The week in review:  

Wednesday

Charleston @ California - Patrick Ianni made his debut for the Victory on loan from the Houston Dynamo and had an instant impact.  The defense for California actually looked credible.  Granted it was against the Battery, but still.  Stephen Armstrong gave Charleston the lead in the 40th, but California's Yuri Morales evened things up at the end of the half.  Armstrong provided hope for both the Victory and the Thunder later in the week by getting a second yellow at the 76th minute mark.  Neither, as it turned out, were able to take advantage.

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

Friday

Vancouver @ Montreal - Sadly, this game is sitting unwatched on my DVR.  However, Montreal appears to have been the more active of the two teams with nearly twice as many shots and fouls.  12000 people were on hand to watch the scoreless draw as the Impact continue to have the highest attendance in the league.

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

Rochester @ Miami - Another game I missed, but this must have been an odd one to watch.  The weather was described as pouring rain and windy making for probably a sloppy game overall.  Mike Ambersely put the visiting Rhinos up in the 24th minute.  Try as they might, Miami was unable to find an equalizer.  In the end, Miami out shot Rochester 22-9.  Chase Harrison did well, making nine saves on the night.  The weirdest stat of the game, though, is that Miami was whistled for three fouls and still managed to pick up three yellow cards.  Obviously none of them were for persistent fouling.  Unless, of course, Miami's foul total is one of those typographical errors the league is prone to.

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

Saturday

Miami @ Atlanta - Tony McManus scored the opening goal for the home team in the 31st minute.  Julio Cesar Oliveira equalized for Miami in the 73rd minute on a set up by Zinho.  Then, the relatively unthinkable happened as Eric Vazquez scored in stoppage time to steal all the points for Miami.  Atlanta fans must have been really upset with that one.

Final: 2-1 Miami
My Prediction: 1-2 Atlanta

Charleston @ Minnesota - Continuing on a theme of home fan frustration, the Battery came to St. Paul Saturday night as well.  Byron Alvarez scored in the 17th, somewhat against the run of play to that point.  Things remained relatively even until the 75th minute when Alvarez got loose again and chipped Joe Warren.  How anyone can give up two goals to the Battery on the road in this league is beyond me.  Especially when you consider that both were scored by Byron Alvarez.  Really, Byron Alvarez.  Unbelievable.  Aaron Paye did get a late equalizer on a PK after a called handball.  I really can't be sure what happened to earn the PK since it took place at the far end of the field and all I saw was three Charleston players and a Thunder player in a pile on the ground scrambling for the ball.  To sum up just how bad the night was for the Thunder, Alvarez only felt the need to dive once.  Surprising restraint shown by him.  He did get called for seven fouls, but somehow managed to evade picking up a yellow.

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

Sunday

Rochester @ Puerto Rico - Another beautiful night on the island saw 5000+ on had to watch Rochester take on Puerto Rico.  Petter Villegas gave them something to cheer for early when he scored in the 15th minute.  Josh Saunders kept the scoreline 1-0 basically on his own registering nine saves on the night, but that changed in the 80th minute.  Hamed Diallo scored the late equalizer for Rochester in a game they may feel they should have won.  Puerto Rico certainly didn't put a ton of pressure on the Rhinos after their score anyway.

Final: 1-1
My Prediction: 2-2

Tuesday

Minnesota @ Montreal - It was incredibly windy in Montreal by all accounts after a storm front moved through just before kickoff.  The game started with the teams playing relatively evenly, trading chances and possession.  That steadily changed throughout the match as Montreal began to get more frequent chances as time went on.  Fred Moojen scored a hard blow to the Thunder in the 41st minute.  Yet another goal given up as time wears down in a half.  However, the team didn't pack it in and the Impact couldn't quite finish off a couple of golden chances to put the game away and it paid off.  Jeremiah Bass scored his first goal for the Thunder just as regulation was expiring off a scramble in the box.  A nervous four minutes of stoppage time later and the Thunder had pulled off the improbable.

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

For the week that makes me 2-5, with one correct margin of victory and zero perfect scores.  For the season I'm now at 23-29 with 10 correct margins of victory and five exact scores.  My trusty divining rod is 17-35.

Rankings:
Rnk(+/-) Team (W-D-L) Notes
1(+3) Vancouver (5-3-1) - Solid scoreless draw in Montreal
2(+3) Rochester (4-4-3) - Four point swing through Miami and PR
3(-2) Montreal (4-4-0) - Two home draws, one to the Thunder, huh?
4(-2) Carolina (3-4-2) - Idle
5(-2) Portland (3-2-1) - Idle
6(0) Puerto Rico (2-4-3) - Home draw to Rochester
7(+2) Charleston (3-3-2) - Solid road trip through the two cellar dwellers
8(+3) Miami (4-0-6) - Last remaining drawless squad
9(-1) Seattle (3-3-4) - Idle
10(-3) Atlanta (3-2-4) - Bad loss at home to Miami
11(-1) Minnesota (1-3-5) - Two games at the opposite ends of the spectrum
12(0) California (0-2-4) - Two, two points!  Aaa aaa aaaaaa.

Predictions:

Thursday

Seattle @ Charleston - Seattle hasn't had the best time of it on the road this season, but they are well rested and this looks to be the easier of their two games this weekend, despite Atlanta's collapse against Miami this past weekend.  Charleston appears to be getting better and better as the season goes on, but their most recent results have been against the two teams at the bottom of the table so far this season.  They are especially tough at home, though.  This match will be decided in midfield with Sebastien Le Toux, Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar and Leighton O'Brien matching up against Stephen Armstrong, Gordon Chin and Luke Vercollone.  Both teams are very physical teams to say the least.  Roger Levesque and Nate Knox have been laying the wood to opponents, but Byron Alvarez is in a class of his own registering three fouls per contest to lead the league, oh and he has a history with Seattle after playing with Portland for some many years.

My Prediction: 2-2, there just isn't much separating these clubs.  I'd go for Seattle, but they really haven't shown much on the road.  Plus Dusty Hudock and his Super Trooper 'stache join forces to make a decent keeper.

Puerto Rico @ Miami - Alen Marcina has disappointed so far this season, but Alberto Zapata has picked up some of the slack leading the team with three goals and three assists.  Likewise the defense has been awful, but Josh Saunders has saved them more times than he really should have been asked to.  Miami, likewise, isn't a defensively gifted squad.  Unfortunately, they aren't much for offense either.  Zinho has had to will them to score a few times to get them to achieve their relatively surprising record thus far in the campaign.

My Prediction: 2-1 Puerto Rico, I certainly can't see how Miami has put together the record they have so far this season.  At some point the Islanders defense is going to straighten themselves out, Segovia just looked to good last season for the defense to look so bad this year.
 
Vancouver @ California - The Whitecaps gutted out a scoreless draw in Montreal and even though Montreal remains unbeaten, Vancouver is the top team in the league so far.  California could actually pull together their defense if Patrick Ianni is around for a while.  The season series currently favors Vancouver with four points from two games.

My Prediction: 2-1 Vancouver, the Victory's defense will be better and they should now be able to compete in this league, but they're not on the level of Vancouver, yet.

Friday

Rochester @ Carolina -  Again the Rhinos have been up and down, but they also haven't played many home games yet.  Carolina has really put things together, except at forward where Connally Edozien and McColm Cephas have struggled to find the net.  This is an interesting case where Rochester has been weakest on the flanks and that's where the RailHawks have been at their best.  Like Seattle and Charleston, these are two physical teams and this will be a rather crusty affair.

My Prediction: 0-1 Carolina, in a shocker I'm going with the new guys.  I just think Edozian is going to find himself on the end of a cross or corner and that'll be that.  Except for the hard tackles and the cards and whatnot.  These teams are destined to not like one another.

Portland @ Montreal - Portland has been doing it with smoke and mirrors, much like Miami, but to much greater affect.  Andrew Gregor has been doing most of the magic on his own, but time will tell if he can keep it up.  Montreal, despite the setback against Minnesota and the fact that they will still be without at least Gabriel Gervais in the back, are still one of the best in the league.

My Prediction: 1-3 Montreal, with Fred Moojen, Charles Gbeke, Matt Palleschi, Leonardo Di Lorenzo and Martin Fabro, the Impact just have too many weapons to throw at the Timbers.  There's also a reason that Portland's scoring has come almost completely from midfield.  As long as the Montreal midfield takes care of business, the somewhat shaky defense shouldn't be tested by Portland's forwards.

Saturday

Portland @ Rochester - After a likely thumping in Montreal, the Timbers head south across the border to take on Rochester.  Likewise, Rochester will also be playing their second game in 24 hours, and if I'm as good as I think I am... okay well its possible, if not probable, Rochester will also be coming off a loss.  Rochester will also be looking to avenge their lackluster showing in Portland that saw them lose 0-2.

My Prediction: 1-2 Rochester, Portland will probably be playing for the tie, but I don't think they're going to be able to pull it off.

Seattle @ Atlanta - The rough and tumble Sounders head from Charleston down to Atlanta on one days rest.  It'll be interesting to see how well the Sounders back line matches up with the deadly combo of Dan Antoniuk and Michael Millwood.  On the other end, how things go between the diving 'keeper, Felipe Quintero-Monsivais, and the physical forwards of Seattle may determine the outcome of the game.  I guarantee at least one of them is getting carded in this match.

My Prediction: 1-2 Atlanta, Floppin' Felipe takes Seattle out of their game and Millwood's pace exposes the Sounders D.

Puerto Rico @ Miami - The two teams will be facing each other for the second time on the weekend in their first meetings of the season.  If the first game doesn't finish as a draw the loser will have a little extra motivation to get the win.

My Prediction: 2-2, two slightly winded teams will probably come out swinging, or at least that's what I'd like to see out of these two offensive minded teams.  I think there's a good chance this could be an entertaining game even if it's partly due to poor defense. 

Minnesota @ California - Minnesota has gotten all of their points on the road, averaging a point per roadie, while California has one point away and at home.  Despite what the scoring record indicates, the forward position could be the strongest for the Thunder, they just don't get the ball in threatening positions very often.  Depending on how well the recently assembled Victory defense is coming together, the Thunder could have the edge here.  Meanwhile, despite Freddy Juarez, California's midfield overall should have the advantage.  Combine that with a feisty Josh Hansen up against an inconsistent, especially near the end of a half, Thunder defense.

My Prediction: 1-1, screw what I said in the previous paragraph, if the Thunder can get a draw in Montreal, they can definitely get one in San Fransisco.

Sunday

Minnesota @ Vancouver - The Thunder head back north of the border on Sunday, but this time the Liberian pair of Aaron Paye and Leo Gibson and South African Jonathon Greenfield are available after getting their visa issues straightened out.  On the other side of the ball, the Whitecaps have struggled a bit at home, at least when it comes to expansion teams.  The stable of forwards Vancouver has available is especially troubling given the problems the Thunder have had.

My Prediction: 1-2 Vancouver, league leader Eduardo Sebrango and Joey Gjertsen are just too much for the Thunder to handle.