SNST Newsletter Week 30: Playoffs, clinched

The Greenville Triumph are going to the playoffs in their first season. How did they get there? What more can we expect? (First published September 26)

Johnny Wakefield

Published in

Soccer 'n' Sweet Tea

8 min readOct 4, 2019

Happy Thursday!

It’s been a darn good week for some of our teams. The North Carolina Courage continued their unrelenting dominance over the NWSL by winning a third straight shield. Charleston Battery took the Southern Derby Cup from the Triangle after a 2–1 win over North Carolina FC. And Greenville Triumph officially clinched a spot in the inaugural USL League One playoffs.

That last one is what we’re going to focus on this week. Scroll down to read about how Greenville secured that playoff spot and find out why these last two regular season games still matter a whole lot.

As for our other two active teams: NCFC is still in a playoff spot, and the Independence … well … the pain will be over soon, I guess.

Playoffs, clinched. Now the Triumph want more

By Chris Ashley

The Greenville Triumph are going to the playoffs in their first season after punching their ticket late Tuesday night in Arizona. They became the first completely independent USL League One team to do so. (North Texas SC is the reserve team of FC Dallas and Lansing Ignite is an affiliate club of the Chicago Fire).

How did the Carolinas’ only League One side get here, and why is there hope that they could make some serious noise in the postseason?

A hot streak

Greenville has been on quite a run over the past two months. It all started after a humbling 3–1 loss at home to FC Tucson July 20. After going up early in that game, the team seemed to get complacent and watched the Arizona side come back for a huge win.

“We were aggressive early and Carlos [Gomez] made a great play to get us the early goal,” Greenville coach John Harkes said after the match. “After that, though, we were slow to react and we didn’t come out of the half with enough energy. We made a mistake or two and then found ourselves chasing the match. Moving forward, we need more conviction in our play and we need to make sure we don’t let up even with a lead.”

The next match was a daunting one. Greenville traveled to Frisco to take on the league leaders, North Texas SC. And then something magical happened. Thanks in part to an early red card against North Texas, the Triumph left with a 4–0 victory that would start a six-game unbeaten streak.

The Triumph seemed in control of their playoff destiny, and had the leg up to host a playoff match with at least the second seed, when the perfect storm hit Sept. 1 in Richmond.

Goalkeeper Dallas Jaye and winger Omar Mohamed were both away on international duty. Golden boot contender Jake Keegan had just been lost for the season due to injury. Midfielder Max Hemmings, who had cemented his place in the starting XI, would go out at the end of the first half with an injury that would end his season as well. All of those hurdles contributed to a disappointing 1–0 loss for the Triumph.

The biggest question coming out of the Richmond game was, where would the goals come from now that the Triumph were down their primary scoring threat? JJ Donnelly offered some hope to fans, but was an unknown quantity who had only recently signed with the team. Could this team find goals without Keegan down the stretch?

SPOILER ALERT: They did.

In fact, the team has scored 10 goals in the three matches since that loss. Three of those goals have come from former Asheville City player Cameron Saul, and four have come from Carlos Gomez.

That crazy night in Tucson

Going into Tuesday’s road match against FC Tucson, everyone knew what was on the line. With a win, the Triumph would clinch their berth in the inaugural USL League One playoffs. They would also control their own destiny for that second seed and the right to host a playoff match at Legacy Early College. But Tucson had their own stakes to play for. They needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, and a loss meant they would be eliminated.

Game on.

Saul netted a first half brace to give the Triumph a comfortable 2–0 lead going into the break. Early in the second, a penalty was awarded to FC Tucson for an inadvertent handball in the box. They cut the lead in half, and that 2–1 scoreline held into the 90th minute.

Then things got crazy.

FC Tucson was able to get off a shot from the top of the box that threaded three Triumph defenders and ultimately beat Dallas Jaye to level things 2–2. Just a few moments later, FC Tucson was awarded a free kick near the sideline. With two minutes of stoppage time remaining, they brought their keeper up the field and into the box, leaving only one defender at midfield.

The cross into the box was headed out to Chris Bermudez who, despite the best effort of a defender to make a hit-stick tackle on him, was able to get away and had a one-man breakaway toward a wide open net to win the game for Greenville.

Where will they finish?

Greenville has clinched its spot in the postseason. It remains to be seen whether the team can earn that №2 overall seed and host a playoff match.

Currently, the Triumph sit in third, three points behind second-place Lansing. However, the Triumph still have a match in hand and, more critically, they are even on wins (the first tiebreaker) and goals (the second tiebreaker). They control their own destiny. But how will things shake out?

Greenville has a home match Friday against last-place Orlando City B. Barring an incomprehensible result, they should leave this weekend in a tie on points, but sitting in second place based on the tiebreak over Lansing.

The final weekend of the regular season will see Lansing hosting a Forward Madison team that will likely be playing for the fourth and final playoff spot. It should be gritty match with both teams wanting the win.

Greenville, on the other hand, will travel to Statesboro to take on rivals South Georgia Tormenta FC. Tormenta will likely be eliminated from playoff contention at that point and looking to play spoiler for the Triumph.

With that final Lansing match set to kickoff at 3 p.m. Oct. 5 and the Triumph match kicking off at 8 p.m. the same day, the team will know what they need to do before the ball is kicked. They will simply need to equal or better Lansing’s result in order to end the season with the №2 seed.

There is still a lot that can happen, and a lot to play for, in these final two matches. If the Triumph can take care of business down the stretch, I like their chances to compete for that inaugural championship.

This is an incredible testament to this team and organization, and everything they have done so right all season. If you have not been out to see a match at Legacy Early, this Friday is a great opportunity to do so. The first 2,000 fans through the doors will get a suh-weet John Harkes bobblehead, and the first 3,500 will receive a “guaranteed winner” scratch-off card.

See you there!

This weekend’s schedule

NWSL

North Carolina Courage at Washington Spirit, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 on YAHOO! Sports

USL Championship

Charleston Battery at New York Red Bulls II, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 on ESPN+
Charlotte Independence vs. Hartford Athletic, 7 p.m. Sept. 28 at Sportsplex at Matthews
North Carolina FC vs. Ottawa Fury FC, 7 p.m. Sept. 28 at WakeMed Soccer Park

USL League One

Greenville Triumph SC vs.Orlando City B, 7 p.m. Sept. 27 at Legacy Early College

NISA Fall Showcase

Stumptown Athletic vs. Miami FC, 7 p.m. Sept. 28 at CSA OrthoCarolina Soccer Complex

Extra Time

After a long quiet period, Charlotte’s MLS bid made the news again this week, though various media outlets couldn’t agree on what happened. Panthers owner David Tepper is either asking Charlotte City Council for money for a soccer specific stadium or to renovate Bank of America Stadium and build an MLS team headquarters. Either way, something’s happening behind closed doors, which is always what you want when public money is involved …
Meanwhile, Charlotte Agenda asked this question: If MLS comes to Charlotte, what happens to the Independence?
On the latest Six Point Weekend podcast, Dave, Eboni, Zac, and Simon sit down to go over the Courage’s amazing recent run — including winning a third consecutive NWSL Shield — and discuss what opponent would be best in the playoffs. They are also obligated to talk about the Dead Whales’ woeful form in the last five games, including losing the Southern Derby Cup.
Queen City Outlaws is organizing a TIFO painting this weekend for next week’s USWNT match in Charlotte. Want to help? Sign up here.