First, a terrible admission, life got in the way and I wasn't able to watch a single game from this past weekend.  Analysis, for what it is, may be a little light this week.  Just like last season!

The week in review:

Friday

Montreal @ Puerto Rico - The Impact nearly won this game on the back of Fred Moojen's goal just before the half.  Substitute Alberto Zapata found the equalizer a quarter of an hour from time, however.  Despite the Islanders 17 fouls, there was not a single card issued in this game.  Seems kind of weird.  Overall, the box score would make it seem that Montreal controlled the run of play and was unlucky not to take all three points.

Final: 1-1
My Prediction: 1-1

Seattle @ Portland - The Sounders nearly won the second leg of the most heated USL rivalry going as they had won the first.  Sebastien Le Toux had a stellar game for Seattle, scoring the opener in the eighth minute and setting up Roger Leveque in the 77th for the 2-0 lead.  Improbably, Portland stormed back with Bryan Jordan's first of the season a minute later and Andrew Gregor scored his third from the spot three minutes before the end of regulation to tie things up.  

Final: 2-2
My Prediction: 1-2 Portland

Saturday

Miami @ Charleston - Miami continues to falter as the season marches on.  Stephen Armstrong scored his second of the year in the 29th minute for the home team.  Byron Alvarez put the game away in the 85th minute on the helper by Gordon Chin.  Chin scored a goal in his first game with the Battery and got an assist in this, his second game.  The early results on him look like he's going to be a good player for the Battery.

Final: 0-2 Charleston
My Prediction: 0-1 Charleston

Carolina @ Atlanta - The first half was a hot one in this game.  Kupono Low scored his second of the year in the ninth to get things going.  Chad Dombrowski put the visitors up two in the 29th and the RailHawks were well on their way to their first victory.  The Silverbacks pulled one back just before the half on Justin Moore's strike.  But that was that for the scoring.  David Stokes got two quick yellow cards in the second half to get his walking papers. Things got chippy overall in the second half with six yellows, including the two that produced the red for Stokes, were issued.  

Final: 2-1 Carolina
My Prediction: 0-2 Atlanta

Rochester @ California - The Victory didn't live up to their name on the field or off in this one.  The game was lost 3-1 and the paid attendance barely topped 1000.  Things looked much brighter for California when they were up in Vancouver.  Johnny Menyongar and Scott Palguta, whom I believe to be the top scoring defender in the league at the moment, scored for Rochester in the first half.   Kiel McClung got one back late for the Victory, but Chris Schwartze was shown a straight red shortly thereafter.  Rey Angel Martinez put the game away for the Rhinos a couple of minutes later.  California collected six yellows and a red in their home opener.

Final: 3-1 Rochester
My Prediction: 3-1 Rochester

Vancouver @ Seattle - Seattle looked like they might pull off a monster run of three games against their Cascadian rivals when Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar put them on the board first in the 27th.  It was not to be as the Whitecaps ran off three in a row, with Eduardo Sebrango and David Testo scoring on either side of the half to give the visitors the lead.  Tony Donatelli scored three minutes from time to secure the W for Vancouver.  Interestingly, Vancouver only needed five shots to score three goals, and the other two were saved by Chris Eylander.

Final: 3-1 Vancouver
My Prediction: 2-0 Vancouver

Sunday

Rochester @ Portland - Rochester continues to be something of an enigma coming off a solid win in California to drop a bit of a stinker in Portland.  Andrew Gregor scored his fourth of the year to give the Timbers the early lead and assisted on Leonard Griffin's goal to seal things.  That makes the 31 year old Gregor, who has had not insignificant injury trouble during his career, the leading scorer in USL D1 in both goals and overall.  Tenywa "T-Bone" Bonesu got two quick yellows late in the second half, the second coming in the waning moments, and will miss Rochesters' next game.

Final: 0-2 Portland
My Prediction: 1-0 Rhinos

For the week that makes me 4-3, with 1 correct margin and two perfect scores.  For the season I'm now at 12-15 with 7 correct margins and three exact scores.  The proverbial three sided coin flipper is 9-18.

Rankings:
1(+2) Vancouver (3-2-0) - Big win in Seattle, topping the table
2(-1) Montreal (2-2-0) - Decent, if expected, draw in Puerto Rico
3(-1) Atlanta (2-2-1) - Lost at home to previously winless expansion side
4(+2) Carolina (1-3-1) - Congrats on the first win RailHawks
5(0) Puerto Rico (1-3-1) - A draw against Montreal is good, but still playing poorly
6(-2) Rochester (2-2-2) - Win in Cali, loss in Portland
7(+2) Portland (2-1-1) - Drew rivals and beat tough Rochester team
8(+2) Charleston (1-2-1) - Kicking Miami team when its down
9(-1) Minnesota (0-2-2) - Idle, Alfredo done for season
10(-3) Seattle (1-2-3) - Were looking good after draw vs. Timbers, but not after playing Vancouver
11(0) California (0-1-1) - Things not looking good
12(0) Miami (1-0-3) - See above

Predictions:

Friday

Atlanta @ Puerto Rico - Atlanta is looking to get back on track after the loss to Carolina.  The Silverbacks haven't proved themselves on the road yet and maybe saving something a little extra to go for the full three points on Sunday in Miami despite this being a rival.  Puerto Rico needs to build on last weeks result against Montreal to get their season going in the right direction.  Josh Saunders has saved more than his share of bacon so far this year and looking at the midfield match-ups I think he'll be leaned on quite heavily again in this one.

My Prediction: 2-2, really this one comes down to whether Atlanta goes in to the weekend with the intention of getting six points.  If they do that, they have a good shot at winning this game, but it seems more likely they'll try to do just enough to steal a point and focus on the Miami game for a win.

Minnesota @ Miami (FSC) -  The Thunder had a week off but still will be missing two starters from the last game due to injury in Alfredo Esteves and Ansu Toure.  Sounds like Kevin Taylor will also still be out.  Leo Gibson will be back from suspension however, Jonathon Greenfield should be ready after the MISL season and three new signings are available.  This is really a must win for Minnesota, no two ways about it.  The big question for Miami is will the people at field level outnumber the people in the stands.

My Prediction: 2-1 Minnesota.  Head, heart and gut are all in agreement on this one.

Rochester @ Seattle - The Rhinos continue their trek up the west coast with a visit to the Sounders to round things out Friday night.  Which Rhinos team will show up is the big question.  Will they be focusing on their table topping rivals, Vancouver and that game on Sunday, or will they be trying to pick up the easier points against the Sounders.  Seattle meanwhile, has to look at this game as the easier of two games on the docket, oddly enough.  Sunday they'll be on the other side of the continent to face Montreal.

My Prediction: 1-1, the way they've been playing there isn't a lot separating these two.  

Saturday

Charleston @ Carolina - The Battery has continued to create lots of chances, and started to finish them off against Miami.  This will be their first road game of the season, however.  The RailHawks should be riding high after winning in Atlanta as things look to be coming together for them as well.  One has to wonder if the fact that three of their five games coming against Atlanta has conditioned them to do well against the Silverbacks, but they may yet need to work out some kinks against a variety of opponents.  They'll also be missing David Stokes, that until is red card  was one of the four defenders to play every minute for Carolina so far this season.

My Prediction: 1-2 Carolina, the RailHawks are legit, the Battery not so much.

Vancouver @ California - I think the Whitecaps will have a bit of revenge in mind for this one.  They also have gotten themselves rounded into good form over the last two weeks.  California, on the other hand, will be missing their only proven USL D1 defender.  Another question has to be how much worse will attendance be for game two in Kezar Stadium.

My Prediction: 4-1 Vancouver, the Whitecaps won't let a repeat of the game in Vancouver against California happen again.

Sunday

Seattle @ Montreal - The Claude Robillard Sports Complex should be rocking for the Impact's home opener.  Seattle will be coming in having played against another of the big three Friday, then having travelled from the Pacific Time Zone to the Eastern Time Zone.  The Impact on the other hand will be fresh and in front of 15000 of their closest friends.

My Prediction: 1-3 Montreal, shouldn't be close.

Minnesota @ Puerto Rico - This will mark Melvin Tarley's first ever game against the Thunder, assuming he can get off the bench.  It's hard to know how Minnesota will do in this one.  If the Thunder win on Friday, they would be in a good mindset, but may wear a few guys down getting the victory.  The team should be deeper on this trip than previous trips, but this could still be a problem.  Puerto Rico will be coming off a rivalry game and haven't been playing well despite grinding out a few results they probably shouldn't have.  They could still be vulnerable.

My Prediction: 0-0, the Thunder will probably be very reserved in this match and Puerto Rico might not have a enough mojo going at this point to break them down.

Atlanta @ Miami -  A lot depends on how Atlanta approaches Friday's game.  If they go all out, they might put themselves in a position where they're focusing on just getting a road point.  Miami, however, should probably be focusing on Minnesota as a weaker opponent while they are still fresh as their best chance for a victory this weekend.  

My Prediction: 2-1 Atlanta, really Miami has been pretty poor this year and no matter what the Silverbacks do on Friday, they should find a way to win this game.

Rochester @ Vancouver - Despite this being the second game of the weekend for both, this still should be a hotly contested game.  The first match-up was a very physical affair that was pretty even and this one shouldn't be much different.

My Prediction: 1-2 Vancouver, I give the 'Caps the edge on home field advantage and current run of form.