro Rosales (SEA)

Reserve
Luis Robles (NY)

Flyers Dismantle Alliance FC

Rose City 6 - 0 Alliance

The international break doesn't seem to have slowed down the Flyers. The team crushed Alliance 6 - 0 this week in what is starting to become a seasonal ritual. The winning goal was the first one from none other than Marco Di Vaio but the talk of the town this week will be the continually rising star of Rodney Wallace. After receiving a call-up from Costa Rica but seeing zero minutes on the field, the winger was only available for one of Portland's two games this week. He only needed the one, putting in an assist hattrick to earn himself Man of the Match. Those points are important too.

While the win squeaked Rose City to within three points of a playoff spot thanks to a Spartans loss to Gold Coast, the points pushed the team's APG to 3.0 for the season and 4.0 since Majors Cup Qualifying began. Those points appear more and more likely to matter as the last two BSL playoff places and all of the MCQ spots seem to be up for grabs during a rapidly closing BSL season. There are only seven weeks left to play in the regular season and the Flyers face some imminently beatable competition. Lets take a look.

 Current Standings:

• Week 16: Union Southern California 9th, 5-7-3, 2.1 apg
• Week 17: Spartans 1612 4th, 8-5-2, 3.4 apg
• Week 18: Gold Coast 10th, 5-9-1, 2.5 apg
• Week 19: Capital District Gunners 8th, 5-7-3, 2.9 apg
• Week 20: Orange County Zodiac 2nd 10-4-1, 3.7 apg
• Week 21: Pennsylvania Stoners 12th, 2-12-1, 2.5 apg
• Week 22: Gateway United 7th, 5-7-3, 3.3 apg

Five of the seven remaining opponents sit below the halfway line on the league table. Most of them have an APG of under three, and it doesn't appear to be improving. Meanwhile, Rose City has been clinging tightly to the fifth place spot for several weeks with an APG that continues to increase. As of the end of week fifteen, the Flyers hold a 3.0 APG and have been averaging 4.6 goals per game since week nine when many of the club's injured players started to return. Indeed, since that week nine game against Gateway United the Boys in Red have put up at least four points all but once and put up six points three separate times.

Our other two opponents, the Orange County Zodiac and Spartans 1612 sit above the Flyers in the league table and currently occupy playoff positions. While the Zodiac appear uncatchable with thirty-one points, the Spartans are on twenty-six and are only one win out of the Flyers' grasp. They face top-of-the-table Alamo City next week and then are under Rose City's own control in Week Seventeen. Look for the next two weeks to really define those playoff spots.

Week 2 Lineup

Last week was a tough way to start off the season. Scoring only one goal is definitely a shadow of last season and it looks to get no better this week. The front office employed a strategy during the draft that, while expected to pay off in the long run means that several high profile players are unavailable in the immediate term. Martin Rivero, Alan Gordon, and DP Marvin Chavez are all unavailable due to injury. Frederic Piquionne, expected to do major damage for Portland before the end of the season is still sorting out visa issues, and Mauro Rosales and the Sounders have no action in MLS this week due to CCL commitments. This is where the rubber hits the road. Guys like McInerney, Lee, and Tierney are going to have to step it up and help Marco Di Vaio carry this team until the rest of the heavy lifters return to the lineup.

Starters
Marco Di Vaio (MTL)
Michael Harrington (POR)
Hector Jimenez (LA)
YP Lee (VAN)
Jack McInerney (PHI)
Zach McMath^ (PHI)
Sanna Nyassi (MTL)
Mauro Rosales* (SEA)
Raphael De Sousa (DC)
Chris Tierney (NE)
Kwame Watson-Siriboe (RSL)

Subs
Frederic Piquionne (POR)
Alan Gordon (SJ)
Marvin Chavez (SJ)

Reserve
Martin Rivero (COL)

Week 5 Lineup vs. Spartans

Rose City won its first battle of the expansion clubs? Can they do it again? Was getting rid of Maicon Santos really a mistake, or did he just hit his one big game this season right before getting dropped? Only time will tell in an early starting Week Five.

Starters
Justin Braun
Marvin Chavez
Dan Kennedy (Keeper)
Kosuke Kimura
Mike Magee
Alejandro Moreno (Captain)
Darlington Nagbe
Bjorn Runstrom
C.J. Sapong

Subs
Bill Hamid (Keeper)
Adam Moffat
Mauro Rosales