Looks like the Bums Bracket has a Cackalacky squad already invited. I guess letting some of our veterans retire and working development makes a rough season ahead this year.

Posted by clememp on 6/18/2025 12:04:00 PM (view original):
Looks like the Bums Bracket has a Cackalacky squad already invited. I guess letting some of our veterans retire and working development makes a rough season ahead this year.

Yeah, I'm in the process of working in some young players myself.

I missed a game from yesterday, which I have now added to the standings. If any of you ever see an error, feel free to point them out to me either by posting or with a sitemail. I go through and do periodic checks but the more eyes the better.

Now to the game...a somewhat surprising result out of Group F when FC Stolpen Steamroller hosted former Champion the crutchanators of soccer in Saxony. 42,000 witnessed a thumping, as crutchanators handed the German squad the first true blowout of the tournament. Sampo Jarvela got the affair started when his 5th minute header got past Steamroller goalie Sigifrid Eberly as it pinballed off the side post and in to make it 1-0...and it only went downhill for the home team from there. A couple of goals by Danish midfielder Tommy Mejer and a host of others swelled the lead to 6-1 before 21 year old forward Lenard Marheineke temporarily stopped the bleeding in the 62nd. Crutchanators added a couple of goals to finish it off for the 8-2 win. Those 8 away goals will virtually assure crutchanators wins any tiebreaker.

Now, I'll get to today's action.

Five additional games are now in the history books. Two of them came out of Group C, where the entire standings flipped. The group leader was VB Hibernian after the opener but that all changed when Brighton AFC came to town. Four different Brighton players scored as a balanced attack overwhelmed the Hibs defense for the 4-0 road win. A much tighter contest was fought between Kobelco United Football Club and North Polar Dragons FC. The Japanese side was completely routed in the stats but held firm until Isdel Rosas beat the offside trap and found himself wide open in the middle, slicing the winner past Kobelco goalie Carsten Zobel, who had trougle handling the pace. There is now a three-way tie in the early standings as all four teams look capable of advancing.

The Metropolitan Eagles are beginning to look like a solid bet to advance out of Group B after a 5-0 shellacking of Real TK in Stockholm. Erroll Schürmann and Greguska Kokes both scored twice as the Swedish side was never really threatened. After two games, the Eagles now have a +8 goal differential and are looking good. Another team looking like they are going to have a solid tournament is Merchiston FC, who won again out of Group D, this time against Swamp City Dragons in a 3-1 game. Thomas-VanLuijk De Meyer scored again to finish the contest off as the Dragons only managed to generate 4 sgots on goal, one of which by Tre Ackworth avoided the shutout. Group D currently happens to be the only pairing that has had all four teams register a stage point.

The final game of the morning saw the two-time defending Champion, Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi, start their quest for a three-peat as they went on the road to play first time participant Outkast FC in Group A action. Not phased by the hertage, Outkast played the champs toe to toe and took them to the limit. David Mesa got the Ecuadorians on the board first in the 17th minute with a shot that just got past Outkast goalie Bart Mörberg but the nwbies fought back when Clement Gaarde opened up the 2nd half with the equalizer. The game was tied 2-2 in the final minute when Heraldo Paulo Canineu used all three of his names to power in a header that won the game for Cotopaxi by a score of 3-2, taking their first step in defense of their title.

One game this evening...

There were two games this evening, both out of Group F and both involving Not Very United. Unfortunately, it was a not very good evening for the Canadian side. Playing both games on the road separated by 7 time zones, they won neither, although they were competitive losses. The first was against Rushmore FC in the US, where they held the halftime lead at 1-0 thanks to Tila Quirola's header that was perfectly redirected to the far corner. The 2nd half was a Rushmore stampede, as the home team scored four times in 25 minutes, capped off by Ronan Dorsey, who scored off a corner cross to finish off the 4-1 Rushmore victory.

United then jumped on their charter and flew to Saxony to face off against FC Stolpen Steamroller, who was still smarting from a poor performance in their last match. Steamroller played much better this time around and United, once again couldn't hold a lead. Quirola was half of the scoring duo that have the Canadians a 2-0 advantage but three unanswered by Steamroller, including back-to-back goals by Rey Jaime, who decided to put on a two minute clinic in the 62nd and 63rd, erased some of the pain and righted the Stolpen ship somewhat as they survived with the 3-2 win. Steamroller holds 2nd place in the group with more than half of the Group F games remaining, even though their differential is still upside down. Not Very United is 0-2-1 and is in need of points in a big way.

Lots of games tomorrow. See you then.

Posted by clememp on 6/18/2025 12:04:00 PM (view original):
Looks like the Bums Bracket has a Cackalacky squad already invited. I guess letting some of our veterans retire and working development makes a rough season ahead this year.

Looks like Not Very Utd will be joining you ASAP!

I'll be doing the morning update around 1pm or so.

As teams start getting mathematically eliminated from the knockouts, if you all would let me know if you want to enter your team in the Bums Bracket, that would be great. You can either post here or send me a sitemail. You don't need to tell me you are NOT entering...

I have already penciled in my Austria-Hungary team for the Bums even though they've only played one game.

I keep getting website errors every time I login. I'll try to update the morning games in about 30 minutes and hope it is better.

With 13 games today, I'm breaking up the games in half, with 6 contests that went final included now in the standings. The other 7 will get updated tonight.

Two games out of Group A completed with the Champs improving their record to 2-0, as they barely beat Bad News 2-1 in France. Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi not only jumped out to a 2-0 lead after Tilbrand Verstraete tipped a header off the fingertips of News goalie Gionatha Palombo early in the 2nd half but they also were playing the entire game a man up after hothead Tearle MacMinn got booted early. Despite this gift, Cotopaxi gave up a short-handed goal to Pattin Vaughan, who beat Rose Luyten clean.. Also, Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. played its first game at home in Cologne and beat Outkast FC 5-3 based solely on the strength of super forward Mano Araña, who tallied four times to beat the visitors single-handedly. The game was tied 3-3 when Outkast defender Rami Kilpelawas in an attacking position in the 53rd and painted the corner but Araña put the game away late to secure the win.

A pair of games in Group B have brought Metropolitan Eagles to the brink of clinching a playoff spot. Real TK had taken a 3-1 lead at home when Mevlut Lepiller scored his 2nd of the game in the 39th minute but the French side couldn't hold on as the Swedes applied maximum pressure and finally broke the TK defense. Czech forward Tomas Bezdek scored twice and Greguska Kokes got the game winner with 5 minutes to go when he settled a corner cross to his feet and blasted one from point blank range to give the Screaming Eagles the 4-3 win. SwampDragons United also picked up all three points in an easy triumph over outmatched Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub, who was lacking so much quality, they played backup goalie Alvaro Michel in the midfield. He didn't do too badly considering but the Dragons had little trouble in the 3-0 win, highlighted by Roger Alice's diving header in the 63rd. The Eagles sit atop the group with 9 points, the Dragons right behind them with 6 and both Austria-Hungary and TK are looking like Bums.

Finally, a pair of Group C games makes them the only group so far than has every team win at least one game in the Group Stage. Kobelco United Football Club picked up their first win after a 1-0 shutout over Brighton AFC after Brighton forward Aekley Green picked up a pair of yellows in the first 17 minutes and was told to take a hike. Gottfried Ernst took advantage of the extra space and did a Maradona imitation as he scored unassisted several minutes later for the game's only goal. To wrap up the update, North Polar Dragons FC took all the points on the road against VB Hibernian in a 5-2 victory. Jooseppi Muschkatenblieth and Daavid Kaurismäki each scored a pair as North Polar built up a 4-0 lead before Emilio Rivas knocked one in to get Hibs on the scoreboard. Three teams are now tied for 2nd with three points each as it looks like anyone in the group could advance.

OK, got the other four morning games recorded. FC Cackalacky will indeed be playing in the Bums Bracket as they were officially eliminated from the knockouts after a 4-0 home loss to Group G foe Bolton Wanderers. Bolton scored two goals in each half, one by Prince Pinter on either side of the break, as the Wanderers now join a three-way tie for the group lead at 6 points. With a couple of 3rd Place teams advancing, this group might be one of the two that gets three teams in.

the crutchanators of soccer are on the verge of punching their ticket for the playoffs as they beat Rusmore FC 3-1 on the road to improve to a perfect 3-0 in Group F play. Back-to-back goals by Jaquawn Cervantes and Iago Cristiani to close out the 1st half sealed the deal as Rushmore was only able to muster a lone tally when Malcolm Green showed off his vertical leap to get the home side on the board. Rushmore falls to 1-2 but has a level differential, proving the team has some quality.

New kids on the block FC Stratford-Upon-Avon King's Men continues to impress in their first Cup as they win a tight match against FC Trojans of SC by a score of 3-2. Stratford kept taking a lead only to be answered by the Trojans. However, when the 2-2 tie was broken in the 79th by Richard Roudet's glancing header, the Trojans didn't have enough time nor opportunities to level the game and Stratford escaped with all three points on the road. The win puts Stratford back atop the standings but FC Kingston has yet to play a game, so who knows where Group E is heading.

Lastly, FC Gimli Vikings picked up a critical win for their playoff chances as they defeated Fianna AFC 2-0 to improve to 1-1-2. After a scoreless first half, Connor McCarty struck one from downtown that got past Fianna goalie Barre Ramsey with what proved to be the game winning goal. Fianna falls to 0-2-1 and is in serious need of some points.

I'll grab the last three games in about an hour.

The evening games have gone final and every game was a 4-3 decision. Merchiston FC out of Group D improved to 3-0-1 after their 4-3 home win against Fianna AFC, who dropped their third group stage game and is now probably not advancing but can't be mathematically eliminated. The game was very competitive as the Greens played their best game of Cup XVII but they just couldn't keep pace. Scottish forward Math Boyes did the math and calculated that he needed to score a hat trick for his team to win and he was right. Boyes scored the first three goals for his side and then Demy Pocognoli got what was the game winner midway through the 2nd half when his shot hit off a defender's leg and past Fianna goalie Barre Ramsey. Greens forward Finn McRickard made up for a red card earlier in the tournament by knocking in a pair in the losing effort.

Kobelco United Football Club improved its record to 2-1 after its own 4-3 win against VB Hibernian in Group C action. The Cabbage took the early lead when Patten Griffin dove forward to knock one home but Kobelco scored the next three to never trail for the rest of the match. Although Hibs was able to tie the game at 3-3 at halftime, Tayson Scrope hit home a header to open the 2nd half and give the Japanese squad the road win. All four teams in the group are within three points of each other as nothing has been decided.up to this point.

The 13th and final game of one of the busiest days in Cup history was a 4-3 road win for the Champs as they defeated Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. in Cologne. The Germans outshot Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi but couldn't get past the finish line as the Ecuadorians proved to be too strong. Mano Araña added his 5th goal of the tournament and the team's expensive off-season signing, Greg Eardensohn, paid some dividends with his first goal of the tournament to lead the Billygoats. Cotopaxi got production out of four different players as Mr. Three Names Heraldo Paulo Canineu scored what ended up the game winner in the 68th to improve the team's record to a perfect 3-0, which is no surprise.

Another big day of action tomorrow...but not 13 games, thank goodness.

Looks like all of the games today were morning games and I missed a result from yesterday. So, I'm going to do one update right now for today but it'll take me a few minutes because there are 7 results to enter.

There is also a game involving Swamp City Dragons and Merchiston FC that I am waiting to get clarification on so that result (from the 18th) is not going to be included for the moment.

OK, time for me to start typing.

First, let me get the game that I missed from yesterday.

Bad News and Outkast FC played an entertaining game in front of 29,581 in France as both teams are trying to position themselves for the knockout rounds. Outkast surprised the home side by blitzing them with three straight goals to begin the match, including a header by Eric Green in the 27th. After having one of the News players fake an injury on the field to act as an unofficial timeout, the Frenchmen recomposed and started to chip away at the deficit. Pattin Vaughan started the comeback with a nice header of his own and teammate Patricio Bordonaba scored with about 10 minutes to go to level the game at 4-4, which was they way the game ended. While Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi appears to be the class of Group A, the other transfer spot is wide open, so the score was not the worst result for the two contestants.

Now for today's action. We have our first team to earn the blue highlighting as the crutchanators of soccer have improved to 4-0 after their recent 6-2 win against Not Very United in Group F. Sampo Jarvela and Shet Düsendorf both scored twice for the high-powered crutchanators attack which accomplished the feat despite going down a man in the 18th minute. As a matter of fact, they outscored United 4-2 in the 11-on-10 situation, which is a little frightening. United managed to score their goals late on a couple of headers to avoid the shutout. FC Stolpen Steamroller, made up for a poor performance in an 8-2 loss by administering its own blowout as they destroy Rushmore FC 8-1 on the road. In one fell swoop, Steamroller got its goal differential back in black and Rushmore is now looking, like United, as not advancing out of group play. Rey Jaime led the attack with a hat trick and Rushmore was only able to tally a 36th minute score when Kevin Ningard connected. Considering 3rd Place teams can advance, both Rushmore and United need to win out to have a chance.

Bolton Wanderers improved to 3-0 in Group G with their 3-2 road win against FC Not Very Athletic. The Wanderers quickly made the score 2-0 after Aderet Früof won the ball and got one past Athletic goalie Derrick Richardson in the 13th minute but consecutive goals by Delon Ray and Garr Manston tied the game at halftime. While both teams had good looks, only Ton Miyagishima was able to find the back of the net in the 2nd stanza as his 83rd minute score was the difference. Athletic is still in good shape as they are tied with FC Edinburgh Bullet Birds for 2nd place with three more games apiece.

FC Stratford-Upon-Avon King's Men wins another Group E game and improves to 3-1 after their 3-2 home win against group 2nd place Wolfsburg Dynamit. Stratford took the 2-0 lead when Romao Byington scored unassisted but Wolfsburg caught them midway through the 2nd on Teiljo Okimoto goal. The 2-2 score held until the waning moments when a late corner kick set up Juaquine Alberto in the middle of the box as he knocked it past Wolfsburg goalie Gary Alford for the game winner. With Kingston still not having played a game, it's hard to tell if Stratford is the class of the group or not.

North Polar Dragons FC won a tight 1-0 road win over Brighton AFC to improve to 3-0 and grab 1st place in Group C. The lone goal came on a 62nd minute cross that set up Daavid Kaurismäki perfectly. Kolton Rimando raced to the corner and made contact but the ball had enough pace to get by him, deflect off the far post and in. Brighton falls to 1-3 and finds itself in a serious need to win if it wants to make the playoffs. In the final game of the day, Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub notches a victory for only for the 2nd time in their Cup history as they beat Group B leader Metropolitan Eagles with ease by a score of 4-0. De Vante Cromwell, who has already announced that he is not re-signing with the club, scored twice as a farewell present to the Austro-Hungarians. The Metro Eagles are still in good shape to advance but the surprise loss must sting.

OK, a ton of games tomorrow as we hit the halfway point of the group stage.

First of all, thank you very much, everyone. I am very happy to announce that all Group Stage games are now scheduled with games running through July 1st. That means the Knockout rounds and the Bums Bracket will begin on July 2nd. I'll work in plenty of time for the July 4th US holiday in case some of you may be vacationing.

As far as game action this morning was concerned, a 2nd team has clinched their place in the playoffs and FC Stolpen Steamroller grabs the 2nd transfer spot out of Group F with their 1-1 draw against Rushmore FC. Rushmore needed to win to keep their 2nd place hopes alive but Golden Toe leader Rey Jaime got Steamroller on the board immediately when he clubbed a shot off the side of his foot for a 2nd minute goal. The American squad then went all out and was able to tie the game before halftime with Nathan Wyard's strike but, despite peppering the Steamroller defense, couldn't get that 2nd goal to secure the victory. The best Rushmore and Not Very United can do now is 7 points, which is a dubious total to grab one of the 3rd Place spots.

A very common final in this tournament has been 4-3 and we had another one this morning. The latest was FC Kingston's opening game in Group E as they hit the road to southern Cal and beat FC Trojans of SC. Both teams scored twice in the first 21 minutes, including newly-signed Kingston defender Tatsuya Akagi, which must make management feel good about the contract. The game remained level after Trojans forward Udayle Velázquez received a cross from a winger and put the ball away at the beginning of the 2nd half but Kingston was not to be denied, as Alvaro Bownell redirected a header into the far corner to give them the 4-3 win and all the points. The Trojans will need to win out just to have a chance but are probably not advancing to the knockouts.

The 7th draw of Cup XVII came out of Group C when Brighton AFC, who was needing a win, tied Kobelco United Football Club 4-4, making it a near-certainty that Kobelco will advance as well as group leader North Polar Dragons FC. This was another game where scoring happened early and often as Brighton jumped out to a 3-1 lead after Aekley Green connected in the 18th. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't hold a 4-2 advantage midway through the 2nd half as Kobelco closed the game out with back-to-back goals from Nicanor Jaime and Estevan Cantero. Brighton's path to the knockouts is rather bleak, while VB Hibernian is in marginally better shape if they win out.

Finally for the morning slate, Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. is looking like the 2nd place team out of Group A as they win a close contest against Bad News 2-1. Cologne was in a defensive-minded formation with 5 defenders and it paid off, limiting News to only 3 shots on goal. Greg Eardensohn scored his 2nd of the tournament and Ellery Weinberger got the game winner right before stoppage time when a wild scramble of bodies in front of News goalie Gionatha Palombo followed a corner kick and Weinberger booted it home. Both News and Outkast FC are in decent shape for a transfer spot if they can start putting wins on the board.

I'll post the afternoon results after 7pm.