Rounding past the midway point of the season here in the BDSL with the playoffs now almost in full view here along with some big Cup match ups. Lets look at a few emerging storylines here.

 

1) Righting the Ship

Some squads that may have looked left for dead or at the very least were underachieving have bounced back here to reenter playoff discussions. Starting with West United in O-35 who have pulled off back to back wins here to start June showing here that they are still among the top senior teams despite their rocky start to 2019. In D1 Dutch United are maybe finally hitting their stride here. They two are riding a two game winning streak netting 8 times here in those games. Justus Hoffman continues to be a top player in scoring a brace in both those games. Niagara FC has dusted themselves off nicely and ride a 4 game unbeaten streak in all competitions, led by dynamic striker Kyle Jones, to move back into the Championship Playoff race. Lastly don't look now but the Buffalo Gunners in D2 are on a 3 game winning streak too, with some impressive results over Brighten Stars and Youngstown amoungst those W's. They have reorganized in the back allowing just 2 goals in this run.

 

2) Turning Up the Heat

For some other teams though 2019 continues to be a disappointment. There are obviously candidates here, Medina, Buffalo Celtic and Celtic Classic who we've touched on some already. I think Wolves FC are a team that probably is sitting around wondering how they're in the position they are in. They are averaging a second worst 1 goal for a game in Premier half of which came in one of their 6 games. Pendleton United FC, well I'll let themselves explain where they are at right now "yeah this division is quite literally eviscerating every single drop of love for this sport." Yeeshhh. In D1 FC Draco's back line woes continue to sink them. Their 25 goals against is the second worst mark in all of BDSL this year. A coach swap took place this week so we'll see if the spurs some different results here. Lastly FK Bosna have tumbled toward the bottom of D2 here. Another teams whose offense has completely deserted them. FKB has been shut out in 5 of their 6 games on the season this year. Their 3 goals is tied for last across the entire league.

 

3) Father's Day Frustration

Up until this past weekend I've been quick to praise our teams, players, and managers for the drop in cards and specifically red's. So this weekend was on the other hand a little rough, by far our worst card weekend of the season. We can chalk it up to a lot of different things for sure. Maybe no one wanted to play and be around on Father's Day. We certainly were tighter on ref crews and their were two youth tournaments that day that probably ran them ragged too. As a league we're allowed to have our off weeks too I totally respect that. I just think maybe by acknowledging it was bad and uncharacteristic it will let us get back to where we were all season so far.

 

4) Transfer Whispers

So the transfer window officially opened on Monday and we already had one big deal since them. IR moves will no doubtingly increase as teams look to open space for players to help playoff pushes, avoid relegation or promotion bids. This time of the year is always a lot of fun. If you missed the podcast Brian and I spoke at length regarding moves some times could maybe look at making. Several times have tweeted or gave out info that leads me to believe that there are moves incoming or at the very least being discussed for a handful of players here. Always fun time to watch.

 

5) Cup Runth Over

The sweet 16's for both Tehel and Wood Cup will go off here in the next two weeks. As the rounds get later the prize grows here. Just for some fun I'll throw out some predictions out for who I think the elite 8 teams will be for each:

Tehel Cup - Queenston FC v Roos FC; Willies v Sharpshooters; Clarence v Lykan U; United v Raiders

Wood Cup - Twin Village v USAB FC; Gunners v Delco; Devils v Revolution SC; Great White Buffalo v Buffalo Brighten Stars