Flyers Win, Add to Trophy Case

Rose City 4 - 3 Union SC

If Marco Di Vaio has been less spectacular as the DP and Captain for Rose City this year than last there are a lot of reasons. He's started fewer games overall but he's just not put up the same numbers. For a guy who ended last season on 20 MLS goals to not even be in double digits makes for a lot more work for a team that was expecting a lot from him. But none of that mattered this week. Di Vaio's brace was the deciding difference between the Flyers and the Union in what's certainly the two sides' closest matchup in quite some time.

"Yeah. I think it's fitting," the Flyers manager said when asked after the game. "We're playing in the championship. We're clearly both strong clubs and it came down to the wire. Marco's retiring at the end of the season and so, to go out like that with a brace for the club feels right."

The Rose City built up what seemed an insurmountable 4-0 lead by Saturday only to have the Union come roaring back. Three unanswered scores left the result in doubt until, with the last MLS game of the week featuring zero Union SC players, the result was locked in.

In addition to Di Vaio, Giles Barnes scored in both of Houston's games (only one counts) and Rodney Wallace pushed one in for Portland vs San Jose. The Flyers remain undefeated in postseason play and successfully swept the 2014 Majors Cup 5-0-0 becoming the first club (BSL or MLS) to win a Majors Cup by winning every game of the tournament.

2014 Majors Cup Champions - Rose City

Majors Cup Final Preview and Lineup

This is it. It's the last week of the season for absolutely everybody and it's all on the line for the Flyers versus the commissioner's team, Union SC. Each team has a BSL Cup to their name (2012, and 2010 respectively) but only one can add hardware to the case.

Rose City has done very well historically against Union and have to be considered the favorites going in. They've scored more points every week of this tournament and bested the opposition 3-1 in the group stage. Including that win, the Boys in Red are 3-0 vs the Union this year and 6-1-0 all time. Don't expect that to change. The Flyers are a perfect 4-0-0 in the Majors Cup so far, and undefeated in postseason play.

On a lighter note, this does look like it will be Marco Di Vaio's final match in the BSL. The team thanks him for his contribution the past two years and wishes him all the best.

Starters
Eric Alexander
Giles Barnes
DaMarcus Beasley
Marco Di Vaio (C)
Jordan Harvey
Jeff Larentowicz
Peguy Luyindula
Lamar Neagle
Jaime Penedo (GK)
Maxi Urruti
Rodney Wallace

Subs
Aurelien Collin
Jair Benitez
Diego Fagundez


Reserve
Drew Moor

Rose City Advances to Finals

Rose City 6 - 3 Orange County

After dropping both games against Orange County this season by one point, the Flyers showed up in the Majors Cup Semifinal. Outscoring the opposition 6-3 in a game where they trailed by two for a long period, they remain undefeated in postseason play and now stand 4-0-0 in this year's edition.

Six points came off of strong play by the full group including braces from late season superhero Rodney Wallace and low round draft pick Jeff Larentowicz. Jaime Penedo added a save point as well as an assist from the hard working Lamar Neagle.

Rose City will now advance to it's first Majors Cup Final alongside first time finalist Union SC. They've only lost to the Commissioner's team once in their three years in the league and have already bested them three times this season including a battle two weeks ago in the group stages. Once again, a BSL club will take home the hardware. Look for it to be Rose City.

Majors Cup Semifinals

The Semi-Final game is vs the BSL's Orange County Zodiac. Like all teams from California, they deserve no quarter!

Starters
Eric Alexander
Giles Barnes
DaMarcus Beasley
Marco Di Vaio
Jordan Harvey
Jeff Larentowicz
Peguy Luyindula
Lamar Neagle (C)
Jaime Penedo (GK)
Maxi Urruti
Rodney Wallace

Subs
Diego Fagundez
Jair Benitez
Aurelien Collin

Reserve
Drew Moor

Flyers Sweep Group Stage

Rose City 4 - 0 New York Red Bulls

Rose City kept their unbeaten postseason streak alive and got out of their group at 3-0-0 to earn the top seed after they took down the New York Red Bulls this week. That's now five postseason games that the Flyers have participated in, and they've come out on top in all of them. Staying that way though is about to become a very tall challenge.

The Flyers will face the recently crowned Honors Trophy Champion OC Zodiac in the Semis and their championship is no fluke. The team is packing guys like Dom Dwyer, Gyasi Zardes, and Kelyn Rowe who all threaten to score (sometimes more than once) a week. It could also be argued that the Flyers' group was the weaker of the two. Both the Zodiac and the other team to make it out of Group A, Sporting KC have higher APGs for their Majors Cup run than Rose City does.

It's always great to be in the postseason but pretending that a loss in the Semis would be okay isn't really correct. It's going to sting if the Flyers go down, but you can bet they'll not go down without a fight.

Majors Cup Week Three: Pushing for the Semis

The last week of the Majors Cup group stage is here and, as previously written, the Flyers are likely to advance. It'd take some seriously bad luck to not get there. Still, a win isn't assured against an often high scoring team like the New York Energy Drinks.

Starters
Eric Alexander
Giles Barnes
DaMarcus Beasley
Aurelien Collin
Marco Di Vaio (C)
Jeff Larentowicz
Peguy Luyindula
Lamar Neagle
Jaime Penedo (GK)
Maxi Urruti
Rodney Wallace

Subs
Diego Fagundez
Jordan Harvey
Jair Benitez

Reserve
Drew Moor

Rose City Remains Undefeated in Postseason Play

Rose City 3 - 1 Union SC

The Boys in Red topped Union SC 3 - 1 in Majors Cup play this week. They move to 6-1-0 all-time versus the Commissioner's team, remain undefeated in all postseason play, and now control their Majors Cup group.

"The play was really superb," the Flyers coach offered when prompted today during the team's cool-down session. "But we've got a lot of work to do still. We're not even definitely in to the Semis yet."

It's true, too. Some unfortunate results down the table mean that while the Flyers are in the driver's seat and could advance even with a loss next week, they're not through just yet. Beyond that, the field is chock full of teams pouring on five, six, or more points seemingly every week. The other side of the table is now resolved and both teams that are going through, Sporting KC and the OC Zodiac, are standing on a better PPG than the Rose City.

"PPG has never been our strongest statistical area," the coach said. "But this game is almost as much luck as anything else. Getting to the Semis and then winning the Cup will involve a bit of it. Maybe we'll go off or perhaps one of our opponents will have an off week. All we can do is play our best at this point and be proud of what we've accomplished this season."

Next week the team faces the New York Red Bulls, that ugly morass of marketing hubris, who have one more goal in the competition to date than the Flyers. It's going to be a close one for sure but the Boys in Red have done most of the hard work already. The dice are weighted heavily in their favor regardless of results.

Majors Cup Week One vs DC United

Ahh. The Flyers are back in the postseason. This is a first too. In two previous seasons the team hasn't performed strongly enough after the break to make the Majors Cup but here we are. Week one is versus a streaking DC United team that, none the less puts up relatively few points it seems week in and week out. They're far more likely to win by shutting out the opponent and that's not strictly and option versus Rose City.

Starters
Eric Alexander
Giles Barnes
DaMarcus Beasley
Aurelien Collin
Marco Di Vaio
Diego Fagundez
Jordan Harvey
Lamar Neagle
Jaime Penedo (GK)
Maxi Urruti
Rodney Wallace

Subs
Jeff Larentowicz
Peguy Luyindula
Jair Benitez


Reserve
Drew Moor