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

Week One: Lineup

The BSL Regular Season kicks off this week for a rejuvenated Rose City versus last years rookies, the Orange County Zodiac. The Flyers will be without Robbie Findley who's still working on some preseason knocks but is expected to be back soon. In addition, Marco Di Vaio will be sitting the first three games of the season due to the red card he earned during the fracas at the end of Montreal's only playoff game last year.

There's no better time for the team to step up and show that this year's version of the Flyers is a three dimensional team. Expect some combination of Giles Barnes, Diego Fagundez, Jaime Penedo, and Aurelien Collin to do the heavy lifting with perhaps some other names showing up in the box score as well. The lineup is as follows.

Lineup
Eric Alexander (NY)
Giles Barnes (HOU)
Aurelien Collin (SKC)
Diego Fagundez (C - NE)
Ned Grabavoy (RSL)
Jordan Harvey (VAN)
Jeff Laurentowicz (CHI)
Lamar Neagle (SEA)
Jaime Penedo (GK - LA)
Marcelo Sarvas (LA)
Maxi Urruti (POR)

Subs
Drew Moor (COL)
Marco Di Vaio (MTL)
Robbie Findley (RSL)

Reserve
Saer Sene (NE)

C - Captain
GK - Keeper

Week One Lineup

It's official! We're hours from game time for the BSL's fifth season. The title defense is on for the Flyers and first up is the Game of the Week versus Alamo City who feels like an old foe at this point. The series between the two clubs is tied and has been high scoring thus far. In the two games last season, the teams combined for eleven points. The Boys in Red will be headed up by the familiar sight of Mauro Rosales at captain while some of the squad get settled in and get fit. Some strategic decisions were made during the draft to acquire players who may be unavailable for an early game or two.

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)

As you can see, the club had some good pickups in the 2013 draft. There are undoubtedly guys still in camp who won't make it very far into the season, but there could be diamonds in the rough too. Can Frederic Piquionne see significant minutes with the Timbers after getting picked up today? So far the gamble of signing the then trialist with the 107th pick looks good. But he'll need to score goals. How will the new Defender rules work out? Rose City spent a good amount of time evaluating guys who play in the back but will that work be enough? If it is, it will likely be thanks to the work of guys like Chris Tierney and YP Lee. Finally, how long will it take to get injured DP Marvin Chavez back up and running? How long will Martin Rivero take for that matter. These are both players capable of scoring on any given week.

For now more questions are available than answers. Stick around to find out.

First Kick Result and Announcement

First Kick is over and Rose City didn't get the result they were hoping for, falling 3-1 to Gateway United.

"Gateway is an excellent team and they deserve all the credit with their win. Our boys showed spark and energy and we still expect to be a team to be reckoned with going forward," a sober Flyers manager said during the post-match presser.

The Flyers would at least have been at only a one point deficit if not for a late lineup penalty. It was not a good way to start their first BSL season.

"The boys on the pitch certainly did their part," the manager continued. "We have to do ours here in the office so that we can give them every chance to win and we failed this week. We expect our supporters to hold our feet to the fire and we vow to not let them down again. You can bet our lineup will be posted well ahead of time for Week 2."

Finally, Rose City announced the signing of free agent Adam Moffat to continue to build up their roster barring approval by the commissioner's office.

EDIT: In accordance with the 12 player roster limit, Rose City is releasing Josh Wolff as well.

Disappointing First Kick

Rose City isn't starting off the season well. The front office has failed to post their starting line up in time for first kick and, as such, is subject to the Lineup Failure rule BSL has in place. With it's act finally together, Rose City has posted its first kick starting lineup.

Bill Hamid (Keeper)
Mauro Rosales
CJ Sapong
Darlington Nagbe
Justin Braun
Mike Magee
Marvin Chavez
Alejandro Moreno
Bright Dike

Subs
Sammy Ochoa

A humbled manager opened a press conference. "The BSL is a new level of play for Rose City and we expect to compete. We'll be on top of things from here on out and trust that our fans can understand a less than stellar opening kick. The points haven't been tallied yet. A one point loss from the LF rule is disheartening. But I still think our players can put it out of their minds on the field and show the BSL what we're made of." She did not take any questions.

First Kick 2012

The Rose City Flyers are proud to announce their opponents for the 2012 First Kick. The Flyers' first opponents will be Gateway United.
"Gateway United might expect our expansion club to be an easy pushover," said the Flyers GM "However, we expect to be fighting right along side the founding members of the BSL. The Flyers intend to contend for the title in their first year."

The manager also let slip that the Flyers are already in talks with several clubs about pre-draft trade options and that they have their eyes on several strong players for the expansion draft. Return here for all the news about the new club's picks and for a breakdown of the win over Gateway Untied.