clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

NASL Spring Season Week Two: How to watch, predictions

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Week two of the North American Soccer League Spring Season kicks off on Saturday, with five matches on the schedule. Like last week, we've compiled a guide with dates, times, and listings for all of those matches, along with predictions of how they'll turn out.

Last weekend, my best guesses as to how the matches would turn out weren't great, but weren't awful either. I didn't get any of the final scores correct, and only got one of five results correct, but all in all, I feel pretty good about those selections based on what we saw from the games. Here were my picks, with the actual results in parenthesis:

Carolina RailHawks 1, Minnesota United 1 (Carolina 2, Minnesota 1)

Fort Lauderdale Strikers 3, Miami FC 1 (Fort Lauderdale 1, Miami 1)

Tampa Bay Rowdies 2, Indy Eleven 0 (Tampa Bay 0, Indy 0)

Rayo OKC 1, FC Edmonton 0 (OKC 0, Edmonton 0)

New York Cosmos 3, Ottawa Fury 1 (New York 3, Ottawa 0)

With any luck, I'll do a little better this weekend. As always, the New York Cosmos listings will be done in a separate post, but here are listings and predictions for the other four matches.

Indy Eleven vs. Ottawa Fury

Date: Saturday, April 10

Time: 7:30 pm ET

How to watch: beIN Sports

Indy managed a surprising point last week at Tampa Bay, despite not creating many chances against the Rowdies. The Fury, on the other hand, looked dangerous going forward, but some awful defending and shaky goalkeeping led to a 3-0 loss to the Cosmos.

Both sides will look at the other and believe they have a realistic chance of taking all three points in this one, as these should be two of the weakest sides that the league has to offer this season. Based on what I saw of both during the openers, I'm going to predict a 1-1 draw.

Miami FC vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies

Date: Saturday, April 10

Time: 8:00 pm ET

How to watch: ESPN3, Gol TV

Miami will feel a bit unlucky to have settled for a draw in week one, despite playing the entire second half a man down. Given that Tampa look to be a considerably better team than Fort Lauderdale, however, a second consecutive draw might not be a bad result for Alessandro Nesta's side.

Tampa didn't create as much as we'd have expected in their opener, but still probably did enough to feel they should have managed a win. I think they'll get all three points in their first away fixture of the season, winning 2-0.

Rayo OKC vs. Carolina RailHawks

Date: Saturday, April 10

Time: 8:00 pm ET

How to watch: ONE World Sports

Rayo looked pretty good in their opener, but will face much tougher competition in their second home match of the season. Carolina looked organized and dangerous in defeating Minnesota United at home last weekend, and should be a far tougher test for the expansion club than FC Edmonton.

I'd expect Rayo's attack to look a bit more organized in their second match, but I just don't think it will be enough to earn the club their first victory. I'm going with a 1-1 draw.

FC Edmonton vs. Minnesota United

Date: Sunday, April 11

Time: 4:00 pm ET

How to watch: ESPN3

FC Edmonton managed to earn a point last week despite playing over an hour with a man disadvantage, which might have been a good warmup for this one. The Eddies will be facing a very, very talented Minnesota United side desperate for a win, after a somewhat surprising loss in their opener has left them needing a three points in order to stay in touch with New York, who play their second home match of the season two hours later.

With that said, Edmonton is always a tough place to play, especially in early April. I think a stout Edmonton defense will be able to hang on for a 0-0 draw, creating a big hole for United to dig themselves out of.