Down the stretch: The final weeks of NASL Spring 2013

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With just three weeks remaining, the race for the spring title and the right to host the NASL Soccer Bowl later this fall is a wide open race with five of the seven clubs still in the hunt with only six points separating the league-leading Atlanta Silverbacks and San Antonio Scorpions, who are tied for fifth.

The top three clubs in the table currently all have a full slate of games remaining whilst the fourth-place Tampa Rowdies, the defending league champion, have a tall task ahead of them, trailing by five points with only two games left on top of a stretch that has seen them go winless (0-3-1) in their last four since US Open Cup play began.

Lower Division Five Stars – Round 8

A weekly list of the top five players or performances of each round in NASL, USL Pro and MLS Reserves in all competitions - this week featuring the Second Round of US Open Cup along with league play…

Lower Division Five Stars - Round 7

A weekly list of the top five players or performances of each round in NASL, USL Pro and MLS Reserves in all competitions…

ROUND SEVEN (May 13-19)

Player – Club (5 Star Selections)

Simone Bracalello - Minnesota United
Let down by the defense, Bracalello did his part on the offensive end of the pitch with a goal and an assist in a 3-2 loss at home to Tampa Bay.

Lower Divisions Preview – Part III: North American Soccer League

Part I - USL Pro     ||     Part II - MLS Reserves     ||     Part III - NASL 

The last professional league to kick off the 2013 campaign will do so Saturday night amidst a lot of excitement… though most of it is for the future.

The third season of the league was supposed to be a big deal with the return of the Cosmos, who won’t debut until the fall, and the new split season, but that has been tempered by the spiraling Puerto Rico Islanders and the limelight stealing deal between United Soccer Leagues and Major League Soccer, which has thus far not led to much player erosion from the NASL. The good news is, however, that the league was able to sell Minnesota to new local ownership, though Traffic Sports still owns its club Fort Lauderdale as well as Carolina and a share of Atlanta - a factor that is significantly affecting player budgets according to RailHawks coach Colin Clarke in a report from Neil Morris of Indy Week.