USL League Two : Conference Finals and National Semifinals Featured USL League Two by Tim Abbott - July 23, 2021July 23, 20210 Friday Conference Final: Des Moines Menace v Kalamazoo FC - 7:30pm - Valley Stadium, West Des Moines, IA - CISN The top teams from the Heartland and Great Lakes face off for the Central Conference title and a spot in the National Semi-Finals. Menace finished the season 11-1 before finishing off Flint City Bucks 1-0. Kalamazoo, on the other hand, finished the season with a record of 9 wins, 1 loss and 4 ties and rallied to put away Mississippi Brilla behind the excellence of Parker Smith in a penalty shootout. All in all, Kzoo will face a tough challenge holding down the Menace attack. Sunday National Semi-Finals: Menace/Kzoo vs Park City Red Wolves/Portland Timbers 2 - 7:30pm - Valley Stadium, West Des Moines,
2021 US Open Cup canceled, full 2022 USOC planned Featured National Premier Soccer League News USL League Two by Tim Abbott - July 20, 2021July 21, 20210 The US Soccer Federation has announced that the 2021 US Open Cup will not take place in any form. There had been many suggestions as to a limited tournament for this year but instead, they have pumped the brakes on this year's Cup and will go from 0-100 next year - with as many as a century of participants expected. Some of the new participants will be guaranteed professional entrants from NISA and USL expansion, whereas amateur clubs face the usual two options - playoff positioning from NPSL and USL League 2, or qualifiers which will start as soon as September and go through November. From this pool of eventual winners, the eventual round 1 participants will be chosen on January
USL League Two: Conference Semi-Finals Recap Featured USL League Two by Ashle Norling - July 19, 20210 After Friday night's Quarter-Final matches four teams remained to head to the Central Conference Quarter-Finals. You can read our recap of the Quarter-Finals here and those matches left the Des Moines Menace (Heartland Champions), Flint City Bucks (Great Lakes #2), Kalamazoo FC (Great Lakes Champion), and Mississippi Brilla (Mid-South Champion). Des Moines would host Flint City in Des Moines, IA while Kalamazoo faced Mississippi in Clinton, MS. #1 Des Moines Menace 1 vs #5 Flint City Bucks 0 : Valley Stadium, West Des Moines, IA - CISNtv The first of the two matches that kicked off on the night was in Des Moines with the Menace hosting the Bucks. One goal would do the trick when in the 52nd minute Sivert Haugli
USL League Two: Conference QF Recap, SF Preview Featured USL League Two by Ashle Norling - July 18, 2021July 19, 20210 Conference Quarter-Finals (First Round) Recap #4 Chicago FC United 1 vs #5 Flint City Bucks 3 : Valley Stadium, West Des Moines, IA - CISNtv The opening match of the Central Conference part of the 2021 USL League Two playoffs pitted a one loss Chicago side against a Flint City team who's been on a tear as of late. It took 38 minutes of deadlocked football before either side could score, and that would be Flint City after an Amadou Cisse goal. Diego Gutierrez knotted the match up for Chicago in the 50th minute with a PK after a foul in the box. It would be the Bucks who would take control in the last 50 minutes with Dylan Borczak scoring in
USL League Two: Conference Quarter-Finals Preview Featured USL League Two by Ashle Norling - July 16, 2021July 16, 20210 The long winding road down the path to the 2021 USL League Two Playoffs has finished, now the teams are in and the playoffs start tonight. The eight teams who qualified for the playoffs out of the Central Conference are now split over two locations. The number 1, 4, 5, and 8 seeds will play at Valley Stadium in West Des Moines, IA, the home of the hosts and number 1 seed Des Moines Menace. The 2, 3, 6, and 7 seeds on the other hand will head south to Clinton Arrow Stadium in Clinton, MS, the home of hosts Mississippi Brilla FC. Conference Quarter-Finals (First Round) #4 Chicago FC United vs #5 Flint City Bucks: 4 PM - Valley Stadium, West
USL League Two: Week 10 Recap Featured USL League Two by Ashle Norling - July 16, 20210 The final week of USL League Two play before the playoffs was a jam packed one with a total of 13 scheduled matches to finish out the season. Five matches were played on Wednesday with four of the five having implications on the playoff race. Wednesday: Toledo Villa FC 1 vs Flint City Bucks 5 : University of Toledo, Toledo, OH - Eleven Sports Kings Hammer 3 vs Fort Wayne FC 1 : Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH - No Announced Stream South Bend Lions 4 vs Dayton Dutch Lions 1 : TCU School Field, South Bend, IN - No Announced Stream Grand Rapids FC 3 vs Oakland County FC 2 : Midwest United FC Soccer Complex, Grand Rapids, MI - No Announced Stream Des Moines Menace
USL League Two Week 9: Recap Featured USL League Two by Ashle Norling - July 7, 20210 Tuesday: Flint City Bucks 2 vs South Bend Lions 1 : Atwood Stadium at Kettering University, Flint, MI - Eleven Sports Flint City opened the first of their two matches sitting a few points back from second place in the Division. Matthew Fearnley got the Bucks off to a great start in the first half. South Bend's Milo Yosef drew the match even in the 56th minute but Noah Jensen close up the match with a late goal to give the home Bucks a 2-1 win. FC Wichita 2 vs Kaw Valley FC 4 : Stryker Sports Complex, Wichita, KS - Eleven Sports A Kansas clash between Wichita and Kaw Valley would be FC Wichita's final home match of 2021. This would not be
USL League Two: Week 10 Preview Featured USL League Two by Tim Abbott - July 7, 2021July 16, 20210 Wednesday: Toledo Villa FC vs Flint City Bucks - 5:30pm - University of Toledo, Toledo, OH - Eleven Sports Against the 3-6-4 Villa, Flint City will be looking for an easy match to keep up their playoff positioning in the Great Lakes division. Kings Hammer vs Fort Wayne FC - 6pm - Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH - No Announced Stream Kings Hammer will need a win to keep up their playoff spot, but should have an easy ride against a Fort Wayne side with only 1 win all season. South Bend Lions vs Dayton Dutch Lions - 6pm - TCU School Field, South Bend, IN - No Announced Stream This matchup of declawed lions sees a South Bend club at 4-5-3 face a basement dwelling Dayton
2021 USL League Two Playoff Format Announced Featured News USL League Two by Ashle Norling - July 1, 2021June 30, 20210 Tuesday afternoon USL League Two announced it's 2021 Playoff format. This year there will be a total of 26 clubs, more than the typical 16 teams of the past, qualifying for the USL League Two Playoffs. This will consist of 8 teams from each the Central, Eastern, and Southern Conferences and two teams from the Western Conference. Qualification Breakdowns Central Conference Great Lakes Division - 3 Teams Heartland Division - 2 Teams Mid-South Division - 3 Teams Eastern Conference Mid-Atlantic Division - 2 Teams Metropolitan Division - 3 teams Northeast Division - 2 Teams Wild Card - Best 3rd Place team between the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Divisions Southern Conference Deep South Division - 3 Teams Southeast - 2 Teams South Atlantic - 3 Teams Western
USL League Two Week 9: Preview Featured USL League Two by Ashle Norling - June 30, 2021July 7, 20210 Tuesday: Flint City Bucks vs South Bend Lions: 6:30 PM - Atwood Stadium at Kettering University, Flint, MI - Eleven Sports Four points back from second place in the division, Flint City has a test on their hands as we head towards the end of the season. The Bucks have been 2-0-1 in their last three matches and want to keep that run of form going. South Bend has gone 1-1-1 in their last three and is sitting outside the playoff race at this point but could make it harder for the Bucks to earn their spot. FC Wichita vs Kaw Valley FC: 7 PM - Stryker Sports Complex, Wichita, KS - Eleven Sports In a division dominated by Des Moines and Chicago the