Eastern Conference

Seeking their first road win of the season, Tallahassee SC made the long journey west to Crusader Field to go head to head against Hattiesburg FC on Saturday night. Both teams struggled to find their offense in this matchup with Tallahassee SC’s Boneco Brazil scoring the only goal of the match in the 19th minute. Leaving his feet and striking the ball in mid air with an athletic bicycle kick, Boneco left the crowd stunned and the goal keeper frozen as the ball flew past HFC’s keeper and found it’s way into the back of the net, giving Tallahassee a 1-0 lead. In the 70th minute, the club from Florida had a chance to extend their lead with a penalty kick, but the Hattiesburg keeper came up with a big save, keeping the lead at 1-0. Towards the end of the second half, HFC was finally controlling the tempo of the game and they even had a chance to tie it in the last minute of stoppage time, but Matt Tanner, Tallahassee’s goal keeper, made a great save on the back line, securing the three points and the road win for Tallahassee.

In a must win match for both teams in the Eastern Conference, last place Pensacola FC went to war with first place AFC Mobile on Saturday night at Ashton Brosnaham Stadium in Pensacola. This roller coaster of a match saw the club from Mobile score four goals in the first half alone. With few chances coming from either side in the first few minutes of play, the game would eventually pick up speed when Sam Blackburn started the scoring drive off with an Azalea goal in the 16th minute assisted by Tillman Schober. Eleven minutes later, in the 27th minute, Iba Ndaw would give the  Azalea’s a two goal lead after another great assist from Tillman Schober. AFC Mobile would continue to score and Schober would continue to dish out assists as two more goals were scored before the first half was over. One of the two goals came from Chisom Ogbonna in the 33rd minute and the other goal came from Arad Lev-Ari who poked the ball home off a Tillman Schober cross just before the first half ended, giving Tillman his fourth assist of the match and Mobile a comfortable 4-0 lead. Unfortunately, the storyline flipped for AFC Mobile in the second half as their performance became sloppy and slow. Pensacola FC took advantage of Mobile’s sloppy play early in the second half and found a glimpse of hope with a cheeky flick goal in the 48th minute. The 59ers continued to attack the Azalea backline and were able to find the back of the net yet again in the 60th minute with a goal off of a wonderful corner kick, cutting the Azalea lead to 4-2. The team from Florida would get another lucky goal in the 96th minute from an accidental own goal by AFC Mobile but the match would end in a well fought 4-3 battle that found a deserving AFC Mobile club on top.

The Gulf Coast Rangers tried to keep their undefeated season afloat on Wednesday night as they took on the Port City Sounders at Fairhope Municipal Stadium in Alabama. While Port City FC was trying to get back to their winning ways, the 2-2-0 Rangers squad needed only three more points to take over the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. After a thirty minute rain delay, the game was finally underway and Port City started the game with aggression and pace, putting pressure on the Rangers keeper early. Winger Joao Facanha and striker Jordan Hall continued to pressure the keeper and constantly created chances for Port City throughout the entire match, but the Sounders just couldn’t get one past the Rangers keeper. With just a few shots on goal and minimal possession of the ball in the full 90 minutes of play, Gulf Coast also struggled to find their offense during the match. It was a game of defense and goal keeping with the match ending in a 0-0 tie, making this the first 0-0 draw of the 2019 GCPL season.

Central Conference

In week four’s GCPL Game on the Week, it was a battle between the undefeated as FC New Orleans traveled to Covington to take on Northshore United at Wolverine Stadium. There was no easing into this match with both clubs coming out passing and probing from the opening kickoff. The first strike in this clash of unbeaten contenders came from Northshore. Eric Schwing made a long throw into the center of the New Orleans box in the 8th minute that was met by rising Mason Morise who nodded the ball past the keeper, giving him his third goal of the season and Northshore the early 1-0 lead. FC New Orleans would go on to eventually tie the game at 1-1 in the 35th minute when a perfectly placed ball off of a free kick found its way into the net past the United keeper. Tightly contested, the first half would end tied at 1-1. The club from NOLA would extend their lead to 2-1 in the second half after a floated cross was met on the half volley, hitting the right goal post and sailing into the back of the net. In the 60th minute, FC New Orleans gave themselves even more breathing room with another shot from the top of the box where the forward had time and room to score a well placed shot. Luckily for Northshore, FC New Orleans drew a straight red card with a harsh sliding tackle midway through the second half. This proved to be a costly mistake as the determined United club would rally back late in the second half with goals coming in the 74th and 82nd minute both from Zac Breaux. Northshore United and FC New Orleans both avoided their first loss of the season as the match would end in a 3-3 draw, leaving the two clubs undefeated after four regular season games.

Baton Rouge United and the Mississippi Blues, two teams that are in desperate need of three points, faced off against each other on Saturday night on the Blue’s home turf at Arrow Stadium. Losing their first three straight matches and having scored only one goal in the entire 2019 GCPL season, Baton Rouge United was looking to redeem themselves on Saturday night and bounce back from a long losing streak. However, the Blue’s had other plans in mind as they took control of the match late and shutout Baton Rouge in a much need 3-0 victory. All three of Mississippi’s goals came late in the second half. Their three goals came from Jarrad White in the 68th minute, Jan Bergk in the 75th minute, and Caleb Carpenter in the 87th minute. Overall, it was a great effort by all the men from Mississippi Blue’s squad as they handed Baton Rouge their fourth straight loss of the season and secured a much needed three points for the relentless Blue’s squad.

After an astounding 8-0 win against Baton Rouge United last week, a confident Motagua New Orleans club took on a struggling Gaffa FC squad at Pan American Stadium in Jackson on Saturday night. Motagua came out fierce and aggressive at the start of the game with Kenroy Rodriguez scoring just 10 minutes into the match giving New Orleans a 1-0 lead. Not long after Motagua’s first goal, in the 18th minute, Gaffa FC tied the match at 1-1 with a rebound doorstep goal from Gregory Anderson. However, the game wasn’t tied for long as Steve Morris, Motagua New Orleans’ team captain, went on a three goal rampage before the end of the first half. Morris was a madman on the field and scored three back to back to back goals in under twenty minutes in the 28th, 35th, and 45th minute. At halftime, Gaffa FC would find themselves down by three goals in a 4-1 deficit. The score would remain the same for most of the second half until Gaffa FC’s Chance Bourdene was finally able to put one past the Motagua keeper, making it a 4-2 game. The last goal of the match came in the 89th minute from Nestor Peralta Jr., giving New Orleans a demanding 5-2 lead and putting the icing on the cake for a solid three goal win.

Western Conference

Shreveport United, a team that is still looking for their first win of the season, headed to Alexandria on Saturday night to play against the Pool Boys. The club from Alexandria only had one goal in last week’s loss against Louisiana Krewe, but they came out with their foot on the gas in week four’s matchup. In just the first 10 minutes of the first half, the Pool Boys found themselves up 3-0 with two back to back goals by Gylles Mitchel in the 2nd and 4th minute and a goal from Dril Juno Mboungou in the 7th minute. The boys from Alexandria showed no mercy towards Shreveport United as they continued to pour goals into the back of the net throughout the rest of the match. Mackenzie Young added to Pool Boys demanding lead with two more back to back goals in the 17th and 18th minute, making it 5-0 Alexandria. The Pool Boys would score one more goal before the half was over, making it a 6-0 game at halftime. As if six goals wasn’t already enough, PBFC added four more goals in the second half. Matheus Barrozo scored two goals late in the second half and Claudy St. Louis and Mackenzie Young had one goal apiece in stoppage time, giving Alexandria PBFC a clean sheet 10-0 victory and Mackenzie his first hat trick of the season.

Over in Lafeyette, the Krewe hosted the Central Texas Lobos on Saturday night at the UL Lafayette Soccer Field. Going into this matchup, both of these clubs earned their first three points of the season last week and they were both seeking to add three more. It was a well defended match from both sides as there was only one goal scored in the entire game. The lone goal came in the 75th minute of action from Louisiana Krewe’s Dillion Gallet who found the ball off of an assist from Oscar Castellanos, putting it away and giving Louisiana a late 1-0 lead. The single goal was enough for the men from Louisiana to take down the squad from Central Texas with the game ending in a 1-0 victory for the Krewe.

Pumped and ready to bring home another win, the Boca Knights fought against Cajun SC to keep their undefeated season alive on the pitch at Bossier High School. Italo Barbosa started the Knights off on a high note with a swift goal in the 2nd minute of play. The Knights were quick to extend their lead in the 8th minute to 2-0 when Quesi Weston scored just 6 minutes after Barbosa. Towards the end of the first half, Cajun FC found the spark in offense they needed to claw their way back from a 2 goal deficit when Brandon Briscoe scored back to back goals in the 32nd and 45th minute, ending the first half in a 2-2 tie. The boys from Boca collected themselves at halftime and ran away with the game in the second half. Carlos Martinez scored the third goal of the match for the Knights in the 51st minute and David Martinez would officially put the game out of reach for Cajun SC after scoring in the 79th minute, sealing the 4-2 win and three more points for the still undefeated Boca Knights FC.

Eastern Conference

In the first ever Panhandle Cup, Tallahassee SC defeated Pensacola FC 5-1 on a hot Saturday night at Florida States Sports Club Fields giving them their first victory in club history. The first matchup between these two Panhandle rivals featured a lot of offense from the Tallahassee club but it was the visiting 59ers squad who found themselves on the scoreboard first. In just the 5’ minute of play, Pensacola’s Michael Lightbourne put the ball past the Battle Lions keeper giving them the early 1-0 lead. The Pensacola lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Michael Seng connected with Noah Voyles in the 8’ minute of play for the equalizing goal, tying the match at 1-1. The rest of the match was completely controlled by TLHSC who continued to play aggressive and bring the pressure. Their aggressive play would pay off in the 13’ after Forward Daniel Villa scored on a one on one chance against the 59ers keeper. The Battle Lions aggressive style of play continued to pay off as the game went on with their third goal coming in the 39’ from Sy Fontenot who cleaned up a cross that was punched away by the keeper. Another one of Tallahassee’s goals came just 4 minutes later in the 43’ when Adam Donaldson split the defense and buried the ball in the back of the net giving the Lions a sturdy 4-1 lead. To seal the first win in club history and to give the Lions a much needed 3 points, Sy Fontenot scored his second goal of the game in the 85’, ending the game in a 5-1 victory over Pensacola FC.

Rivals AFC Mobile and Port City FC went head-to-head on Saturday night in the first leg of the Forgotten Coast Cup at Archbishop Lipscomb Stadium. Taking charge of the match early, the Sounders started the game immediately on the attack and had the Alabama squad on their heels. Even though the first half belonged to Port City in both possession and opportunities, it was AFC Mobile’s Tillman Schober who found the back of the net in the 44th minute with a low hard shot that rolled right past Sounders keeper Grant Adam giving Mobile a 1-0 lead going into halftime. Once the second half started, Port City came out the same way they did at the beginning of the match; aggressive and on the attack. Unfortunately, the Sounders continued to struggle as they found themselves down 2-0 in the 50th minute after an unexpected own goal. Shortly after the Port City own goal, in the 58th minute, Mobile’s Arad Lev-Ari stormed down the right wing past the Sounders defense to put in AFC Mobile’s third goal of the match, giving them a 3-0 lead with 30 minutes left in regulation. Port City refused to give up and was finally able to put some points on the board after Jordan Hall buried a penalty kick in the 80th minute, but it wasn’t enough to beat the competitive club from Mobile. At the end of regulation, the final score was 3-1 as AFC Mobile takes the first leg of the Forgotten Coast Cup.

Looking to keep their unbeaten streak alive, the Gulf Coast Rangers battled against Hattiesburg FC on Saturday at Fairhope Municipal Stadium. The Rangers squad featured some new young talent with seventeen year old Sergi Cebrian starting at center midfield for the first time this season. The team from the Coast came out strong in the first half as their first and only goal of the game came in the 8th minute from a David Hall header after a Jordan Sinclair corner kick. After scoring the only goal of the match, the Rangers squad began to settle in and completely take over the game defensively. HFC fought to regain confidence and established good ball possession in the last 10 minutes of the first half but just couldn’t buy a goal. The Rangers back five kept HFC’s frontline under control for the rest of the game as they continued to play well throughout the second half. Frustration began to set in for Hattiesburg FC late in the match, leading to a red card in the 86th minute that left them playing with only 10 men for the remainder of the match. Recording their first shutout of the season, the Gulf Coast Rangers were able to hold onto the 1-0 home victory against the men from Hattiesburg.

 

Western Conference

The top of the table met the bottom of the table in the Western Conference as Shreveport United hosed BOCA FC at Lee Hedges Stadium. On Wednesday night, the Boca Knights came ready to play and were eager to keep their winning streak alive as they beat Shreveport United 5-1. Rafa Muniz was the leading goal scorer for the Boca club, scoring two of their five goals in the 58’ and 67’ minute. Muniz’s fellow Knights joined in on the scoring sheet with the other three goals coming from Quesi Weston (29’), Pedro de Sliva (42’) and Luis Pena (75’). United struggled to find the back end of the net throughout the match but found a spark of hope in the 60’ minute with their only goal of the game coming from a penalty converted by Gary McCormick. Sadly, one goal would not prove to be enough to beat the red hot Boca Knights.

With the GCPL season finally in full swing, Louisiana Krewe had their home opener on Saturday night hosting the Alexandria Pool Boys. The Krewe put on a show for their home crowd this weekend as they defeated the Pool Boys 3-1. Louisiana was assertive and fast on their feet throughout the whole match. In the 21’ minute, for the first goal of the game, Erick Medina sent a beautiful through ball past the Alexandria defense right to Adrian “Oli” Rodriguez who beat the keeper and calmly finished the ball home, making it 1-0 Louisiana. The next goal for the Krewe came in the 33’ minute from another excellent through ball pass from Medina to Dillon Gallet who cooked the ball into the left side of the net past the keeper. Louisiana’s third and final goal came from Mauricio Rancel in the 57’ minute, giving the Louisiana club a dominant 3-0 lead with 33 minutes left in regulation time. The Pool Boys were able to avoid the shutout with a late goal in the 86’ minute from Mackenzie Young but the late goal wasn’t enough to avoid the loss. Overall, it was a very competitive match and now both teams are tied for second place in the Western Conference.

Central Texas Lobos hosted Cajun SC Saturday night with both clubs coming off of home losses the prior week. A much needed win for both teams was on the agenda, but it was the Lobos who came out early swinging. In the very first minute of the game, Jordan Guardado put the home team on the board, giving the Lobos a 1-0 lead. Much of the first half saw the Lafayette boys keeping possession with a few chances being denied by the Lobos defense led by keeper, Blake Lander. The second half saw a slew of chances for both sides with Cajun almost finding their equalizer in the dying minutes of the game. The last chance for Cajun saw center back, Aaron Boudreaux, head home what looked to be a for sure goal, but an acrobatic display by Lander, kept the clean sheet and gave the Lobos their first 3 points of the season.

Central Conference

The GCPL league leaders, FC New Orleans, hosted the 2017 champs, Gaffa FC, on their home pitch at Muss Bertilino Stadium on Thursday night. The long awaited matchup between these two Central Conference clubs was an entertaining one as these two teams battled it out neck and neck. Gaffa FC was the first team to strike in the 5’ when Chance Bourdene headed to ball into the right side of the goal off a corner kick. Even though the NOLA club found themselves down by one goal early, they battled hard and went on to score the next two goals of the match. The first one of these two goals came in the 47’ by Gilberto Perez Dominguez and the other goal came in the 60’ by Gustavo Castillo Garcia who gave FC New Orleans the go-ahead 2-1 lead over the Jackson squad. At this point in the game, FC New Orleans looked confident on the pitch and possessed the ball with ease. Unfortunately, the confident New Orleans team made a costly mistake in the 75’ that send Craig McCabe to a penalty shot. McCabe booted the ball in the bottom left corner of the goal past the New Orleans keeper, tying the game 2-2. The rest of the match was a stalemate as both teams had chances to take the outright lead. At the end of regulation, the score was still 2-2, ending the game in a draw.

Sitting at first place in the Central Conference, Northshore United headed north to Millsaps College on Saturday to face off against the 0-2 Mississippi Blues. The Blues were looking to come home with their first 3 points of the season but found themselves down early when United’s Cameron Robinson grabbed his second goal of the year in the 13’, easily scoring from inside the box. The rest of the first half was well defended by both squads as neither team let up a goal until the second half of action. Northshore extended their lead to 2-0 and got the breathing room they were longing for in the 78’ when Andrew McInnis met a corner kick with authority, sinking the ball forcefully in the back of the net past the keeper. In added time, the third and final goal of the match came from Andrew McInnis yet again after he capitalized on sloppy play from the Mississippi backfield. This is where the game would end and where Northshore United would take a 3-1 victory over the struggling Blues club to be crowned top dog in the division table.

The club at the bottom of the division standings, Baton Rouge United, traveled to Pan America Stadium on Saturday to square off against Motagua New Orleans. Baton Rouge is off to a very rough start to the season and has scored only one goal in their last three games. During this Louisiana matchup, the storyline remained the same for the boys from Baton Rouge. They found themselves in a hole early on as the New Orleans squad scored goal after goal. The Motagua club scored a whopping 8 goals in 90’ minutes of action. Forward Carson Gorecki put away three of the eight goals from New Orleans, earning himself a hat trick. Samir Aruz also had a phenomenal performance with two back to back goals in the 47’ and 53’ minute. Their other three goals came from Kenroy Rodriguez (39’), Nestor Peralta Jr. (77’), and Steven Morris (88’). In conclusion, the team from NOLA walked away victorious after a great team effort to secure the 3 points for the home team.

Eastern Conference Recap

As Eastern Conference play continued on Saturday night, a short handed Gulf Coast Rangers squad fought their way back from a one goal deficit in the second half to bring home all 3 points against newcomers Tallahassee SC. Halfway through the first half, Gulf Coast found themselves playing with only 10 men after Liam Moore left the game with an ankle injury. Having already made their only substitution of the match, the eastern shore squad had no choice but to finish the match with one less player. A defensive blunder in the Rangers back field led to an unusual own goal, gifting Tallahassee a one goal led in the first half. Shortly after the bizarre own goal, Xavier Audergon equalized the match with a half volley shot that found it’s way between the goal posts. The GC Rangers would then take the lead in the last 10 minutes of the game with a wonderful strike from just outside the 18 by David Hall. The team from the Coast would hold on to the lead until the end of the match in a rewarding 2-1 comeback win.

After a solid performance in week one, Hattiesburg FC was looking to keep their winning momentum going forward as they faced off against AFC Mobile on Crusader Field. Unfortunately for them, AFC Mobile’s goalkeeper, Domenic Nascimben, came ready to play and didn’t let up a single goal the whole match. AFC Mobile maintained contorl early in the game when midfielder Tillman Schober curled the ball into the top far corner of the goal in the 13th minute giving the Azaleas an early 1-0 lead. In the 43rd minute, midfielder Chisom Ogbonna was awarded a penalty kick that he slotted home extending the Azaleas lead 2-0. Shortly after the second half whistle Hattiesburg almost pulled one back when Andrew Elkins headed a dangerous ball towards goal, but the AFC Mobile keeper came up big to keep it a 2 goal lead. The third and final goal, came from Mobile’s leading goal scorer, Iba Ndaw who calmly kicked the ball past the HFC goalkeeper sealing the 3-0 shutout victory against a tough Hattiesburg squad.

In their home opener, Port City FC hosted Pensacola FC at Herbert Wilson Stadium. Last year’s champs were looking for their first win of the season on Saturday night and Jordan Hall looked to help that cause scoring the first goal of the match for the Sounders with an acrobatic bicycle kick in the 31st minute. Another goal came two minutes into the second half from forward Tom Carles who poked the ball right past the goaltender giving Port City a 2-0 lead. With about 10 minutes left in the match, Pensacola FC’s Mikey Lightbourne took advantage of a free kick and slotted the ball in the top left corner of the goal closing the deficit to a 2-1 lead. At the beginning of stoppage time, Felipe Madero beat Pensacola’s keeper 1 on 1 and rolled the ball past him, leading Port City to a much needed 3-1 victory.

Central Conference Recap

FC New Orleans traveled to Baton Rouge United Saturday night riding a wave of momentum from their impressive win vs. Motagua New Orleans the week before. That wave proved to be in full force as FC New Orleans came out pinning the young United unit on their heels early and often. In the 20th minute, Jesus Rivera, notched his second goal of the season from a Huber Lopez cross putting the New Orleans club up 1-0. Early in the second half United conceded their second goal leaving an unmarked Huber Lopez in front of goal for an easy shot. In the 74th minute a keeper blunder on United’s part found FC New Orleans youngster, Erick Gunera, who buried a 30 bomb to go up 3-0. Milos Skoric for United did respond shortly after with a rocket from the right side that nailed the post, offering United their only real chance on goal.

In a game where both teams started off their GCPL campaign’s on a bad note the week prior, Motagua New Orleans and Mississippi Blues were fighting to get their season’s back on track. Unfortunately for the home team, Motagua stole the show. The first half saw much of Motagua keeping possession with little access to unlocking the Blues defense. In the 44th minute Motagua finally broke through with some tricky dummy work leaving right back, John Hamide, all alone for the easy 1v1 score. Second half started with the Blues almost equalizing, but a big save by Motagua keeper, Jose Santos Jr., kept the New Orleans club in the lead. Blue Eagle veteran, Samir Arzu, dished the second blow in the 77th minute to give Motagua a 2-0 lead. Shortly after, young rising New Orleans player, Kenroy Rodriguez, sealed the deal giving the 16-17 Champs their first win of the season.

The men from Jackson, Gaffa FC, took on Northshore United on Saturday evening, but left empty handed after a 2-1 battle. Northshore’s Andrew McInnis put the team on his back with an outstanding performance in the first half putting away two goals in the 26th and 33rd minutes. Gaffa responded just before the halftime whistle blew thanks to their target man, Chance Bourdene, but the two first half goals gave United the cushion they needed to secure the 3 points in front of their home crowd. Gaffa FC never gave up and battled till the very end, but they proved to be no match for Andrew and the squad from Northshore.

Western Conference Recap

Over the weekend, the Boca FC Knights traveled to Bob Shelton Stadium to take on the Central Texas Lobos. The game started off extremely slow but eventually picked up the pace after Jose Alex Martin opened the scoring for Central Texas with a spectacular one touch finish that found its way just inside the left goal post. A few minutes after the Lobos scored, Knights Forward Rafa Muniz snuck the ball through a pair of Central Texas defenders legs and past the right side of the keeper, tying the match at 1-1. Both teams dug deep in the second half to try and come up with the go-ahead goal but it was the Boca FC Knights who came out victorious as they scored two more goals in the second half to give them the 3-1 win over the Central Texas Club.

Alexandria PBFC traveled south to their traditional rivals Cajun Soccer Club in the Third Coast Soccer Game of the Week. It was the visitors who got on the board early on two occasions.  In the fourth minute a Matheus Fulini free kick was redirected by Henrique Pimpao across the face of goal for attacking midfielder, Pierce Townsend, to register his first goal of the season.  In the 11th minute Mackenzie Young played a cross to Henrique Pimpao who was unable to direct his shot on goal, due to what was determined to be a foul by the Cajun SC defender.  Pimpao stepped up to deposit his first goal of the season from the penalty spot.  Once both teams settled down after the quick start, possession seemed to even out, and Cajun SC were unlucky to not get one back due to the fine play of Nathan Gautreaux in the Pool Boys goal.  Later, several key saves by the Cajun SC keeper, Oliver Leblanc, kept the score at 2-0 until the 78th minute when Leroy Mahagayu found a streaking Pimpao up the left side of the field, before cutting in and recording his second of the game, and setting the 3-0 score line.

Louisiana Krewe FC traveled to Messmer Stadium on Sunday to play against fellow Louisiana team Shreveport United. In a well-contested match between the two clubs, it was Louisiana who took an early lead after capitalizing on a mistake from Shreveport’s defense. They took the lead on a counter attack in the 15th minute when #19, Olivares Adrian, made a good finish right in front of the goal. LA Krewe had multiple chances to extend their lead in the second half but were unable to find the back of the net. They would pay for these missed chances after Shreveport’s Pau Cin chipped the ball over the Krewe keeper in stoppage time, ending the game in a 1-1 draw.

Eastern Conference Recap

Eastern Conference play started off on Friday night with Pensacola FC hosting Gulf Coast Rangers in a battle that saw late drama from both teams scoring in the last 10 minutes. The 59ers struck first with a thunder strike from Mikey Lightbourne in the 19th minute. Shortly after, a scramble in the box, during a Rangers corner, saw Liam Moore (26′) sneak one past the Pensacola keeper to tie it 1-1. The second half looked to be a stale mate when Yan Linevu for the Rangers broke the silence in the 81st minute, but a minute later Mikey Lightbourne equalized to help seal the draw in front of the home crowd.

Over in Mobile, the Azaleas hosted the new boys from Tallahassee. AFC Mobile didn’t wait too long to welcome the newcomers after big man, Iba Ndaw, slotted one home in the 13th minute.  The Lions responded in the 30th minute with a cheeky chip over the keeper by Sy Fontenot, tying it 1-1. Both teams battled it out in the second half when a beautiful free kick in the 86th minute for Tallahassee SC was banged in by Pete Love. But late game heroics were afoot by none other than home town hero, Chisom Ogbonna, after scoring the equalizer in the 90th minute.

The new eastern conference rivalry commenced with the first half starting with an impressive display by Hattiesburg man between the sticks, Adrian Cabado, after keeping Port City’s scoring threat, Jordan Hall, at bay in the early minutes. The 2018 champs saw themselves with a slew of chances early but failed to find the back of the net. The second half saw some life in Hattiesburg forcing Port City FC keeper, Adam Grant, to come up big in the 50th minute to keep it tied 0-0. In the 58th minute the scoring line was finally broken with Jordan Hall banging one home for the Sounders, but an offside flag kept the game level. After a standstill for both teams the 89th minute saw Hattiesburg FC shock their coastal rivals, with U19 academy product, Elean Fajardo, sealing the deal for the early season upset. 

Central Conference Recap

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Gaffa FC and Mississippi Blues faced off in an early #SippiCup derby. The Blues looked to be the team in charge early but a quick goal by Gaffa captain, Cillian Thompson, in the 9th minute gave the 2017 champs some breathing room. To further crush the cross town rivals hopes, Stevie Roberson, of Gaffa would score two back to back goals (17′ and 20′) to give them a commanding 3-0 lead. The second half leveled off with the Blues clawing their way back in the game. Caleb Carpenter gave some hope scoring in the 65th minute to make it 3-1, but Gaffa would hold on to seal the 3 points.

In Covington, the two United’s faced off with a series of wild delays thanks to mother nature and timed lights. A 45 minute delay to kick off didn’t seem to bother the hometown club much after Mason Morise put Northshore up 1-0 in the 2nd minute. Not long after Morise would add to his tally giving his club a 2-0 lead in the 13th minute. Baton Rouge would find themselves back in the game after a quick counter was finished by Eduin Delcid in the 20th minute, but Baton Rouge United would shoot themselves in the foot a minute later after a red card was issued to Ahmad Chabayta after a tiff in the box. The second half would see Northshore United run away with the game after a goal in the 46th minute by Zachary Breaux and the final blow by Chase Rushing in the 58th. The game would end 4-1.

In a game labeled the New Orleans “Clasico” the meeting between Motagua New Olreans and FC New Orleans saw the new comers take the first leg. The Gators jumped up early on the board after a nice header from Jesus Rivera in the 10th minute. Rivera looked to have added more to his tally in the 21st minute but was immediately called for offside. For majority of the match both teams had their fair chances but FC New Orleans pounced on a defensive blunder by the Blue Eagles and added to their lead in the 82nd minute thanks to Gilberto Perez. The defensive mistakes continued for Motagua giving up a third goal in stoppage time to Julius Oladimeji, ending the game 3-0.

Western Conference Recap

The new buzz out of Lafayette, Louisiana Krewe, made their way up north to take on the western conference champs, BOCA FC. What started off as a back and forth contest would soon break in the 41st minute as the 2018 GCPL scoring leader, Quesi Weston, used his brute strength to fend off a defender and beat the keeper to put his club up 1-0. In the 65th minute the Krewe equalized with some great team work that resulted in a beautiful cross into the box where Adrian Olivares found the end of it to tie it up 1-1. Shortly after in the 74th minute the big man up top for BOCA drew a penalty that resulted in a red card for the Krewe. Weston would step up and bury it to put the Knights up 2-1.  Remainder of the second half saw some very chippy play with 6 yellow cards being issued. Game ended 2-1.

In Alexandria, the Pool Boys looked to start off their season on the right foot, but much like in 2018’s season opener, Central Texas Lobos would prove that to be a difficult task. In the first half, Pool Boys held on to possession and out shot the Lobos, but nothing too threatening for the traveling team. The second half offered some excitement with a beautiful volley from a corner for the Pool Boys academy product, Elias Hanna, in the 56th minute. Soon after in the 64th minute a penalty was awarded to the Lobos, which was converted by Oscar Ramirez. Directly after the penalty a red was issued to Oscar Saavedra of Lobos for shoving the keeper. The game would end on a chippy note with 6 yellow cards issued. Game ended 1-1.

Shreveport United made the trip down to Lafayette to take on 2018 finalists, Cajun SC. The first half proved to be a period where both teams were feeling each other out with no real threats from either in the first 15 minutes. In the 16th minute Kade Kling of Cajun would put his club on the board 1-0. On a counter attack from the Shreveport side in the 30th minute, Gin Pau, would equalize the playing field. But a minute before the halftime whistle blew, Austin Sun Chee Fore, for Cajun would put them up 2-1. The second half was all Cajun, with goals from Ezra Hebert (46′), Dayton Prejean (54′) and Kade Kling (75′), in what could be said was a very mild mannered game. Cajun would win 5-1.