Reeves' Army

VSI Tampa Bay FC has finally opened ticket sales for its USL Pro team.

Tickets are available for Orlando City’s road match against VSI on Sunday, August 4. Game time is 7pm.

They have their own home-brewed online ticketing system. The only additional fee is apparently Hillsborough County’s 7% sales tax.

No word on where they’re playing yet, however.

********

Fifth Third Bank has bought naming rights at the Citrus Bowl for Orlando City soccer games. The field will now be called “Fifth Third Bank Field at the Citrus Bowl”.

The article mentions offhand that Orlando City has an 86% season ticket retention rate. Considering we had 3,500 season tickets last year, that’s an attrition of less than 500, not including new accounts or account expansions. I’d say that’s pretty good.

And the Orlando Sentinel has an article on Graham Zusi and Dennis Chin meeting at the Pro Soccer Classic. Chin, one of Orlando City’s starting forwards, and Zusi, a national team midfielder for Sporting Kansas City, were rivals in high school here. Chin played for Oviedo High, while Zusi played for Lake Brantley High. Both played for the Central Florida Kraze under Joe Avallone while Zusi was at Maryland and Chin was at Rollins.

Left winger Chris Petersen’s hat trick Thursday night has earned him the Orlando Solar Bears’ first call-up. He has been recalled by the Houston Aeros.

Petersen currently leads the ECHL with six goals. His spot on our roster was filled by re-activating forward C.J. Severyn.

Don’t forget the Solar Bears host the South Carolina Stingrays tomorrow afternoon at 3pm.

********

Jamie Watson is looking to lead Minnesota Stars to the Soccer Bowl. Leading Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-0 already, they play at Al Lang Field tonight at 7:30pm.

Don’t forget to make the trip down tonight to show your support for Jamie. Tickets are $16 at the door.

The Ruckus is arranging for a charter bus to show our support for Jamie Watson and Minnesota Stars as they try to repeat as NASL Soccer Bowl Champions.

Jamie has access to a total of 40 tickets. I think the tickets may all be reserved already, but there are still bus seats available.

The bus will be a full charter bus, and costs $20 per seat. If tickets are not available, that will be $16 at the door for general admission.

The game is being held at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg this Saturday night, October 27, at 7:30pm. Exact details for the bus trip will come down shortly at the Facebook event link above. I have instructions for getting there if you decide not to join the bus.

Here are some guidelines:

1) NO ORLANDO CITY COLORS. NO RED, NO PURPLE. NO EXCEPTIONS. This is about Jamie, not about us. I personally would not even recommend bringing your scarves. Those who are getting complementary tickets will also get free Minnesota Stars t-shirts. Otherwise, try to wear dark blue, which is Minnesota’s primary color. Yellow is a common color for both teams, so it would not be effective.

2) NO PARAPHANELIA. Al Lang Field only allows Ralph’s Mob to bring in drums and flags. Unfair, I know, but it’s just the way things are.

3) ABSOLUTELY. NO. SMOKE BOMBS. Having been to Rowdies matches myself, I’ve seen this happen. If anybody sneaks a smoke bomb in and uses it, all of us will be thrown out.

The Minnesota Stars beat San Antonio Scorpions last night, 2-1, giving them a 2-1 aggregate win in their home-and-home semifinal to reach the NASL Soccer Bowl final series against Tampa Bay Rowdies.

“Why are we supposed to care”,  you ask?

Because that’s where we loaned Jamie Watson.

The Stars are the defending Soccer Bowl champions, having defeated Fort Lauderdale Strikers last year. They will host the first leg on Saturday night at 8:30pm EDT, then head to St. Petersburg for the second leg on October 27 at 7:30pm.

Now think of this idea: “Orlando City S.C.: 2012 NASL Champions”.

Jamie played 79 minutes in the first leg of the semifinal against the Scorpions, and all 90 in the second leg, with two and three shots, respectively.

Inside Minnesota Soccer is raving about Jamie Watson.

The Lions forward, who is on loan to Minnesota Stars for the remainder of the 2012 NASL season, played a leading role in the Stars’ 4-0 win over Puerto Rico Islanders on Tuesday night. He assisted on the first goal, and scored the third. He also scored the Stars’ only goal in a 1-1 draw with FC Edmonton last weekend.

********

UCF women’s soccer is now #6 in the NSCAA Continental Tire D-I soccer poll. This is their highest ranking in 20 years. This follows a 2-2 draw with Boston College, who are now #5.

The women and men will play a doubleheader tomorrow night. The women will play North Florida at 5pm, while the men will play Jacksonville at 7:30pm. Normal single-game admission will get you into both matches. This is part of the weekend festivities, including UCF football’s home opener against FIU on Saturday.

********

So, how has Bryce Follensbee been doing for Tulsa?

In a classic weekend at the end of August, he scored the golden goal to beat New Mexico, 2-1, on August 31. He also assisted with a goal in a 3-0 win over Loyola Marymount last Sunday.

He currently has three goals and one assist. Tulsa will be hosting UC-Davis and Oakland this weekend.

In case anyone was curious, Orlando product Bryce Follensbee is doing just fine, thank you very much.

The star striker from Dr. Phillips made his long-awaited debut by scoring a brace in Tulsa’s 4-0 opening-day shredding of Missouri-Kansas City.

(image from the University of Tulsa)

Bryce scored the second (79′) and fourth (87′) goals of the match.

He set school records for Dr. Phillips High School through 2010-11—I don’t have exact numbers on hand, but remember at one point he scored ten goals in two matches—but suffered a torn ACL at the end of his senior campaign, resulting in him red-shirting his first year at Tulsa.

He had eight of Tulsa’s 20 shots in their season opener. He also scored the lone goal in a preseason 1-0 win over Denver.

The Golden Hurricane will host the UCF men’s soccer team on October 21. I will make sure to keep an eye on Bryce’s exploits as he continues his career.

Orlando City held its open tryouts this past weekend. Eyewitness reports say that walk-in slots filled rapidly, and several hundred had to be turned away. WESH reported on it last night during their post-Super Bowl newscast.

Today, it was announced that four players from the open tryout would be invited to training camp, which will launch next Monday. Details on exactly who will hopefully be announced soon, as well as whether or not any other players will make appearances with the U-23′s.

Do any of them really have a chance to make the team? Ask Dennis Chin.

The tryouts also revealed that James O’Connor will be City’s second player/coach, along with Ian Fuller. I had a feeling that O’Connor’s move to Orlando would eventually find its way to the coaching profession.

Defender and Orlando native Eddie Robinson, who won four MLS Cups with what is now the Houston Dynamo, has retired from soccer. He tendered his retirement in mid-January.

He will move to the front office working for the Dynamo Academy, and will also serve as color commentator during Dynamo TV and radio broadcasts.

The 33-year-old played at North Carolina in college before joining the original San Jose Earthquakes in 2001. He has scored 9 goals in his career, and was particularly an integral part of Houston’s MLS Cup campaigns of 2006 and 2007.