97 PPL Scores 2/20

Aces 2 - FWU N White 1
Tigres 2 - FCD White 1

Solid efforts by both of the losing squads.

ASG White West 1 - TLSC 0

FWU Blue 0 - 1 TFC White - Well played game by TFC
Monterrey 2 - Solar Gold

The standings tightened considerably for the top 5 teams after just one week of spring soccer.

Regarding predictions for the rest of the season: at this point, unless Solar Gold and FWU both can find a way to beat Monterrey, which they didn't do in the first games, I think it will be hard for anyone to overtake that team. I predict Monterrey to finish first in PPL with a complete wide open shot for the next 4 teams.

Hoff - what is the deal with Aces and Valencia moving up this spring? Did the other teams implode or move down? Why didn't the top team (Tigres) move up? Just curious if you have heard anything.

Monterrey 2 - 1 Solar Gold

dfwobserver wrote:FWU Blue 0 - 1 TFC White - Well played game by TFC
Monterrey 2 - Solar Gold

The standings tightened considerably for the top 5 teams after just one week of spring soccer.

Regarding predictions for the rest of the season: at this point, unless Solar Gold and FWU both can find a way to beat Monterrey, which they didn't do in the first games, I think it will be hard for anyone to overtake that team. I predict Monterrey to finish first in PPL with a complete wide open shot for the next 4 teams.

Hoff - what is the deal with Aces and Valencia moving up this spring? Did the other teams implode or move down? Why didn't the top team (Tigres) move up? Just curious if you have heard anything.

Believe it or not, I think PPL had an attack of logic. It was pretty clear that the bottom two teams had no shot at challenging and were really no match for the other teams in Group 1. I believe PPL sent requests to Tigres, Aces, Valencia and Boca asking who would be interested in switching places. Of course, our coach jumped all over it. Valencia apparently did too. I don't think Boca responded to PPL.

As to why Tigres didn't elect to move up, your guess is as good as mine. Trying to find the most logical explanation that doesn't put Tigres in a bad light, they had nothing tangible to gain by moving up. For Valencia and us, we start the Spring with zero points, so no matter how well we do, we won't be able to challenge. Perhaps Tigres feels that they are good enough right now to go into next Fall, qualify for Group 1, and make it to the top of the standings without needing the experience of playing against any of the teams currently in Group 1.

We certainly don't feel that way about our squad. This is a win-win proposition for us. We know in order to achieve our ultimate goal, we'll have to beat the teams in Group 1 next season. We felt this was a great opportunity for us to get a feel for where we are and what we need to do to set ourselves up for next season, with absolutely zero pressure on the boys. If we lose, at least we pick up the valuable experience and get first-hand information about each team we play. If we can win some games, that's just gravy and gives us confidence and exposure heading into the summer recruiting.

I look forward to seeing you guys in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we can improve on our result from the QT.