Match Preview: Burud Town vs Gold Coast

Off season trades landed Burud Town the #2 and #3 overall picks in the draft. The result was adding Javier Morales and Juninho Pernambucano to accompany Designated Players Ferreira and Arrietta. BTSC also signed Sherjill MacDonald and Nick Deleon to contracts giving the club some real depth. Is this the best draft the Stags have had? Let the debate begin. BTSC made the playoffs in 2010, and the club followed it up with a 2nd straight 9-8-3 (30 points) season, but struggled in 2012 going 7-12-3 (24 points) ending in 9th place. Moving on to the Gold Coast. The owner chose to dismantle its 2011 BSL Cup runner-up roster and reinvent itself last year. The result was a 10th place finish. This season the club is excited on the signing of Federico Higuain taken away from its opening day opponent, Burud Town. Quite possibly the oldest roster in the BSL, the Suns are keeping Frings despite his injuries and signed Robbie Finley, a gamble that his return to RSL will be a happy one. Davey Arnaud and Kyle Beckerman are  also on the roster. Crafty veterans, but getting up in the years.

Match Preview: Gateway United vs Spartans 1612

Winning the Honors Trophy, the clubs first major title, was a major breakthrough for Gateway United. Traditionally, the Saints have been one of the toughest opponents in the BSL to beat. Well, until the playoffs begin. Last year Gateway United lost in the playoff semi-finals for the third time in 4 years, leading one to wonder if a jinx is involved. In the Majors Cup, the club's 2 ties in group stage sealed its demise in that tourney as well. So what will this season bring? Landon Donovan will miss a few months to open the schedule, so the Saints aggressively sought Darlington Nagbe. The club appears convinced he is the next superstar in the making. Juan Agudelo was signed despite the fact he has been an underachiever, once again appearing convinced this the year he matures. How will Conor Casey fair in Philly? Other youngsters Michael Farfan and Tristan Bowen also were signed. The Saints have gone on a youth movement. Will these young guns end the jinx? Moving on to the Spartans. The New York club lost only 4 times in 2012. The club went toe to toe with the best and was in the playoff race the entire season. It was a record setting 10 ties that proved too much. Ties are good to an extent, but 10!. Graham Zusi and Tim Cahill make for solid DP's. The addition of Mattocks is rock solid. The question marks are Koevermans and Ruiz. Koevermans will not be available until the summer meaning he will miss a huge amount of games. Carlos Ruiz may score some of the prettiest goals, but he has not played professional for a year and is not in game shape. How will he fair? Sean Johnson will give the Spartans a consistent Keeper. In these clubs 2 meetings last year, both games ended in 3-3 ties.

Match Preview: Orange County vs Alliance

The Lions finished 8-12-2 (26 points) in 2012 and spent most of the off season trying to stockpile draft picks. The result was some early signings like Blas Perez, Eric Hassli, and Omar Cummings. Its anyone's guess how these personalities will perform in 2013. Their rolls are not quite defined as of now. Other players that could make an impact are Rowe and Braun. Both are expected to be given a lot of minutes. They could be the depth Alliance was lacking last year. On the other side, Orange County will play its first match in the BSL and history has shown us you can't predict how well an expansion team will fair. The club has picked up some very good players and appears to have an owner that knows the game. Signing Chris Pontius was a good start and Luis Silva might be the best thing out in Toronto. However, it was the addition of Ryan Johnson in the draft that might help the most. Johnson is looking good in preseason and figures to be part of the attack all year long.  

Match Preview: Pennsylvania vs Capital District

The Stoners played all 29 weeks of the BSL season in 2012 amassing an impressive 12-5-5 (41 points) and advancing to the BSL Cup Final. Also qualifying for the Majors Cup, the club went unbeaten in group stage and advanced all the way to the Majors Cup Final. The only hiccup came from falling runner-up both times leaving the Partnership with no hardware for such a wonderful campaign. (23 wins from 2011-2012). Now Pennsylvania comes into 2013 looking to complete the unfinished business. Can it be done? With Robbie Keane, Will Bruin, Espindola, Lenhart and more, the Partnership is making a good case. Their opening kick opponent is the BSL's winniest club. 47 wins in regular season action, Capital District seeks to grab some more hardware. For most clubs an 11-7-4 (37 points) record is a fine season. But, the Gunners failed to make the playoffs and went 1-2-0 (3 points) in Majors Cup group stage making it a step down from previous accomplishments. Freddy Montero is gone, replaced by Diego Valeri. Will losing its captain of 4 years be an issue? The club still has Saborio and Boniek Garcia. Added to the fold is Nick Rimando and Chris Rolfe.

Match Preview: Union SC vs Second City

Union Southern California will be debuting the clubs new third jersey normally reserved for special events. The Blues are 1-1-2 (5 points) on opening weeks historically. Its a safe bet whatever lineup order is released for game day, last years golden boot winner, Chris Wondolowski will be at the forefront. Union SC has missed all postseason action two years running since its championship season, so the pressure for the flagship to get back to prominence is at fever pitch. A healthy Zakuani and Buddle should help and the additions of Joseph, Lindpere and Kenny Miller give the Blues a steady dose of familiar veterans. Second City is coming off a 6-13-3 (21 points) season. The club drafted Sebastian LeToux #1 to accompany its DP's Brad Davis and Eddie Johnson. The speedy Patrick Nyarko also returns and Mr playoffs himself, Mike Magee, joins the team as well.

Match Preview: Rose City vs Alamo City

This is the opening day Game of the Week. The defending BSL Cup Champion Rose City start the title defense against the 2012 Majors Cup Champion Alamo City. The Flyers held onto 3 Designated Players from last years roster in DiVaio, Chavez, and Rosales. Naturally, they will once again be the backbone of this squad. Alan Gordon and Jack McInnerney are some of the new faces added to the roster. The Battle won 14 games last year with the help of Henry, but gone is the rest of the roster that helped win games when Henry was out with injury. Instead an overhaul has yielded the addition of Kenny Cooper and Kobayashi. Jimmy Nielsen was signed to be the club starting Keeper and he did a fabulous job for Gateway United last year collecting several points.

Out of the Shadows?

The Zodiac utilized the clubs expansion option today to sign its third player. Unprotected, and left for dead with the defunct Kansas City Quest, Chris Pontius will now be playing for Orange County in 2013. The reason for the Quest poor showing in 2012 were many but, one of the few bright spots was Pontius who had 12 goals, 4 assist for KCQ.

Closing the Book On This Offseason

The BSL Designated Player deadline has passed with a total of 8 trades tallied this off season. There was lots of demand for DP slots between club owners, but only Alliance FC released a slot when it was all completed. The remainder of the trades involved draft picks ranging from 1st round selections to as far down as the 4th round. No Goal Keepers were selected this year as DP's.