Kiwis in the USL Leagues | USA

Full game Adams in a 5-0 win for Louisville City.

Collier on at 75 mins (1-1) for Indy Eleven, in a 1-2 loss.

Linder & Herdman both full games for Vancouver II in a 2-2 draw. Timbers II win the pen shootout 3-2. Herdman missed his pen (was 1st taker). Not a good week for pen shootouts involving Kiwis.

USL
Kiwi USL derby. Adams's Louisville City host Collier's Indy Eleven.
They were team mates last season at San Diego. Collier at his 4th USL club (2nd time at Indy Eleven). Adams also at his 4th club
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/06/united-states/mls-reserve-league/louisville-city/indy-eleven/4284813/

Musa's Colorado Springs host Sacramento Republic. Musa also at his 4th USL club. All 3 Kiwis have had a bit of crack at the MLS.
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/07/united-states/mls-reserve-league/colorado-springs/sacramento-republic/4284817/

Bidois's Loudon United travel nearby to Birmingham Legion
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/07/united-states/mls-reserve-league/birmingham-legion/loudoun-united/4284820/

MLS Next Pro
Herdman & Linder's Whitecaps II travel to California to play Ventura County (LA Galaxy II)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/08/united-states/mls-next-pro/la-galaxy-ii/whitecaps-fc-ii/4320463/

Adams with bragging rights as Louisville City win 5-3. Collier off the bench at 79 mins (5-2)

Musa one of 3 players dragged off by Colorado S at HT, when down 0-2. Finished a 0-2 loss.

As mentioned by YH, Bidois debuted off the bench in a 3-1 loss for Loudon.

Linder & Herdman both full games for Whitecaps II, in 2-1 loss in the MLS Next Pro.

USL

Tomorrow, Adams's Louisville City (1st, Eastern Conference) travel to Charleston Battery (4th).
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/10/united-states/mls-reserve-league/charleston-battery/louisville-city/4284821/

Louisville will lose their perfect record in the USL, with a 3-2 loss at Charleston. 
Full game Adams

USL

Bidois's Loudoun (9th in the East) host Memphis 901 (10th in the West)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/13/united-states/mls-reserve-league/loudoun-united/memphis-901/4284823/

Collier's Indy Eleven (10th in the East) host Charleston Battery (1st)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/14/united-states/mls-reserve-league/indy-eleven/charleston-battery/4284824/

ex Phoenix Rising (7th in the West) favourite, Musa returns there with his current club Colorado Springs (12th)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/14/united-states/mls-reserve-league/arizona-united/colorado-springs/4284828/

Another cameo for Bidois. Comes on at 82 mins (2-1) in a 2-1 win for Loudon.
US Open Cup starts this week for USL clubs, so Bidois may get some mins in that.
Loudon from USL Championship travel to Richmond Kickers from USL League One.

Collier an unsed sub as Indy Eleven lose 2-4.

No Musa for Colorado Springs, who lose 1-0.

coochiee

Another cameo for Bidois. Comes on at 82 mins (2-1) in a 2-1 win for Loudon.
US Open Cup starts this week for USL clubs, so Bidois may get some mins in that.
Loudon from USL Championship travel to Richmond Kickers from USL League One.

Collier on the bench for Indy Eleven.

A busy 8 minutes too for Bidois.
Won 3/5 of his duels, 1/1 in tackles and had 18 touches of the ball (despite his passing being a bit off at 6/11). The guy he replaced after about 80 minutes touched the ball 35 times the whole game. So you can't say he's not getting involved, even if he was brought on to sit in a bit deeper as Loudoun looked to protect that 2-1 lead late on.

Watching his progress closely and already can say he'll do better than Jesse Randall did at this level last season. It definitely helps that Coleman knows what he's about as a player, so it's made his introduction to life in the USA somewhat easier as well. 

No disrespect to Randall of course, but it's a physical league and Bidois is built in a much sturdier frame than that of his nippier Kiwi counterpart.

US Open Cup 3rd Round

Adams's Louisville City host Greenville Triumph from USL League One.
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/17/united-states/us-open-cup/louisville-city/greenville-triumph/4347144/

Bidois's Loudon from USL Championship travel to Richmond Kickers from USL League One.
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/18/united-states/us-open-cup/richmond-kickers/loudoun-united/4347139/

Collier's Indy Eleven USL Championship  travel to Chicago Fire II from MLS Next Pro.
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/18/united-states/us-open-cup/chicago-fire-premier/indy-eleven/4347146/

Adams full game for Louisville in a 3-1 win.

Richmond Kickers v Loudoun United, like the other cup matches going on this round, is being live streamed tomorrow from 11am (NZ) tomorrow morning. A handy time to watch along for those of us who won't be at work. 😎

https://www.ussoccer.com/us-open-cup/watch?matchId=496ab9a2-a2b5-44ec-a105-7998d4ce00c7

Have a sneaky suspicion that Bidois will be a starter in this one too.

Yipe Bidois his first start for Loudon. 0-0 after 35 mins in the US Open Cup at Richmond kickers

Elliott Collier also starts for Indy Eleven in their Cup tie at Chicago Fire II.
Collier of course had a few MLS seasons with the Chicago Fire first team. 

His career really has tailed off, mostly a bench player now for a USL team.
At one point when he was in the MLS (season after scoring a hat trick in a USL match), and you'd look at his physique had hoped he might be a Wood backup for the AWs, even though yes he's far more winger than striker.

Would struggle to make the famed Piney "top 50" list now. Must be due one of those ranking lists.

Collier has an English team mate at Indy Eleven (ironically on loan from Chicago Fire) called Laurence Wootton. Wonder if he's related to the Nix's Wootton?

Bidois off at 77 mins (0-0) as Loudon's US Open Cup tie goes to ET. 0-0 in NT.
Edit - no goals in ET, and Loudon ended up winning the pen shootout 5-4.

Collier a full game as Indy Eleven win 1-0.

USL
Kiwi derby I. Bidois's Loudoun (7th in the East) host Adams's Louisville City (2nd)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/20/united-states/mls-reserve-league/loudoun-united/louisville-city/4284835/

Kiwi derby II. Musa's Colorado Springs (12th/last in the West) host Collier's Indy Eleven (10th in the East)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/21/united-states/mls-reserve-league/colorado-springs/indy-eleven/4284841/

MLS Next Pro
Fin Linder's Vancouver II (9th in the West) travel across the border to play Tacoma Defiance (5th & reserve team of the Seattle Sounders)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/22/united-states/mls-next-pro/seattle-sounders-ii/whitecaps-fc-ii/4320496/

18’ | Loudoun 0-0 Louisville

Segra Substitution

ON: Bidois
OFF: Leerman#LDNvLOU | @GoSegra pic.twitter.com/KRZjwwq4pY

— Loudoun United FC (@LoudounUnitedFC) April 20, 2024

Bidois on early.

Good thing he got those minutes in the cup the other day otherwise I don't think they would have called him on so early, even with the injury to Leerman.

Game is live on YouTube if you want to tune in on a Sunday morning.

https://www.youtube.com/live/AQEvgxoIk5o?si=Ex_ypym_tzpCzI26

As it stands Bidois playing RM/RW in a 4-4-2 and Adams in a Left sided CB so they've had a few battles out there already. Louisville playing quite high, so it's been a pretty common sight to see him playing over the halfway line and in Loudoun's half.

Louisville City win 1-0. Both Bidois & Adams are there at the end.

Colorado Springs & Indy Eleven draw 1-1. No Musa for Colorado S. 
Collier off the bench at 67 mins (1-1) for Indy.

MLS Next Pro

Both Herdman (captain) & Fin Linder start for Vancouver II (9th in the West), just across the US border against Tacoma Defiance (5th & reserve team of the Seattle Sounders)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/22/united-states/mls-next-pro/seattle-sounders-ii/whitecaps-fc-ii/4320496/

Finishes 0-0 in Tacoma, with home team winning the gimmicky pen shootout, 4-2.

Full game Linder (not required in the shootout), Herdman off at 75 mins.
Linder playing as a left sided CB in a back 3/5.

Kyle Adams starting and Louisville cruising in their match against perennial USL Championship whipping boys Hartford Atheltic - 3-0 approaching H/T.

Collier on the bench for Indy Eleven as usual. That match currently 1-1 after the hour mark. Seen some interesting news out of Indianapolis recently regarding the city vying for an MLS side. I'm sure we'll hear more on that at some point.

In the late matches, the other Kiwis in the USL Championship travel to California for their games. James Musa's bottom of the lot Colorado Switchbacks travel to Oakland SC, and Riley Bidois' Loudoun United travel to Sacramento Republic. Both matches kicking off 2pm NZT.

USL matches live and available to watch in NZ via YouTube.

Kyle Adams and Louisville cruise home 6-0. A full 90 and a defensive clean sheet for Louisville so they'll be happy with that.

Indy Eleven beating North Carolina FC, with Elliot Collier coming off the bench for the last 15 or so minutes.

No Musa in the Colorado Matchday squad - currently an hour in to that one and it stands at 0-0.

Riley Bidois has his first assist for Loudoun United, as his side have fought back to 1-1 at H/T in California. I'll let you guys judge on whether that's an assist or not. But the USL website, FotMob and Google have given it to him. Good on him as well. He also had a rasping shot saved at the near post just before H/T too.

Riley Bidois assist on starting debut. 🅰️

Happy for the lad and his first goal involvement in America, but I do wonder if they have a dubious assist's panel that this may be referred to? 👀😂

As you can see in the video FotMob was onto it in a flash. pic.twitter.com/WzVEG2EBza

— YoungHeart - 🇳🇿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@YoungHeartHM) April 28, 2024

MLS Next Pro

Jay Herdman full game Fin Linder an unused sub, Whitecaps II (9th) lose 1-0 away to Real Monarchs (8th) 

https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/04/29/united-states/mls-next-pro/real-monarchs/whitecaps-fc-ii/4320509/

USL
Loudoun (9th in the East) host Detroit City (3rd)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/05/united-states/mls-reserve-league/loudoun-united/detroit-city/4284858/

Colorado Springs (11th in the West) host El Paso Locomotive (12th)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/05/united-states/mls-reserve-league/colorado-springs/el-paso-locomotive/4284863/

Indy Eleven (8th in the East) travel to Monterey Bay (3rd in the West)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/05/united-states/mls-reserve-league/monterey-bay/indy-eleven/4284865/

MLS Next Pro
Vancouver II (11th in the West) lost 2-0 at Portland II (8th). Full games Linder & Herdman. So no MLS game for Herdman this weekend.

https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/03/united-states/mls-next-pro/portland-timbers-u23/whitecaps-fc-ii/4320510/

Vancouver 2 never seem to win!

I wonder if Jay Herdman might come to the A League - higher chance of getting game time.

The league is a good stepping stone to Europe for younger players.

USL
Good sign. Riley Bidois starts for Loudoun (9th in the East) as they host Detroit City (3rd)
Edit - Bidois full game in a 0-0 draw. He's in the picture for the Olympics

No Musa as Colorado Springs (11th in the West) host El Paso Locomotive (12th)
Edit - 2-0 win for Colorado Springs. Liam Rose (ex CCM & MAC) a full game for El Paso, who were coached by Jon Hutchinson a few seasons ago.

Collier's Indy Eleven (8th in the East) travel to Monterey Bay (3rd in the West)

Elliott Collier with an 88th min goal as Indy Eleven beat El Paso 1-0.

Collier off the bench at 64 mins. His first USL goal since July last year when he was at San Diego.

🔥 @INDYELEVEN IN THE 88TH MINUTE ‼️ pic.twitter.com/S2zD9oDrgn

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) May 5, 2024

Impressive looking stadium planned for Indianapolis for their MLS bid. I presume that's the Indiana Pacers venue also in shot.

MetalLegNZ

I wonder if Jay Herdman might come to the A League - higher chance of getting game time.

The league is a good stepping stone to Europe for younger players.

He's literally within touching distance of a first team contract with Vancouver.

Affiliate Short-Term Agreements

If he receives one more of these short term loans he reaches the four call-ups and he has to be offered a first team deal. There is every chance he gets this over the course of the rest of this season, given player injuries and suspension. Although the irony would be that even if he did get a contract, most of his playing time would still be in the MLS Next Pro. 

The upside for Herdman is that if he did get a contract he'd be on a deal between $70,000-$90,000USD per year - Depending on what slot he filled on the Vancouver supplementary roster (roster spots 21-30).

US Open Cup

Bidois's Loudoun travel to fellow USL team Orange County SC
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/08/united-states/us-open-cup/los-angeles-blues-sc/loudoun-united/4351726/

No Bidois for this one - Likely rested after a good run of matches in quick succession.

In the mean time, Trevor Zwetsloot has signed a 25 day contract with Loudoun United. He appears on the bench for this match. Possible club debut in the offing later on this afternoon.

Loudon won 2-1. Zwetsloot didn't feature.

coochiee

Loudon won 2-1. Zwetsloot didn't feature.

74’ | Orange County 1-2 Loudoun
Segra Substitution

ON: Zwetsloot
OFF: Melly#OCvLDN | @GoSegra pic.twitter.com/6HPiDRUrqq

— Loudoun United FC (@LoudounUnitedFC) May 8, 2024

Got on for the last quarter of an hour + added time as Loudoun looked to protect their lead. Which they managed to do to get through to the last 16.

First win in California, and first time into the round of 16 for the US Open Cup in their history too.

20240508_223718.jpg 275.13 KB

Zwetsloot 3rd in from the right, in behind gaffer Ryan Martin, and in front of a happy looking Steve Coleman in the back.

My bad. Soccerway had some other guy come on as that sub, not Zwetsloot.

I'd really hoped that Trevor Z, would have kicked on to a higher level by now. He seemed to have a bit of class about him, when he was in Des's very good 2019 U20 WC team. But the bad ACL injury he got in that WC, which kept him out of the game for nearly 2 years, really harmed his progress. Fingers crossed this short term deal leads to something.

More US Open Cup ties tomorrow

Another all USL clash with Collier's Indy Eleven hosting San Antonio
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/09/united-states/us-open-cup/indy-eleven/san-antonio/4351727/

Musa's Colorado Springs travelling to MLS Next Pro outfit New York City II
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/09/united-states/us-open-cup/new-york-city-ii/colorado-springs/4351729/

Kyle Adams's Louisville City with a tough but exciting tie travelling across the US, to play MLS outfit Seattle Sounders.
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/09/united-states/us-open-cup/seattle-sounders-fc/louisville-city/4351721/

Collier on the bench for Indy Eleven who lead 2-0 at HT

No Musa for Colorado Springs in a 1-0 loss.

Full and a yellow for Adams, as Louisville City almost pull off a big upset win in Seattle. Losing on 5-4 pens.  2-2 at the end of NT (no ET it looks) 

Unfortunately it was Adams failing to convert his pen that saw Louisville lose the shootout. He the 8th taker for them, ie 3 team mates also failed to convert.

USL

Loudoun United (9th in the East) host El Paso Locomotive (12th in the West).
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/11/united-states/mls-reserve-league/loudoun-united/el-paso-locomotive/4284868/

Loudon lose 0-2. Bidois started & off at HT (0-2). Trevor Zwetsloot an unused sub. 

Liam Rose (ex CCM & MAC) full game for El Paso

USL

Colorado Springs (11th in the West) travel to Hartford Athletic (8th in the East)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/12/united-states/mls-reserve-league/hartford-athletic/colorado-springs/4284870/

Louisville City (2nd in the West) host Orange County (3rd in the West)
https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2024/05/12/united-states/mls-reserve-league/louisville-city/los-angeles-blues-sc/4284871/