Gary Wiggins is back from the NOSL with another update!
As with last week, Gary is bringing NOSL power rankings to the smallworld faithful, and it’s been an exciting league to keep up with so far.
There are quite a few changes to this week’s rankings now that we’ve seen most of the teams in action, so let’s hand it off to Gary for his rankings and analysis:
As with many weeks, these power rankings end up being a chance for NOSL clubs and fans to tell us we were wrong. Week in and week out we try to write these power rankings and probably overreact at times. Expect more overreaction from the staff as the season continues to march on. Week one provided us with a first look at many of the clubs and these games drastically changed some of the rankings. Worth highlighting this week are Mansfield Liederkranz SC and The City of Ohio SC which really impressed us this week and are the biggest movers in this week’s power rankings.
- Mansfield Liederkranz SC (+3): Mansfield Liederkranz put up more goals than any team in the league in their first week. We had no idea what to expect from the German club, but with their ability to break down defenses and finish their chances in front of goal, we’re expecting Mansfield to give NOSL clubs fits this season.
- The City of Ohio SC (+7): The City of Ohio SC gets the distinction this week of the biggest gains in our rankings. We honestly had no idea what to expect from this new club. What we saw, though, was a team that knows how to respond under pressure. While it may take some time to completely gel, The City of Ohio is a well-organized team that knows how to score. We can’t wait to see how they perform this week against another new side (Delaware Rising) this
weekend. - Ambassadors FC Ohio (-2): Ambassadors FC Ohio came into the season as our highest ranked team in the power rankings. While they may have only managed a draw against Stark County United, they dominated the match for large sections of the game. So while they dropped in this week’s rankings, we still believe that Ambassadors FC Ohio is one of the teams to watch this season. Expect this club to bounce back soon.
- Stark County United (+1): This is another opportunity for fans to tell us that we got it wrong. Stark County United shocked Ambassadors FC Ohio in week one by simply taking their chances when they came. It looks like 2019 Golden Boot winner Nate McFeaters is ready to reclaim his title. This may be a case where knowing how to score in the NOSL serves this team well against some of the newer and flashier clubs.
- Team Vulpine (+2): Team Vulpine jumped up two spots this week. The Foxes may not have won the match against Mansfield, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Vulpine is now tied in second place with The City of Ohio for goals scored as a team. If the Foxes can figure out some things defensively, expect to see Team Vulpine continuing to climb up the power rankings.
- Amish Country United (-): Amish Country remains at 6th place this week. While we were excited to see them take on Forest City FC last weekend, the game ended up as a forfeit (3-0 win for Amish Country United). So, while Amish Country United sits at the top of the table thanks to goal differential, we don’t know any more about the club going into week two than we did in week one.
- Ambassadors FC (-3): We really expected Ambassadors to give The City of Ohio a bigger challenge last week. And at the start of the match, it looked like the match might end up that way. What we can’t ignore here is that Ambassadors let in three unanswered goals. We expect that this will improve as the season goes on, but for now Ambassadors are in the lower half of our rankings.
- Delaware Rising FC (-): Delaware ends up in a situation similar to Amish Country United this week. Due to a scheduled bye week, we don’t know anything more about the new side than we did last week. We can’t wait to see Delaware Rising take the field this weekend so that we know more about how they stack up against the rest of the league.
- Forest City FC (-7): Forest City falls the farthest of any of the NOSL clubs in the rankings this week. While they may still end up as an impressive side this season, the club will inevitably have to chase both those three points and three goals for the remainder of the season. And with a season that is short, this might be something that they are unable to overcome.
Looks like one Ambassadors team is outshining the other early on, and Delaware still have another week to feel underrated without having played a single match!
Thanks to Gary for providing this roundup, and we can’t wait to see how things look a week from now!
Blessings,
Danny
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