It’s a big week for Minnesota, as they head to Carolina on Saturday to take on the RailHawks, one of their rivals for the NASL spring-season title. To get the lay of the land in Carolina, I spoke with Neil Morris, who covers the team for Indy Week, and who is one of the best NASL writers you’ll find. The Q&A:

Jon: My first question – why is Carolina seemingly always good? The last four years they’ve been second, first, first, and fourth in the regular-season standings, and they’re right back in it again this year.

Neil: That wasn’t always the case. The first two years of their existence they didn’t make the playoffs, and had very poor losing records – the irony being that, in their debut season in 2007, they finished 8th in the league and had a losing record, but somehow made the semifinals of the US Open Cup. It was a bit of anomaly.

There are three main reasons, some more significant than others. I think the most minor reason is that Carolina has a backdrop and a base of soccer academies and good soccer universities. They don’t necessarily generate talent for the RailHawks, but what they do is they generate homegrown folks, and they generate people who played college soccer at Wake Forest or North Carolina or Duke or wherever, who when they need to revitalize their career or they’re looking for a place to play, they go with where they know. So you have a great number of players who were developed through Capital Area Soccer League, which is one of the best in the country, or played at one of these ACC soccer schools, who then will come and play with the local soccer team. So that gives you sort of a baseline of talent.

Beyond that, the two biggest reasons are number one, Carolina over the past four years and now in a fifth year have had two of the best coaches in Division 2 soccer. Prior ownership brought in Martin Rennie from Cleveland City in Division 3, and he helmed Carolina for three years and made the playoffs every year. He never won an out-and-out championship, but they were one of the best teams in the league, and he was a great manager and a great assessor of talent. After he left, once Traffic Sports [the owner of the RailHawks] brought Curt Johnson in as team president, he had a prior relationship with Colin Clarke that helped lure him here. And of course Clarke’s resume speaks for itself. I think the quality of head coaches has played a big role.

I think the other thing that cannot be discounted is the quality of the facilities. WakeMed Soccer Park, not just its main stadium but its outlying practice fields, are legitimately world-class turf. I have talked to many players who say they love playing here on these fields. One, it’s easier to play soccer, and two, it’s better for their health. They’re not playing on artificial turf, they’re not playing on some hacked-up field that they’re worried about stepping in a hole or something. The training facilities are better than almost all other D2 clubs. Once you get past Division 1, which is another level, once you get to Division 2, WakeMed Soccer Park is sort of the cream of the crop. It looks better, and it’s a warm-weather climate, and players just want to play here. If the money’s equal – and it isn’t always equal – but if it is equal, that’s a huge draw.

JM: This is a huge week for Carolina – Minnesota on Saturday, a US Open quarterfinal on Wednesday at Real Salt Lake, and then league leaders Atlanta at home the following Saturday. At this point, how does the team prioritize among these games – and from a fan’s perspective, which is more important?

NM: I can’t really speak for the team. I think if you talked to Colin Clarke he’d say we’re trying to win every game. And that’s probably true; I don’t think they’re going to tank it and play second-string players for any of these games. They’re going to marshal their resources, they’re not going to be unreasonable about it. I think if you had spoken to fans a couple of weeks ago, I think the entire focus was on US Open Cup, given that Carolina had two straight home games against MLS teams, with good attendances and two wins.

I think approaching this “week of truth,” I think the fans’ preoccupation is sort of with the league now. The Open Cup game is going to be midweek on the road, in a location that nobody is going to be able to get to, but everybody knows now that we’re in the short rows of the league. They have two big home games on back-to-back Saturdays, and the reality is that there’s a better chance of winning the spring season than the US Open Cup. And while everybody would love to win all three games, it becomes a matter of reality after awhile. So if you talk priority, I think now that this week is approaching, I think that prioritization with the fans is more with the league.

JM: RailHawks goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald is the only keeper in the league that’s played every minute of the season. Is Fitzgerald underrated, overrated, or properly rated?

NM: I think he’s getting more properly rated, but I think he’s always going to be underrated because of his height. [He’s listed at 5’11”, but 5’9″ might be more appropriate.] I’m not casting aspersions, I’ve done the same thing. Last year when he was playing limited minutes, I made mention of his height on several occasions. And I think if you watch individual games, there have been times when his height has been a liability. Any deficit in any player’s repertoire can cause problems. There are keeers that are not good at coming off their line, there are some that don’t have good reflexes. Keeper deficits can result in goals no matter what they are.

How he makes up for it, though, is that his reflexes are extremely fast, he is very fast off his feet – he’s a good leaper, but he’s a fast leaper, in the sense that he can get off his feet very quickly. He likes to come out, he likes to rush out and come get the ball, which I think is a good attribute when you know how to do it, and he has no problem coming off his line.

His most underrated asset is that he is tremendously adept at organizing the back line. He’s a chatterbox back there, in a positive way – he’s not just screaming at the back line. Even last year, when he played limited minutes, when he came into the game you could almost see a change in the back line. He’s good at organizing, and I’ve talked to defenders that say, ‘We like him sort of talking us up from the back.’ That I think is where his big assets lie. I think there’s always going to be a prejudice because of his height, no matter at what level, so he’ll be perpetually underrated – but I think the league at least has caught on to how good he is. And if Colin Clarke likes him enough to play him every game, then he must be doing something right.

 

My thanks to Neil for talking me through Carolina.

With all of Minnesota United’s injuries this season, head coach Manny Lagos agreed that their bye last week came at a good time. “You never know from a competitive standpoint, with the kind of win we had two weeks ago,” he said. “But from an individual standpoint, there are a lot of guys who are excited to get back in there.”

Both midfielder Aaron Pitchkolan and forward Etienne Barbara could return on Saturday; both are back in training after injuries. Pitchkolan limped off in the first half against Tampa Bay on May 18, one month ago, with a sprained ankle, and the linchpin of United’s midfield has been out since. Barbara last saw the field in the same game; he’s been dealing with a sprained disk in his lower back since, and those of us who’ve had back problems know how fiddly those can be.

On the downside, it appears unlikely that center back Connor Tobin or Miguel Ibarra will be involved on Saturday, as both are doubtful with injuries suffered last week against Fort Lauderdale. Tobin, who missed significant time earlier this year with an ankle sprain, injured the other ankle near the end of the game against the Strikers, and he’s looking at significant time out – probably enough to keep him out through the end of the spring season.

Ibarra picked up a very bad contusion on his knee in that same game, and didn’t train on Monday. Lagos was hopeful that he might be able to get back to moving around today, but at this point, the winger has to be considered doubtful.

Lagos did mention that both Max Griffin and Simone Bracallelo were getting stronger and back to 100%, so on balance, it’s looking like a positive injury report this week – the first in a very long time for Minnesota.

The NASL spring season ends July 4, and the fall season doesn’t begin until August 3, effectively giving teams a second preseason during the month of July. In order to stay in game shape, Minnesota will play a couple of friendly matches during the summer break.

Wednesday, July 17, at the National Sports Center, United will play a home friendly match against FC Edmonton, another NASL team trying to stay busy. A week later, on July 23, they’ll visit the Thunder Bay Chill of the Professional Development League. The team is open to scheduling another game, as well, but that appears to be unlikely.

United will have two weeks off before the first friendly, and ten days off after the second one, which should be plenty of time for the injured to heal and the tired to rest. Some had hoped for a high-profile exhibition during July, but United was unable to wrangle a more high-profile opponent – and so the summer will be about preparing for the fall.

NASL Standings: Looking up at Atlanta and Carolina

Results didn’t break Minnesota’s way at the top of the NASL standings over the weekend – but United still remains one of three teams with a realistic chance of winning the spring championship.

Atlanta pulled off a semi-improbable win at Fort Lauderdale, scoring a penalty in second-half stoppage time to win 1-0 and go to the top of the standings. The Silverbacks were reduced to 10 men with a half-hour to go in the match, but deep into time added on, Horace James got behind the Fort Lauderdale defense and Strikers keeper Matt Glaeser brought him down. Richie Menjivar converted the penalty, and Atlanta ran out 1-0 winners.

Carolina, too, rescued a result with a late goal in Edmonton. The Eddies had taken a 1-0 lead in the 73rd minute thanks to Michael Cox, but Carolina’s Cesar Elizando canceled that out in the 88th minute from a goal-mouth scramble, giving the RailHawks a 1-1 draw and a point on the road.

The weekend results mean that Atlanta leads the league with 17 points, followed by Carolina with 16 and Minnesota with 14. All three teams have three games remaining in the season. Effectively, the title will be decided between those three teams; Tampa Bay (12 points, 2 games remaining) and San Antonio (11 points, three games remaining) are still mathematically alive, but both would need pretty much everything to fall their way to get into the title picture.

Over the next three weeks, the top three will play a sort of mini-round robin. Minnesota visits Carolina this week; the following week, Carolina hosts Atlanta, and the week after, Atlanta makes the trip to Minnesota. With two home games, Carolina has to be considered the favorite, but Atlanta’s the team that’s leading the league at the moment.

For Minnesota, those two games are both must-win. Lose to Carolina this week, and nothing short of a miracle would bring the league title to Minneapolis.

The full NASL standings are here.

Minnesota United has a bye week this week, but the week after, it’s off to Carolina, the current league leaders. The RailHawks scored not once but twice in injury time on Saturday to beat Tampa Bay and go to the top of the standings, one point ahead of Minnesota and Atlanta.

In the meantime, Carolina has to play twice. Wednesday, they take on Chivas USA in the US Open Cup – a very winnable game for the RailHawks, considering Chivas is terrible (last in the West in Major League Soccer), the game is in Carolina, and that the RailHawks beat MLS champions Los Angeles in the last round. They then play Sunday in Edmonton, before having five days off ahead of the home game against Minnesota.

Maybe a Carolina win on Wednesday is the best thing United could hope for; that would give Carolina another midweek cup game, four days after the Minnesota game. I’m sure the RailHawks would insist that their focus would be uncompromised, but if they had a quarterfinal coming up, possibly against another MLS team – how could they fail to be a little distracted?

The state of play in the NASL

Atlanta won’t be happy with their own result on Saturday. They came into the weekend leading the league and had Edmonton at home. Even the match started going their way; Eddies defender Chris Nurse was sent off for two yellow cards, just a half-hour into the match, and in the second half the Silverbacks took a 1-0 lead.

But ten minutes later, former Minnesota midfielder Neil Hlavaty buried a free kick to tie the game at 1-1, and Edmonton held on for the draw, knocking Atlanta down into a second-place tie with Minnesota.

It’s also important to note that Carolina and Atlanta both have four games remaining, while Minnesota has only three – but two of those three are against the RailHawks and the Silverbacks, games that are both probably must-wins, for United’s title hopes.

Closing the book on the Metrodome

Minnesota got its second-best attendance of the year on Saturday – 5,754, the only game with more than 5,000 fans other than the season opener, which drew 6,754 to the Metrodome.

The team ended up averaging just over 5,100 fans for its five downtown games. On the one hand, that’s a far cry from the 10,000 that the team was hoping to draw to the Dome; on the other hand, 5,000 fans at the National Sports Center in Blaine would pretty much pack the stadium out.

To put it in perspective, the first leg of last year’s championship match – one of the wildest, most raucous games I’ve experienced in Blaine – drew 4,642 people. Getting fans to make the drive to Blaine is always a challenge, but if United could get 5,000 fans to the National Sports Center, it would be a fun atmosphere – and a major success.

At Saturday’s game, I ran into Damian Petrou, the founder and president of Brave New Media, a content development company that helps United out from time to time. He’s pretty realistic about his marketing efforts as a soccer fan. “15 years in marketing, and this is the hardest sell I’ve had,” he said, referring to the challenges of selling soccer in a saturated sports and entertainment market like Minnesota.

He was speaking as a fan, not on behalf of the team. For United, though, there’s no doubt they’re about to enter the most challenging portion of the season, marketing-wise. Minnesota now moves out to the suburbs – and because of the schedule, and the split season, they have only one more home game between now and August 3.