Steven Sandor's Blog, page 50

Waiting game: Drew Beckie on why the time was right to join Jacksonville Armada

Drew Beckie had a choice. He was on a trial with Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire. The Fire liked him enough to ask him to remain in camp for a couple of more weeks — but with no guarantee there would be a contract at the end.

Meanwhile, he had a solid contract offer from the Jacksonville Armada. He received the offer just after the conclusion of the 2016 NASL season. The Armada’s brass knew he was going to try and get back to MLS, but Beckie also understood that the NASL side couldn’t wait too long for him to make a decision.

So, Beckie decided to leave the Fire’s camp and finalize the deal with Jacksonville.

“I could have stayed with Chicago, but I had a firm offer in Jacksonville,” said the Saskatchewan-born Beckie, who has played in Canada’s U-23 program and was a former draft pick of the Columbus Crew. “But I couldn’t give up the contract in Jacksonville on a maybe.”

Beckie spent 2014 and 2015 with the Ottawa Fury, before joining the Team Formerly Known as the Carolina RailHawks in 2016. He was on a one-year deal plus an option in North Carolina, but he knew that he wasn’t going to be back in 2017. He said that without any bitterness; “I only have good things to say about that organization.”

If there has been an issue for Beckie, it’s that his versatility has become somewhat of a liability. In NASL games over the past three seasons, we’ve seen him at various spots in the midfield, at fullback, at centre back. But, when you’re known for being able to fit in various spots, you can get branded as a utility players. Beckie said he’s looking for more stability as a full-time right back with the Armada.

“The ability to play a lot of positions, it can be a blessing and a curse,” said Beckie. “Sometimes, it makes it hard to fit in.”

As well, if you’re seen as the utility player, you might train for a whole week in a fullback slot, but, on game day find out that you’re going to be in the middle of the park.

“I think they [Jacksonville] see me as a right back. I think this is a club going through a period of change, and I am excited to get started with them.”

Beckie had a contract offer from the Armada before news broke about the possible collapse of the New York Cosmos and the league. Beckie had to wait on news on if the NASL was going to survive or not.

“It was very tough, especially for Canadian guys,” he said. “It’s great that now all Canadians will be domestic players in the league (a change the league enacted a couple of weeks ago). But, even though that’s happened, we are down to eight teams in NASL, and that means fewer jobs for players.”

Of course, he is still going to make time to watch his sister, Janine excel in NWSL and as a member of the Canadian national women’s team. She won Olympic bronze last year, and her brother is sure she and her teammates can reach even loftier heights.

“I know the goal of the program is to be ranked number one or two in the world in the next couple of years,” he said. “And with (coach) John Herdman,  I think they can make it to the top.”

 

 

Better late than never: After move to Edmonton was aborted in 2016, Eustaquio joins the Eddies for 2017

Mauro Eustaquio was destined to become an Eddie.

FC Edmonton confirmed the signings of the Canadian midfielder, along with and Norwegian midfielder Sabri Khattab on Tuesday — and later announced the team’s plans for a four-game, two-week tour of Manchester, England.

But Eustaquio was supposed to become an Eddie in 2016. In the summer, around the same time that the Eddies had loaned defender Mallan Roberts to the Ottawa Fury and also released fullback Eddie Edward so he could sign with his hometown team, Eustaquio was supposed to come the other way in a loan deal from the nation’s capital to the Alberta capital. In fact, he’d already spoken to the Eddies staff about making the move before it was scrubbed.

“For some reason, the deal didn’t go through,” said Eustaquio.

But, this year, he’ll be wearing the Eddies colours after spending the previous three NASL seasons with the Ottawa Fury, where he made 47 appearances. He has represented Canada at the U-20 and U-23 level.

“I spoke to a number of people about Mauro and obviously we’ve had the chance to go against him in the past,” FCE coach Colin Miller said in a release issued by the club. “We’re well aware of his quality and I think he’ll be an upgrade for us in the middle of the park.”

Eustaquio said he had a couple of offers on the table, including one from the Fury to return to Ottawa and make the move to USL with the club. But, after a heart-to-heart with Fury coach Paul Dalglish, Eustaquio and the club went their separate ways.

“What it comes down to is that I’ve got to play,” said Eustaquio. “Two seasons ago with Ottawa, we went to the final and I played a lot of minutes. Last season, I got to play some, but my role wasn’t the same.”

Of course, he knows that he won’t be handed a job by the Eddies. So far, only he, Khattab and fullback Netan Sansara are the only new signings the club has made. Everyone else on the roster, so far, is a returning player. Eustaquio said he knows that he has to “fight for a spot,” but it’s a challenge he’ll relish.

Before making the decision to sign with the club, Eustaquio sought out the advice of other Canadians on the Eddies; he knows fullback Allan Zebie, midfielder Ben Fisk and keeper Nathan Ingham. He also spoke to Edward, who had to make the move from Edmonton back to Ottawa to deal with personal issues. He heard good things about the club, and that influenced his decision to take the Eddies’ offer over a couple of others that were on the table.

He’s looking forward to playing in the Canadian Championship’s opening round against the Ottawa Fury.

“It will be a special moment for me,” he said. “I was in Ottawa for a long time, it was great to be in Ottawa. But, at the end of the day, I now wear FC Edmonton’s jersey, and those are the colours I’ll fight for.”

Khattab played four season with Norwegian side Bryne FK, and moved to Kvik Halden in the January, 2016 transfer window.

“I think he’ll be a strong addition to our squad,” Miller said. “He’s an attack-minded, left-sided central midfield player who’s scored goals in his past and played at a good level in Norway.”

The Eddies also announced plans for their preseason trip to Manchester, England. The Eddies will be in the north of England from March 9-22, and will play Wigan’s reserve side, Burnley’s U-23 side,  Newcastle United’s U-23 team and Stoke City’s U-23 side. The team will train on 3G artificial turf at the University of Manchester.

“FC Edmonton is coming off its best season in club history, and last year’s successful run started with games against top competition during a preseason trip to Scotland,” NASL Interim Commissioner Rishi Sehgal in a release provided by the league. “With this year’s trip to England, the club will have a tremendous opportunity to come together as a group and train at a high level going into the season. I think the trip as a whole demonstrates, once again, the strong commitment and passion of owners Tom and Dave Fath.”

 

Beckie makes the move to Jacksonville

Canadian midfielder/defender Drew Beckie has a new home.

The Jacksonville Armada announced Tuesday that the club had inked Beckie to a new deal. Last season, Beckie played 1,592 minutes over 23 games for The Team Formerly Known as the Carolina RailHawks (now North Carolina FC). Beckie spent 2014-15 with the Ottawa Fury; before that, he was with the Columbus Crew of MLS.

Beckie has represented Canada at the U-23 level.

And, even though NASL has a new rule in place which allows for Canadians to be domestic players on both the rosters of Canadian and U.S. teams, Beckie would not have taken up an international slot on the Armada roster. Beckie has his American residency paperwork, though he is not an American citizen — he was born in Saskatchewan, but grew up in Colorado.

His sister, Janine, has become a fixture on the Canadian women’s national team.

“Drew is the total package,” Armada coach Mark Lowry said in a release issued by the club. “He is a player who will suit our style of play perfectly­ – a great athlete who possesses impressive technique and composure on the ball. Off the field, we have added a man of great character and another leader in the locker room.”

San Francisco has already signed three Canadians — Nana Attakora, Kyle Bekker and Karl Ouimette — for the coming 2017 season. So, we are seeing that some American NASL teams will feature Canadian content in the coming year. And, every time Unattached FC loses a player, well that’s a good thing.

Watson: For FC Edmonton, nothing less than a championship will do

Albert Watson says that, unlike last season, FC Edmonton will not surprise any of their NASL opponents in 2017.

And, though he had a couple of other offers out there, he said returning to the Eddies for the coming season “seemed right.” The team announced Monday that their Northern Ireland-born captain would be back for the upcoming campaign.

“It was tough in the off-season, watching the situation with the whole the league, with FC Edmonton,” said Watson of the December-January negotiations and deal-making that ended up preserving NASL as a division-two league in North America. “I had a few options, but it was a big positive the way it worked out. It seemed right to come back. It seemed right to try and go further this year, and win a championship.”

As well, he said that his family is settled in Edmonton. His daughter was born in nearby St. Albert.

Watson admitted that it was tough to see his close friend Daryl Fordyce choose to leave the Eddies and sign with FC Cincinnati of the USL. The two arrived in Edmonton together from Northern Ireland in 2013. The so-called “Belfast Boys” won’t be wearing the same colours in 2017.

“It was difficult, obviously,” said Watson. “He’s one of my best friends. Our wives are close. I knew it was a decision that he didn’t take lightly.”

Last year, an FC Edmonton team that was pretty well nobody’s pick in the preseason set a league record for fewest goals conceded (just 21 in 32 games) and got to the semifinals, where the Eddies were eliminated by the Indy Eleven. Watson said that the Eddies will not be a shock team to anyone in 2017, but the expectations are there.

“This year, everybody knows where the bar is,” he said.

And, Watson hopes by the summer that he no longer takes up one of the seven international slots on the FC Edmonton roster. He said the applications for he and his wife for Canadians Permanent Resident cards are in.

“Hopefully by the summer we’ll have good news to the announce, hopefully sooner,” he said.

And, as someone on the path to Canadian citizenship, Watson said he was thrilled to hear about NASL’s decision to treat Canadians as domestics league wide. Before 2017, Americans were allowed to have domestic status on both Canadians and American NASL teams, but Canadians could only be domestics on Canadian sides.

But Watson said “the league has shown some common sense” in making the move. He said that this was an issue that players had brought up to former commissioner Bill Peterson — why Americans could be domestic in Canada, but Canadians couldn’t be domestic in America.

“The move will only help to improve Canadian soccer,” said Watson.

 

The newest Eddie, Netan Sansara, on coming to Edmonton, the Straith connection and playing for India

It’s amazing just how small the soccer world can be.

Before his arrival on Thursday, new FC Edmonton left back Netan Sansara had never been to Canada. But he did have some sort of idea of what his new club would be about. Why? Before coming to Edmonton, Sansara was the captain of Norwegian side, Fredrikstad. Canadian national teamer Adam Straith and Sansara played together in Norway. And, through Straith, Sansara got the e-mail address for Canadian national team and FC Edmonton midfielder Nik Ledgwerwood, and they started exchanging messages.

Oh, and while Sansara had never been to Canada before, his mother has — they have family in Calgary who are in the restaurant business.

So, he’s not arriving in Edmonton, to a new club and country, as a complete stranger.

Sansara said that, after speaking to FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller, he knew the Eddies’ contract offer was the one he was going to accept. He was announced as a new Eddies’ player Thursday morning, and arrived in the city late Thursday afternoon.

“To be fair, I had three or four offers in Scandinavia,” said Sansara. “I had one more from abroad. “But when I spoke to Colin, I knew that he understood how I was thinking, and I got a good understanding of how he works.”

Sansara said he wants to spend a lot of his first full day in Edmonton… training.

“I have to get fit for the coming season. I’ve only been here a day, but I want to be training right now, I already want to get back to work. I’m not coming here with the idea that I’m just going to start, that I’m just going to be thrown into the team. I have to earn my position.”

Sansara played as youth international for England, the country of his birth. But he was hopeful that he could play for the Indian senior national team and help that country’s soccer program grow. He went to a camp with the Indian side but, unless something in that country’s soccer bureaucracy changes, that’s as far as it will go.

“They don’t allow players with dual passports to play for the national team in India,” said Sansara. “They only allow players who have a single passport, so that’s where things are right now. They say they want to improve in World Cup qualifying, and Asian Cup qualifying, and I know there are many players around the world with Indian heritage who could help the program.”

U-20 national team coach Rob Gale: We “selected the best 20 players available to us”

It just wouldn’t be a Canadian national-team roster announcement if we didn’t focus more on who isn’t on the team than who was on the list.

The roster for Canada’s U-20 side that will go the CONCACAF Championships was announced Thursday. And missing from the list was Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Canada’s reigning U-20 player of the year. The Montreal Impact phenom was with the Canadian U-20 program throughout its preparation for the tournament, but turned down a spot on the roster.

“He did turn us down,” said coach Rob Gale.”He did give us his reasons, but I am not going to go into that at this stage. I want to focus on the players who are available to me, to the players who are committed to us at this moment.”

As well, Gale is missing five players who were eligible for the team weren’t included on the roster due to injuries — including Shamit Shome, the Generation Adidas player who was drafted by the Montreal Impact after being sold to MLS by FC Edmonton. The other four missing out are goalkeeper James Pantemis, the Montreal Impact’s David Choiniere, Hearts’ Marcus Godinho and TFCII keeper Phil Di Bennardo.

Gale said the shame of these injuries is that most of those players would have been available to the Canadian side had the tournament just kicked off a couple of weeks later. The CONCACAF championship, which serves as a qualifying tournament for the U-20 World Cup, begins Feb. 17 in Costa Rica. Canada did not get a favourable draw; the Canadians are in Group A, which also includes Honduras and Mexico.

Gale said Shome was carrying an injury through the MLS Combine. He was hurting from the end of the 2016 NASL season, but the Canadian coach said he didn’t have the aches and pains addressed as he wanted to play through the MLS draft process and impress the scouts. At the U-20 team’s recent camp in Panama, Gale said Shome wasn’t the same kind of player that his coach was used to seeing, and needed to get the injury addressed. This also might explain Shome’s slide to the end of the second round of the draft.

Choniere hurt his ankle three weeks ago in Toronto, and Godinho’s status was “touch and go” ahead of the roster announcement. Pantemis is back to training and would have been ready to go if the team only had the luxury of a few more days.

Eight of the players on the roster are European-based, including Liam Millar, who is with Liverpool’s youth program. Fourteen of the players on the roster haven’t represented Canada before at a CONCACAF championship at any age level.

Even though Shome is out with injury, FC Edmonton’s academy did get a player onto the squad; Aymar Sigue (now at Penn State University) made the the team.

“We have selected the best 20 players available to us that we have,” said Gale. “We’ve gone with a selection of players who are in their best possible moments.”

What does that mean? Gale admitted that two years ago, it may have been a mistake to pick players  based on the strength of their performances from a few months ago. He thinks the players he has are in their peak-performance modes right now.

The team’s first opponent is Honduras; and Gale knows this will be a challenge. The Honduran youth side’s players spend the weekends with their respective clubs, but spend Mondays thru Fridays training with each other. They are, for all intents and purposes, a national side that functions as a club.

“It’s a snapshot of your program over six days,” he said of the group stage. “We prepare the best we can for that, emotionally, tactically and physically. We try to pass on the lessons learned from other age groups.”

CANADA

1- GK- Dayne St. Clair | USA / University of Maryland

2- FB- Zachary Brault-Guillard | FRA / Olympique Lyonnais

3- FB- Gabriel Boakye | GER / Energie Cottbus U-19

4- CB- Kosovar Sadiki | ENG / Stoke City U-23

5- CB- Thomas Meilleur-Giguère | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

6- M- Liam Fraser | CAN / Toronto FC II

7- M- Diego Gutiérrez | CHI / CD Palestino

8- F- Luca Uccello | CAN / Toronto FC II

9- F- Dario Zanatta | SCO / Heart of Midlothian FC

10- M- Tristan Borges | NED / sc Heerenveen

11- W- Kris Twardek | ENG / Millwall FC

12- F- Shaan Hundal | CAN / Toronto FC II

13- M- Dante Campbell | CAN / Toronto FC II

14- M- Aidan Daniels | CAN / Toronto FC II

15- CB / FB- Kamal Miller | USA / Syracuse University

16- CM- Emmanuel Zambazis | GRE / Iraklis 1908 FC

17- F- Aymar Sigue | USA / Penn State University

18- GK- Thomas Hasal | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-18 Residency

19- F- Liam Millar | ENG / Liverpool FC U-18

20- FB / RW- Kadin Chung | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2

MLS and its hard sell to Canada: Games on CTV, promises of more to come for Canadian fans

To say it’s been quite the week for MLS in Canada would be an understatement.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber played up some of his league’s pro-Canadian initiatives during his visit to Vancouver on Monday. He talked about opening an MLS office in Canada; he talked about the league providing subsidies for teams to sign Canadian national-team players who would like to return to North America.

Then, on Thursday came the announcement that, as part of its national English-language television deal with TSN, seven MLS games will be broadcast coast-to-coast on CTV. That’s a massive sign of BellMedia getting behind the MLS property, with the same kind of fervour we have seen dedicated to the Canadian Football League in the past. Of the seven national CTV games, five will feature match-ups between the Canadian sides.

But, as MLS moves to massively expand the footprints of the three Canadians teams (and Garber was clear that adding teams in Canada is not on the table),  the questions about Canadians-as-domestics continued to dog the commissioner. The NASL recently announced that Canadians would now be seen as domestics league wide and would no longer take up international roster spots on the American teams.

Both USL and NASL, both second-division pro leagues in North America, grant Canadians domestic status, granting them exemptions from taking up import slots on their teams’ rosters. Garber reiterated the stance that this violates U.S. labour law — that an American employer can’t give any one foreign country’s citizen preference over any other foreign national vying for the same job. But, it’s an ironic stance considering some of the USL teams are run by their MLS parents. So, is Sporting Kansas City already breaking the law when its USL Swope Park Rangers affiliate employs Canadians as domestics? There were games last season which saw Rangers play four Canadians in the starting XI. So, in essence, Sporting Kansas City was employing Canadians as domestics on its reserve team — even though the commissioner of MLS continues to say it’s an illegal practice.

But SKC has never been censured by MLS. Nor has USL, which had the Canadians-as-domestics policy in place when it entered into its affiliate relationship with MLS.

No matter what side you stand on, if you believe Canadians-as-domestics break U.S. labour law or not, you have to allow that the Sporting Kansas City/Swope Park Rangers double standard is confounding.

MLS has a policy where Canadians and Americans are domestics on Canadian teams, but the majority of Canadians are considered foreigners on the U.S. teams. But, the league announced an adjustment to the rules in late 2016. Canadians who sign with an MLS Academy or an MLS/Canadian Soccer Association-approved academy before they turn 16 — and then sign their first pro contracts with an MLS side or an MLS side’s USL affiliate — get league-wide domestic status. Same also goes for players who are brought in through the league’s Canadian Generation Adidas program.

What we do know is that the new MLS rules are already causing confusion. I’ve been contacted by several Canadian players who have asked me that if they tried to come back to MLS, would they be domestic or not? They used to play in MLS, but will the academy they played in be retroactively approved by MLS/CSA? As well, some academy heads have told me they’ve been asked by parents and players if their programs are MLS/CSA approved as per the new rules. And, honestly, they don’t know.

Without a published list of approved academies, the rule is becoming a source of confusion. That list should have been ready when the rule change was announced.

Already, Canadian coach Marc Dos Santos (who was with Swope Park Rangers last season) has inked three Canadians to play for his San Francisco Deltas; Nana Attakora, Karl Ouimette and, most recently, Kyle Bekker. Could this have been done if Canadians weren’t treated as full domestics throughout NASL? (It needs to be stated, though, that when he signed with Fort Lauderdale last season, the Strikers issued a release stating Attakora had the requisite paperwork to be considered an American domestic).

But, for many, it will be difficult to focus on the Canadians-as-domestics issue when MLS is giving its fans north of the border so many pretty lights to look at. Toronto FC’s playoff run — which included that not-to-be-forgotten Eastern Final against Montreal — generated record smashing ratings for MLS in Canada. It’s clear that the league and the broadcaster don’t want what happened in the autumn of 2016 to be a blip; they don’t want to be like the NBA Raptors, which generates big numbers in the playoffs, but get back to the regular season and the national interest disappears.

FC Edmonton signs English-Indian fullback Netan Sansara

FC Edmonton have found the player who will likely fill the left back hole that was created by the departure of Adam Eckersley.

The team announced the signing of English-Indian left back Netan Sansara, Thursday.  Sansara played with Norwegian side Fredrikstad from 2014 till the end of the 2016.

“He was the captain of Fredrikstad, arguably the second biggest club in Norway the last three seasons,” FCE coach Colin Miller said in a release. “That tells me that there are leadership qualities there for Netan. He is a left fullback and he is one that will solidify our back line.”

Sansara has also played in Denmark, Cyprus and at several lower-division English sides. He came up through Walsall FC’s youth ranks.

Sansara represented England at the U18 and U19 level, where he teamed with the likes of Theo Walcott and Daniel Sturridge, but has recently been with the Indian national side for camps.

Sansara is the first new player for the 2017 season to be unveiled, though we should expect announcements on two or three more players soon. The Eddies will be on the pitch to open training camp on Feb. 15; their first game of the season is at Jacksonville April 2.

Sansara is flying into Edmonton Thursday, and should arrive later in the day.

Miller says continuity is important for FC Edmonton

The Eddies announced the re-signings of four players: Forward Jake Keegan and defenders Marko Aleksic, Shawn Nicklaw and Karsten Smith.

Nicklaw took over as a starting fullback for the Eddies after he was acquired in 2016 from the Jacksonville Armada in a trade that saw striker Jason Plumhoff go the other way (ironically, the Armada announced Tuesday that the club and Plumhoff had parted ways). Nicklaw took over the right back role from Eddie Edward, who was traded to Ottawa after the spring seasons for personal reasons.

Smith and Aleksic were depth players in 2016, while Keegan scored five times last season. With the departure of Eddies’ all-time leading scorer Daryl Fordyce for FC Cincinnati of the USL, there is an opportunity for Keegan to have more of a role in FCE’s offence this year.

With Tuesday’s announcement, the Eddies have 14 returning players on their roster. Coach Colin Miller said three or four new players will be announced soon. But, for a team that got to the NASL semifinal stage in 2016, and boasted the league’s stingiest defence, returning a lot of players is key.

“I believe that continuity is massive,” said Miller. “I see some teams in North America that throw a hand grenade to their rosters every season. We are not going to look at changing over 15 or 16 players. The lads who are returning did well for us last year.”

Of course, any discussion about continuity has to include a question about the status of captain Albert Watson and Pape Diakite. The central defensive duo were a major part of the Eddies’ record-breaking defensive mark last season, which saw the team give up just 21 goals in 32 regular-season games.

“They were arguably the best at what they did in the league last season,” said Miller, who said an announcement on the duo is expected in the next few days. He said he’s feeling “optimistic” when it comes to the two players.

Miller said with a lot of returning players and a few new faces, “the expectation is that we go even further this season.” So, that would mean a trip to the NASL Championship game. The team will go into the season as one of the favourites for the league.

Of course, that will mean navigating a brutal road schedule. The Eddies travel more kilometres than any other pro team in North America, and in September they will endure a one-week, three-game stretch that will see them go from Edmonton to Puerto Rico to San Francisco, 11,400 km in less than a week.

“I’ll be living out of a bag again, I can’t wait,” said Miller. “In fairness to our players, they just get on with it.”

 

Goalkeepers  

Tyson Farago, Nathan Ingham

Defenders

Allan Zebie, Marko Aleksic, Shawn Nicklaw, Karsten Smith

Midfielders

Pedro Galvao, Ben Fisk, Nik Ledgerwood, Nico Di Biase (I), Dustin Corea, Sainey Nyassi (I)

Forwards

Tomi Ameobi (I), Jake Keegan

(“I“ represents an international roster spot. The Eddies, like all NASL teams, are allowed a maximum of seven).

NASL sked: FCE adds Friday and Saturday home dates, will endure 11,400-km road trip from hell

Over the last several seasons, it was a given that FC Edmonton’s home games kicked off Sundays at 2 p.m. local time at Clarke Field. Because the stadium is a multi-purpose, City-administered facility, it was difficult for the Eddies to find other time slots for their home games.

The 2017 NASL schedule was released on Monday; and some Friday and Saturday night games have been added to the mix of FCE home games.

Spring season: Only one Sunday afternoon home date, six Saturday nights, one Friday night;

Fall season: One Friday night home game, two Saturday night home games, the rest on Sunday afternoons

The home opener will be a Saturday night date — with the Eddies hosting the Jacksonville Armada April 8 at 7 p.m. The Eddies open the season April 2 in Jacksonville.

There is one “hey, have you guys looked at a map?” portion of the schedule, and it comes in the fall. On Sept. 17, the Eddies have an afternoon home date against Indy; three days and over 5,600 km later, they need to be in Puerto Rico for a midweek date. To get to Puerto Rico, the Eddies are looking at three flights to San Juan, a trip that takes about 14-16 hours, with connections.

To get a midweek game on the island after a Sunday home game is cruel and unusual punishment.

But it’s not done there; three days after the Puerto Rico game, the Eddies need to be in San Francisco for another road date. That’s right, from Edmonton (in the northwest of the continent) to the Atlantic and then to the Pacific coast. That’s a crazy travel triangle

The distance from PR to SF? Around 5,800 km. So, in the space of a week (Sept. 17-23), the Eddies will play three games and cover a distance of 11,400 km, not including the flight home from San Francisco.

To put that in perspective, 11,400 km is the distance between California and Turkey.

SCHEDULE

Spring

April 2 at Jax, 2 p.m. MT

April 8, JAX, 7 p.m. MT

April 15, at NCFC, TBD

April 22, PRFC, 7 p.m. MT

April 29, at Mia, 5:30 p.m. MT

May 6, at Indy, 5:30 p.m. MT

May 14, SF, 2 p.m. MT

May 21, at NY, 3 p.m. MT

May 27, INDY, 7 p.m. MT

June 3, at PRFC, 5:30 p.m. MT

June 10, MIA, 7 p.m. MT

June 17, at SF, 8 p.m. MT

June 24, SF, 7 p.m. MT

July 1, at Jax, 5 p.m. MT

July 7, NCFC, 7 p.m. MT

July 15, NY, 7 p.m. MT

Fall

July 30, INDY, 2 p.m. MT

August 5, at Indy, 5:30 p.m. MT

August 11, NY, 7 p.m. MT

August 20, PRFC, 2 p.m. MT

August 26, at SF, 8 p.m. MT

September 2, at NCFC, TBD

September 10, NCFC, 2 p.m. MT

September 17, INDY, 2 p.m. MT

September 20, at PRFC, 5:30 p.m. MT

September 23,at SF, 8 p.m. MT

October 1, SF, 2 p.m. MT

October 6, JAX, 7 p.m. MT

October 14, at NY, 5 p.m. MT

October 18, at Jax, 4:30 p.m. MT

October 21, MIA, 7 p.m. MT

October 28, at Mia, 5:30 p.m. MT