The Spring season of Greater Portland Soccer District matches began in earnest this week. For the seven outdoor clubs participating in this term representing the Timbers Army and 107ist, it was the opportunity to renew old rivalries, face new challenges, or at the very least, play soccer again. As we will do on a weekly basis, we will provide a short recap and links to each TAFC match from the past week. Because many matches will be mid-week, we will post these updates on Thursdays or Fridays each week depending on when official match results are published by the team managers.
Starting with Division 1 of GPSD, we look in on FC Dynamo, a new team to the TAFC umbrella but not to playing together as a team. FC Dynamo faced off against SDFC Eastburn, the team FC Portlandia faced in the GPSD Division 2 championships for promotion. SDFC Eastburn turned two counter attacks in the first half into two goals, but FC Dynamo held a huge advantage in possession and kept threatening goal but couldn’t score. The second half displayed plenty of chances for both side, but as the final whistle blew, the score ended up 2 to 0 for SDFC Eastburn. April 7 is their next match at Gladstone HS where they meet Concordia Ale House FC.
FC Portlandia got its initial season in GPSD Division 1 going with a matchup against Salsa Azul FC. While we didn’t get an official report from the Portlandia boys in time for our press deadline, we can report they lost 3 to 2 to start their season. They will get things rolling this weekend on April 7 at Gladstone HS when they meet County Cork FC in a battle royale.
Moving to GPSD Division 4 action, the four TAFC clubs started their 2012 campaign in style. Cascade Rangers FC started their season at Synder Park in Sherwood against Broken Arrow FC, another longtime member of GPSD, on April 1. Cascade Rangers has been fortifying its roster with some new signings, but their numbers were down to just 15 available players. They held strong against Broken Arrow behind goals from Steve Kuenzi and Dave Levine, but lost the match 7 to 2. The team gets a bit of a break in the schedule as their next fixture is on April 15, but it’s a derby match as they will face their longtime rivals from North End United.
Speaking of NEU, they started out their season with a TAFC derby match against another of the new TAFC clubs, Northern Alliance FC from Vancouver. As in customary with many NEU matches, they had a huge challenge of finding an available pitch as the scheduled field was set up for rugby and not playable for soccer. After some frantic phone calls, NEU and Northern Alliance delayed their match on April 4 until later when Delta Park Strasser was available, and they got a late start under the lights.
Behind two goals from Nando Machicado and a goal from Rem Evert, the boys in black put three goals in for the first half, then used a tight defense to win their first of 2012 3 to 0 as the match got over just before 10 PM. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a report from the Northern Alliance boys, but according to reports, it was a wonderfully played match and the NAFC team showed great resolve to hang against their TAFC rivals. NEU has a bit of a break in the schedule as well, as their next match is on April 11 versus SDFC 3, while Northern Alliance FC faces South VN on April 15.
The other TAFC club in Division 4, Rose City Athletic, met up with long time GPSD Division 4 club May Day at Delta Park on April 4. Their top scorer from last season, Bryan Boen, got his account in 2012 rolling with two goals while Max Ramirez created all sorts of havoc on the May Day defense, but May Day was able to find space and goals as the two teams played to a 3 all draw. Rose City Athletic gets a break in the schedule as well, as they don’t play again until April 15 when they play SDFC 3, so apparently the SDFC folks will get a double dose of TAFC that week.
The last club in the TAFC collective to get their start was Old Growth FC, playing in the Over 40 2nd Division. They were meeting the Optimators, another new club to GPSD Soccer, and the weather was a wide array of things as this match got going – hail, rain, sun, wind, and everything in between. While the lads and lass of OGFC played valiantly, they fell behind in the first half and couldn’t overcome the deficit in losing 7 to 0. OGFC will play their next match on April 18 against Sellwood Moreland UTD at Delta Park Rugby Center.
We’ll have the late reports next time, while reports from the league office indicate there could be some rescheduling coming soon because of conflicts at the Rugby Center with fixture dates. Thanks for reading, and we’ll talk to you all next week!
