The other games this morning featured some high drama. Group F saw its first game as Brighton AFC and Bad News had it out. Bad News controlled the game the entire way, building a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals from Eru Avilés. Thinking about congratulating themselves about the road win with only a few minutes left, News let their defensive guard down and let Brighton back into the game. In the 89th minute, Favio Edgerton took a cross, controlled the ball at his feet and ripped a winner. The Brighton players then grabbed the ball and ran it back to the center stripe since mere seconds remained. After Bad News turned the ball over, Templeton Jaramillo completed the improbable comeback in extra time as his header cleanly beat News goalie Blanco Ramon and the contest ended as a 2-2 draw. The News players must be kicking themselves for letting all three points get away.

VB Hibernian won the return match against the crutchanators of soccer 3-1 in Group C play. Time of possession was virtually even but Hibs made the most of their minutes with the ball. Callough Hoskins scored twice, his second goal came moments after crutchanators had finally broken through with Miika Moilanen's blast that hit off a defender's leg and into the goal. Hoskins' response made the score 3-1, which was how the game ended. crutchanators still sits atop the group standings but they lost an opportunity to really place themselves in the driver's seat had they won.

There is another game this evening that I'll post after 7pm.

Just checked the schedule and it looks like there is NOT a game this evening, so I'm going to spend some time with the wife. There ARE 7 games tomorrow and 8 games on Sunday...so it's going to be a busy weekend.

At this moment, games are scheduled out through May 5th with a handful of contests yet to be on the docket. No worries, guys. As usual, you all are awesome about making the tournament smooth. Makes my job easy.

Three games went final this morning and one of them was a shocker. Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi hit the road to Cologne, Germany expecting to walk away with a win and a ticket to the playoffs but my young team had different ideas. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., who oldest player is 24 years old, went toe to toe with the Champs in the Group A matchup. Midfielder Ellery Weinberger scored twice and Hector Rico knocked one in off the post as the Billy Goats never trailed and got the improbable 3-2 win. Weyland Watkins and Edwin Smets scored in the 2nd half for Cotopaxi but at no point did it look like the equalizer was coming. The loss really doesn't damage Cotopaxi's chances of advancing too badly but it does hurt their playoff seeding.

FC Not Very Athletic took a big step in their bid to make the playoffs after they crushed Southeast Indiana Football Club 6-0 at home in Group B action. Phelps Walcott started the scoring with a rising shot that went in just under the crossbar in the 5th minute and that set the tone for the entire match. Five players scored for Athletic as they netted three goals in each half. The Indiana defense looked disorganized in front of goalie Wareine Beeton, who ended up having to face 17 shots. The lopsided score really damages Indiana's chances of advancing since they are now in a 15 goal differential deficit with only three more games to play.

The last game this morning was the opening game out of Group E, with Space Olympics hosting Burnaby Hillbillies in France. The game was a 0-0 draw at the halftime whistle when English veteran midfielder Ulick Quinlan directed his header in the 50th minute to the far corner to break the tie and give Olympics the lead 1-0. Diaz Vallejo's goal late sealed the deal as Olympics walked away with the 2-0 win. The Hillbillies had 14 shots, 8 of which were on target but Italian goaltender Diego Roma was outstanding and preserved the shutout.

There are more games this afternoon and evening which I'll capture at 7pm.

Five game were added to the standings in which four of the contests saw red cards.

The 2nd transfer spot out of Group B is almost in the hands of FC Not Very Athletic as they benefitted from a red card against Southeast Indiana Football Club's Easton Wynne in the 28th minute and built up a 2-0 lead with the man advantage. However, even with the handicap, Indiana managed to tie the game late in the 2nd half when Peer Weinstein's goal in the 79th minute knotted the game at 2-2. Unfortunately for the home side, Regan Holian scored the game winner a few minutes later off a corner cross and Athletic grabbed all three points in a 3-2 road win. The loss eliminated Indiana, who has played three very competitive games around their one blowout loss. Athletic can do no worse than a tiebreaker against FC Cackalacky, who has to win out and pray. Cackalacky dropped its third game in group play to dominant FC Stolpen Steamroller. Otho Mann led the attack with two goals and Steamroller nearly got the shutout but for Akton Egholm's header right before time expired (and also a man down) that denied the Saxons a clean sheet. It is a virtual guarantee Steamroller will get one of the First Round byes.

the crutchanators of soccer moved closer to clinching their own golden ticket after they comfortably handled Rushmore FC in a 4-1 win. In yet another game that saw an ejection, Rushmore went down a man for the entire 2nd half when Christian Grandoni body slammed his mark to the ground in the 47th. That turned a tight 2-1 game into a 4-1 crutchanators victory as Miika Moilanen and Heinz Hagelin took advantage of the extra space to take all the points. A surprisingly close game out of Group F was definitely decided by the referee as heavily favored Swamp City Dragons barely beat Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub 1-0. Even though the Dragons dominated play, they couldn't break through and the game remained scoreless late in the 2nd half. That's when a red card was shown to Austria-Hungary's Tedrick Rummell and it created one good chance for Dragons center midfielder Tre Ackworth, who scored when his shot deflected off a defender and past goalie Treveon Coundoul for the game's only goal, a tough break for the outmatched visiting side from Hungary.

The last game this evening was the only game not to have plastic play a critical role in the outcome. Bordeaux Fighting Bovines and FC Trojans of SC played an evenly-matched, clean contest that remained 0-0 until Cattle midfielder Nemesio Estévez got a quick shot off that found the back of the net in the 75th minute to account for the game winner in the 1-0 Bordeaux win.

There are a whopping 8 games tomorrow as playoff bids are now on the line.

The 4/28am update is probably going to be somewhere around 10-11 this morning. Check back then...

There were three morning games that really didn't clarify the playoff picture much. SwampDragons United and Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. played an exciting 4-4 draw out of Group A in a game both teams really needed to win. Billy Goats midfielder Stirling Carrillo started the scoring early as his shot in the 2nd minute caught the United defense not quite ready to play a fast-paced game. The tempo continued to be pushed when Cologne extended their lead to 2-0 after Jayvon Burch ripped home a winner from the edge of the penalty box. That second goal finally woke up the Dragons side as they then dominated the middle part of the game, scoring four unanswered goals, three of them coming in a five minute span when Borce Trevean scored a pair to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead. But the United surge petered out late as better fitness by the young German squad equalized the game as Burch scored again with about 10 minutes to go to split the points. Both teams are desperately needing stage points and are looking at near must-win games coming up.

Kobelco United Football Club got its first win of Cup XIV after they played a back and forth game against VB Hibernian at home, eventually winning the game 3-2 in front of a small but vocal home crowd of just under 17,000. Kobelco forward Yoshino Sugawara scored the tournament's first hat trick as his goal in the 88th minute proved to be the game winner since moments later, Callough Hoskins found the corner to cut the lead back down to one. Unfortunately for Hibs, Cesaro Peña's shot three minutes into stoppage time sailed wide and the English club's comeback bid fell just short. Both teams currently sit at three points in the Group C standings with a bunch of games still to play.

To round out the morning action, FC Trojans of SC crushed FC Kingston 5-0 in a Group D game that was as lopsided statistically as the final score. Udayle Velázquez knocked in two goals and the Trojans were never threatened as Kingston only managed three shots on goal...meaning even if all three had found the netting Kingston still would have lost the contest. Group D still has plenty of games left but the Kingston goal differential is already becoming a steep hill for them to climb if they want to advance. Meanwhile, Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack has yet to play a game, so it's hard to tell how the group is shaping up.

There are 5 games this afternoon and evening. I updated the Unscheduled Games post on page 1 and there are only three matches yet to be scheduled. As a friendly reminder, if two games are scheduled, the first game will be the game of record and the other contest will be just for fun unless I hear from both coaches otherwise. Occasionally, multiple challenges are sent and accepted.

Decided to update the 1pm games now since the 7pm games might be delayed until later tonight.

It is official that Brighton AFC and Bad News are evenly matched out of Group F. For the second game in a row, the teams played to a 2-2 draw as they decide absolutely nothing as to which one is more likely to advance. The first game featured Brighton jumping out to a 2-0 lead only to see News tie the game late. The return game this afternoon was the exact opposite. News got out to the early 2-0 lead on the strength of goals by Ramzi Babham and Kincaid Byfield and Brighton got the opportunity to make the dramatic comeback, finally tying the game in the 73rd minute when Quirke Fayre connected on a header. Both teams sit with a whopping two points after two games and share an exact Group F standings line.

First time cup participant Wolfsburg Dynamit made their debut out of Group E when they hosted Space Olympics and also drew the game 2-2, the theme for the afternoon. After a scoreless first half, both offenses came alive and four goals were netted. Wolfsburg's highlight moment came when Benny Cabral weaved his way through the defense ala Maradona and hit a rocket by Olympics goaltender Diego Roma, who didn't quite understand the irony of his first name after the play. Olympics midfielder Adriano Del Nero was not to be outdone and scored his own memorable goal when he took a cross and struck a one-timer volley that could have beaten two Dynamit goalies.

To wrap up the afternoon action, Bordeaux Fighting Bovines beat Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack 2-0 in The Crown Jewels opening game out of Group D. The Austrians played a decent game but Cattle quality eventually proved too much as Culbert Meno and Lionel Insua scored in the 2nd half to give Bordeaux all three points. Bordeaux is looking solid for a transfer spot with a perfect 3-0 record and Hodensack has just begun their journey to probable elimination.

The 7pm games might not get input until around 9 this evening.

The defending Champs have grabbed the 2nd playoff bid to be awarded in Cup XIV as their title defense will continue for at least one more round. Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi hit the road and travelled to Canada to take on SwampDragons United and dispatched the home side with relative ease in a 4-1 victory. United did strike first when American defender Adkins Raad hit a ball off the side of his foot past Cotopaxi goalie Rose Luyten. However, the lead didn't make it to halftime as Aescby Nix scored the equalizer to send the game tied 1-1 at the half. From the start of the 2nd, it was all about the Ecuadorians, led by emerging Golden Toe contender Weyland Watkins, who scored for the 5th time in the tournament. The win gives Cotopaxi 12 points in Group A as they finish the round robin with a 4-2 record. United finds themselves with a single point with three games to go and probably needs to win at least two of them (if not all three) to survive.

The last game of the evening saw a much better (and customary) performance out of usual powerhouse Swamp City Dragons as they improved to 2-0 in Group F after a 4-1 road win over Brighton AFC. The highlight of the tournament so far has to be the outstanding goal scored by 107 year old Arley Movsisyan, who is still the all-time scoring leader in Cup history, as he leapt up above all of the other players almost four generations younger than himself and whipped a header into the back of the net at the three minute mark. Watching the man run up and down the pitch for an entire 90 minutes was worth the price of admission for the 23,694 in attendance because even the Brighton home faithful gave Arley a standing O after the effort. The early goal set the tone as Swamp City comfortably built up a 3-0 lead before Brighton finally scored one for the home side when Quillan Brougham painted the corner in the 80th. While it's too early in the group, Swamp City looks solid to advance.

Tomorrow is the biggest day in Group Play as far as number of games, with 9 contests...meaning it is virtually assured additional playoff spots will be handed out.

Normally, the games are distributed somewhat equally between morning and afternoon/evening time slots. Today, 7 of the 9 were in the am...so I'm updating but it'll take be a few minutes.

Out of all the games this morning, not a single playoff spot was clinched, which is rather surprising. The main culprit for that were games out of Group A and Group B that went the way the team behind in the standings needed them to go. Fianna AFC had a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a win as they travelled to Cologne, Germany to take on Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. Instead of a win, the Greens got shutout 3-0. Ellery Weinberger and Gonzalez Lira knocked in first half goals and the Billy Goats cruised after that. The win actually leaps Köln temporarily into the transfer spot, although Fianna has a game in hand, making SwampDragons United the king-makers in the group. In Group B, a pair of results prevented FC Not Very Athletic from punching their ticket and kept FC Cackalacky alive for another day. FC Stolpen Steamroller finished off a perfect group record after they steamrolled (you knew I was going to use that at some point) Athletic 5-1 on the road. Cackalacky then stayed alive by winning a hard-fought 2-1 game against Southeast Indiana Football Club, with the winner coming as time expired by Casper Jansen, saving his team's tournament. The end result of all of this is that Cackalacky must win their remaining two games and make up a 10 goal differential. The best way for them to do that is to crush Athletic in their return game. Time will tell.

Group C currently has a three-way tie for 2nd after Rushmore FC beat Kobelco United Football Club 2-1. The game remained scoreless halfway therough the 2nd until Kobelco's Yujiro Takahashi scored in the 66th followed by two consecutive goals by Rushmore to seal the deal, the game winner coming with 10 minutes to go by Christian Grandoni. Since there are a bunch of games left to play, who knows who will advance. Group D is also jumbled behind the group leader after a 2-2 draw between Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack and FC Kingston. Austria-Hungary jumped out to a 1-0 lead early off the effort by Czech midfielder Gabek Dobek but The Dual Monarchy then gave away their advantage when Oliver Weisz got red carded after an unnecessarily rough tackle. Kingston equalized a few minutes later with Bentleah Heyworth's header and, after the Austrian side scored a short-handed goal, Kingston salvaged to split the points on some 90th minute heroics by veteran Cup scorer Quong Ikeda, showing poise when it mattered most. Three teams are within two points with 7 group games remaining.

Space Olympics remains undefeated through three Group E games after a 2-2 draw with Burnaby Hillbilies. The result was an improvement for Burnaby, who lost the first match against Olympics 2-0. The game went back and forth as neither team gained the upper hand. Burnaby goals by Cesar Surcin and Martinez Naranjo were balanced by Olympic scores from Dennis Gianluca and Edrik Askew. North Polar Dragons FC has yet to play a game, so the group standings haven't even begun to show any hints of what is to come.

The last game of a busy morning was a 6-1 rout by Bad News against outmatched Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub in Group F. After a promising start to the tournament by the Hungarians, the Magyar version of the Dual Monarchy looked incapable, making the home crowd in Budapest start to whistle..the club managing only Salbatore Jaramillo's header in the 63rd minute to avoid total embarrassment. Meanwhile, News did wonders for its playoff chances after a pair of 2-2 draws as their group stage standings line looks very healthy, especially the now 8 away goals. Eru Avilés bagged a hat trick and News scored on 60% of their shots on goal...a winning recipe against anybody. This result will now force Brighton AFC to smash the Hungarians just to keep pace in the tiebreakers.

Two more games this evening.

Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. had a real chance this evening to place themselves in a great spot to advance to the Knockout rounds when they hosted SwampDragons United in their final Group A match. The sellout crowd of 38,000 remained upbeat even after United took a quick 1-0 when Ninian Brooks knocked one in off the goal post. The Cologne faithful then started drinking heavily after Javiero Benavídez tied in the game 1-1 and the party continued, with one dramatic sequence starting in the 35th minute, when the Billy Goats won five corner kicks in five minutes. But they couldn't capitalize on those chances and United, looking more determined in the 2nd half, struck the game winner in the 70th when Borce Trevean's shot from distance was mishandled by Köln's young goalie and the game ended as a United 2-1 road victory. The loss essentially ends Köln's playoff chances and Fianna AFC and United will now fight it out for the final transfer spot. Köln can technically advance in a three-way tie but I wouldn't bet on it.

North Polar Dragons finally opened their tournament in Group E when they hosted Wolfsburg Dynamit. North Polar found themselves down 2-1 after Wolfsburg grabbed the lead after a Boyce Pasch goal in the 56th minute. But, veteran Finnish forward Kaj Tervo scored his 2nd goal of the game to equalize and then Swiss defender Hannes Carli knocked in the game winner on a late corner as his vertical jump gave him a clean look. Dynamit, despite playing very well in both games so far, find themselves tied for last in the standings in what seems to be a very tough group assignment for a participant in their first Cup.

Seven more games tomorrow as we amazingly failed to add a playoff qualifier despite 9 games today. Also, now that every team has played at least one game, the L'Orteil D'or (The Golden Toe) leaderboard can start to receive more serious attention.

A couple of teams punched their ticket overnight as we now have 4 of the 12 spots accounted for. FC Not Very Athletic sat idle and advanced thanks to Southeast Indiana Football Club taking care of business against FC Cackalacky 5-3 in Indiana's final Group B game. Indiana started fast, scoring in the 3rd minute off a Deshon McBeth header and while Cackalacky tried to keep pace, even taking the lead briefly 2-1 at the 16 minute mark when Akton Egholm ripped a winner from outside the penalty area, the Indiana offense just kept plugging away. A 3-3 game just after halftime was finally put away with Austyn Collins' score midway through the 2nd. The Cackalacky/Athletic return game, which was shaping up to be a winner take all, is now just for fun as Cackalacky can no longer catch them.

the crutchanators of soccer have also clinched, I believe, a transfer spot out of Group C based on the strength of their 5-5 draw against Kobelco United Football Club. The defenses took the 2nd half off as a crazy amount of shots and opportunities reined hell on both goalies. The game started innocently enough, with crutchanators having the only score in the first 64 minutes of game play. Then, the floodgates opened and all sorts of mayhem ensued. With 9 goals in 25 minutes, that came close to a Cup record and crutchanators almost walked out of the stadium with all three points until Waldmunt Marmaduke toed the game equalizer two minutes into stoppage time, with the almost 27,000 in attendance getting their money's worth. The three teams below crutchanators, since they mainly play each other, can't overcome crutchanators' 10 points, although there's no guarantee they will win the group.

Finally, a pair of games out of Group F show that Swamp City Dragons are the class of the grouping and that Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub is probably going home when the playoffs begin. Swamp City easily beat a good Bad News team 3-1 on the road when Arley Movsisyan scored for the second time in two games as the centenarian hit a blast that goalie Blanco Ramon could not reach. News only avoided the shutout in the 90th when Golden Toe leader Eru Avilés knocked one in, a goal that is important for their battle with Brighton AFC for the 2nd playoff spot. Meanwhile, Brighton had no problem crushing Austria-Hungary 3-0 in a game the Hungarian version of the Dual Monarchy was never competitive in. Again, a goal that had no impact on the outcome but was critical for tiebreaker purposes, Brighton's Quillan Brougham scored as time expired. Brighton and News are going to go right down to the wire.

Next update will be at a little past 7pm this evening.

There were some severe storms moving through the KC metro so I'm a bit late. Updating the standings now...

Bordeaux Fighting Bovines grabbed the 5th spot in the playoffs when they won an action-packed game 5-4 over Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack in Group D. 39,000 fans packed Imperial Stadium in Vienna to watch a contest that stayed even for the first 2/3 of the game, highlighted by a goal from Mr. Apostrophe Barzagli Busce'. The Cattle, frustrated by the pesky underdogs, made an emphatic statement in the 67th, scoring two goals in 30 seconds when Erasmo Velasco scored to give his team the 4-3 lead and then, before the Austrians got fully set, Lionel Insua netted another goal making a 3-3 tie into a 5-3 lead. Noe Knoyll got one of them back a few minutes later but the home team couldn't draw level. The win gives Bordeaux a 4-0 record in group play as they inch closer to a First Round bye.

In Group A, a 2-2 draw between SwampDragons United and Fianna AFC creates a showdown in the last game as the two teams meet again in Ireland tomorrow to determine who will be the 2nd team to advance. Fianna scored two quick goals by Reilly Glinton but couldn't hold the advantage as United chipped away and eventually caught The Greens with goals from Borce Trevean and Ninian Brooks. All of the action took place in the first 35 minutes as the remainder of the game turned into a defensive chess match. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., needing a United win and praying for another score, didn't get their wish and were officially eliminated with the tie. In the game tomorrow, Fianna is needing a win or a draw. United must win in order to advance.

A pair of games out of Group F rounded out the days action, both involving Wolfsburg Dynamit, who earned some frequent flyer miles. The first game was in Wolfsburg, Germany where they hosted Burnaby Hillbillies. Burnaby pretty much owned the stats line, scoring in the 4th minute off a Frisco Vivian blast after he was left wide open in the middle from a botched offside trap. After Boyce Pasch tied the game at 1-1, Burnaby reeled off the final two scores, finally icing the game after a Martinez Naranjo header late. Dynamit then jumped on their Lufthansa charter and flew into Paris to take on group leader Space Olympics. Other than a couple of yellow cards, both goalies kept clean sheets as the game ended up as the first 0-0 tie in Cup XIV. The day's results sees all four teams within four points but Wolfsburg is in desperate need of a couple of wins in their last two games to have a realistic chance.

We have 8 games tomorrow in the last big day in the group stage schedule before things taper off rapidly.