USL First Division Week 5 Wrap

By: Bob Kellett | May 11th, 2008

Thursday
Portland Timbers 0-0 Rochester Rhinos - Recap here

Friday
Charleston Battery 3-1 Miami FC Blues - You really only need to know a couple of things about Miami. The first is that their Brazilian striker Alex Afonso should be playing at a higher level than the USL First Division. He scored his fourth goal in six games in this one. He is class. The second fact about Miami is that their defense is causing their keeper Josh Saunders to develop whiplash. Miami has given up 11 goals in six games, a large reason why they have four losses to their name. Meanwhile, Charleston is feeling pretty good after winning their second in a row at home. Randi Patterson scored a brace for the Battery. Former Cuban international Osvaldo Alonso is a joy to watch in the midfield and is the type of playmaker Miami sure could use. A strong crowd of 4,908 showed up at Blackbaud Stadium.

Saturday
Seattle Sounders 0-0 Portland Timbers - Recap here

Minnesota Thunder 1-0 Montreal Impact - Don’t look now but the Minnesota Thunder have won three in a row and are sitting in second place. It was a dramatic finish with Melvin Tarley scoring the game winner in stoppage time to lift the Thunder to a victory over Montreal in front of 745 fans. Yes, 745 fans. It was a cold, rainy, miserable night in Minnesota and that obviously scared more than a few people away. Neither team generated much offense with the game seeing a grand total of four shots. Ugly. Montreal has one more game on the road before they finally get to open up their new stadium on May 19.

Carolina RailHawks 2-2 Atlanta Silverbacks - Portland and Carolina are the only two teams left without a loss. The RailHawks looked poised to come away with three points at home after Jamil Walker put them ahead 2-1 in the 83rd minute, but Atlanta’s David Hayes scored just a minute later to put this one level. Dan Antoniuk scored his second goal of the season for Carolina in front of a crowd of 4,552 in Cary, NC.

Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 Rochester Rhinos - The good news for Rochester was that they managed to fire three shots in Vancouver. The bad news is that none of those shots found the goal. The Rhinos have opened their season with four games without a goal. Ouch. They also have three losses in those four games. Triple ouch. Vancouver picked up three points thanks to a goal by Eduardo Sebrango in the 77th minute. Rochester will finish off their five-game road trip in Seattle on Wednesday. Your paid attendance at Swangard: 4,762.

A Look at the Table
A couple of things really stand out when you look at the USL First Division table. Minnesota is off to a surprisingly strong start and is in second place. Rochester is off to a dismal start and is in last place. Carolina also appears to be stronger than I expected. One thing that is frustrating about this league is the unbalanced scheduling. It is hard to really tell how good Montreal is, for example, when they’ve played all their games on the road, while Portland, for example, has already played four home games. The collective record for home teams thus far: 12 wins, 6 losses, 6 draws.

Average Attendance (home games)
Seattle (1) - 10,184
Portland (4) - 8,328
Vancouver (3) - 5,013
Carolina (2) - 4,827
Charleston (3) - 4,196
Minnesota (2) - 2,480
Puerto Rico (3) - 3,138
Atlanta (3) - 2,514
Miami (3) - 2,380
Rochester (0)

League average (24): 4,576