WPSL Staff

 

Ranked teams from every region take center stage in Week 4 Matches of the Week. Three of the four games kick off on Saturday when FC Tucson hosts No. 5 SC del Sol, Georgia Impact meets No. 2 Nashville Rhythm F.C., and No. 4 Rhode Island Rogues travel to No. 8 Clarkstown Soccer Club in Northeastern Conference class. The No. 1 team in the National, FC Dayton, hosts FC Pride on Sunday to wrap up Match of the Week action for Week 4. Central Region MOTW playing Sunday. 

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WEST REGION

FC Tucson vs (5) SC del Sol

The top two teams in the Desert Conference battle it out Saturday when FC Tucson hosts (5) SC del Sol. With identical 2-0-0 records, a single goal separates the two clubs in the standings. 
 

Yet to concede a goal, FC Tucson sits atop the Desert Conference table thanks to a 4-0 win at El Paso Surf to open its season, followed by a 1-0 win at expansion side RSL Southern Arizona on Wednesday. Tucson’s Vivien Villarreal (Youth Player) leads both the club and the conference in scoring with two goals. Tucson entered the West Region Top 10 for the first time this week, debuting at No. 8 on the strength of its early season wins. Playing in its 11th WPSL season, Tucson finished in third place in the Desert Conference in 2023. 
 

SC del Sol enters Saturday night’s match having played El Paso Surf the night before. Currently ranked fifth nationally and first in the West Region, last year’s Desert Conference and West Region champions opened the 2024 season with a 3-1 win at El Paso Surf, followed with a road win at Royals AZ by the same score the next week. Five different del Sol players have scored for the club this season (one own goal). 

The two clubs have met 19 times in WPSL play. FC Tucson leads the series with nine wins. SC del Sol has won three times, and the clubs have drawn seven times. The clubs split the series in 2023 with both clubs winning at home: 4-2 in Tucson and 1-0 in Phoenix.  

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM MST at Kino North Stadium in Tucson, Ariz.

 

SOUTH REGION
Georgia Impact vs (2) Nashville Rhythm F.C. 

The Georgia Impact puts its No. 10 South Region ranking to the test Saturday when it kicks off its second WPSL season hosting the No. 2 ranked team in the country, Nashville Rhythm F.C. The Impact (0-0-0) finished in second place in the always competitive Southeast Conference in 2023, going 5-1-2, finishing the season ranked 10th in the South Region. 
 

Ranked second in the NPR and first in the South Region entering Saturday’s Match of the Week, Nashville sits atop the Southeast Conference after a 4-0 in versus Atlanta Fire United to open its season, and a 4-1 win at Chattanooga FC to move to 2-0-0. Angeline Kieh (post-collegiate) leads the conference Golden Boot race with five goals on the season, which included a hattrick in the opening match versus Atlanta. Emma Brown (Middle Tennessee State University) is second in the race with two goals on the young season. Nashville is contending for its fourth straight Southeast Conference Title. WPSL Championships semifinalists in 2022, the club lost to eventual WPSL Champions, Charlotte Eagles 5-4 in the South Region Playoffs final last season. 
 

This is the second meeting between the two clubs. Nashville won the first encounter, 1-0, in conference play last year.
 

Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 PM EDT at Cherokee High School in Canton, Ga. Watch the game here. 

 

EAST REGION

(8) Clarkstown Soccer Club vs (4) Rhode Island Rogues
 

Clarkstown and Rhode Island are proving to be giants of the East over the last few seasons and they just happen to both play in the Northeastern Conference - making it a heavyweight battle to claim the top. Both nationally ranked in the Top 10, the two sides are also making a threat on the league scale as a whole, but as last season showed, they’ll have to go through each other to get there.
 

Clarkstown and Rhode Island met twice in 2023 conference play with the first meeting at the Rogues ending in a 0-0 draw. The second matchup at Clarkstown resulted in a 3-1 win for the home side. The two would meet one more time in the East Region Playoffs finals where the Rogues got their win, 2-1, and advanced to the national semifinals before falling to would-be WPSL Champions, Charlotte Eagles.
 

For the first meeting of 2024, Rhode Island enters the match ranked nationally at fourth and No. 1 in the East. This will be the Rogues third match up the season after winning the first two while outscoring its opponents 10/1. 
 

This will be Clarkstown’s second match of the season as it comes off a 4-0 win on the road in its season opener on May 22. The two will meet again at the end of the season on June 29 in Rhode Island.

Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 PM EDT at Albertus Magnus High School in Bardonia, N.Y. Watch the game here.


CENTRAL REGION
(1) FC Dayton vs FC Pride
 

FC Dayton entered Week 4 play ranked No. 1 nationally and in the Central Region. With three games under its belt, FC Dayton has only allowed two goals while scoring 13 and currently sits atop the Gateway Division table with 3-0-0 record. FC Pride drew its opening match, 1-1, to expansion side Junction FC, but rebounded in its second match to win 5-0.

The two will each play back-to-back games this weekend and play on Saturday before Sunday’s meeting. Last season the two met twice with FC Dayton win both meetings while outscoring FC Pride 8/1.

A win for FC Dayton here to advance it further ahead in the division race and potentially hold on to the No. 1 spots in the nation and region for a second straight week. Contrastly, if FC Pride pulls off an upset it could shake both the division race and rankings heading into Week 5.

Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 PM CDT at Alumni Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.