Thursday's Recap:

Sentinel 1 - Heartland KC 0

Sentinel have their first win of the tournament and Heartland KC are in trouble at the APL is Back Tournament.
Sentinel beat nine-man Heartland 1-0 behind a Frankie Amaya golazo in the 76th minute, leaving Heartland KC at the bottom of Group E with zero points from two games.  They're not mathematically eliminated just yet, but it's not the start they had in mind.

Charlotte Athletic 4 - Philadelphia Strikers 3

Ayo Akinola scored a hat trick and Alejandro Pozuelo racked up three more assists, sending Charlotte Athletic to a 4-3 over rival Philadelphia in Group C play of the APL is Back Tournament.The teams swapped five goals in the first 37 minutes of the contest, with Charlotte conceding the lead twice before Akinola struck for two more goals, the last of which stood as the decisive tally.Charlotte jumped on top after Richie Laryea collected a throughball from Pozuelo down the left flank, charged into the penalty box and made a cut to this right before rifling home the finish to the far post, giving the Crowns the lead just eight minutes into the match. Philly found the equalizer in short order, however, as Emanuel Maciel put Romell Quioto  in on goal with a perfectly placed ball over the top in the 14th minute. The Honduran made no mistake with the finish, coolly slotting it home past Charlotte goalkeeper Quentin Westberg. The Crowns snatched the lead back in the 25th, as Pozuelo picked up his second assist on a pinpoint cross that found Akinola right in front of goal for an easy tap-in finish. Philadelphia would strike back again in the 37th after Chris Mavinga was whistled for a penalty kick by referee Jair Marrufo for a challenge on Quioto in the box, allowing Saphir Taider to equalize from the spot.But that lead would only last a matter of seconds, as Akinola slid behind the Impact backline immediately after the restart and cashed home his second of the evening off yet another feed from Pozuelo, giving the Crowns a 3-2 lead they would take into halftime. It would stay that way until the 83rd minute, when Akinola got free down the right side and chipped home a breakaway finish to complete the hat trick and render another late penalty kick from Taider a moot point.

Chicago Millenium 2 - Alpha Miami 0

Chicago Millennium picked up a second straight convincing win to start their APL is Back Tournament campaign, topping Alpha Miami 2-0 in Group E play on Thursday on the strength of goals from Gyasi Zardes and Lucas Zelarayan. With the victory, Chicago vaulted to the top of Group E and punched their ticket to the Knockout Stage of the tournament.
  
Today's Games:

8 ET :  Baltimore Ramparts versus AC Sol 

8 ET : Caesar Sportivo versus FC Lone Star

10:30 ET: Detroit Dynamo versus Sporting San Francisco
 

Last edited by Gritty (7/17/2020 9:21 am)

So news came down today from the APL (MLS) that the four expansion teams will be delayed in their inaugural seasons.  Austin FC will start on schedule, but St. Louis, Charlotte and Sacramento will all be delayed a year.  

That got me thinking...where would you like the APL to expand to next? We don't need to wait til 2021 to unveil their identities.  

sportsfan7 wrote:

I would say Jacksonville, Texas x2 (Not sure where Lone Star is), and Vegas

FC Lone Star is in Dallas. 

Vegas, Houston, Portland and let's go weird..Omaha?

Gritty wrote:

sportsfan7 wrote:

I would say Jacksonville, Texas x2 (Not sure where Lone Star is), and Vegas

FC Lone Star is in Dallas. 

I guess I'd do Houston and El Paso for the TX teams