The Philly Soccer Page, found at http://www.phillysoccerpage.com, takes a look at the world of soccer from a Philadelphia perspective. The site covers the region's two new professional teams, its various amateur leagues (Casa included!), international and domestic soccer, and various aspects of the region's soccer culture, ranging from pickup games to pubs.

Nine players across various Casa teams have initially volunteered to produce the blog, including three current and former journalists, one local soccer coach, and the writer of a local soccer newsletter who's also writing a book about Philadelphia's soccer history.

Thanks to all of those who have stepped up to make this happen. We hope you enjoy it.

Lead by the original founders of Casa, Tom and Ari Adams, The Casa Soccer League of Boston is slated to kick-off its inaugural September 12th.

Check them out here: http://www.bostonsoccer.org/

We wish everyone in Boston a terrific season and look forward to your continued growth.

Another season in the books!

Easily the crowd favorite, the new logo will be prominently featured on our website and marketing materials as well as all the merchandise in our brand new store.

Thanks to everyone who submitted a logo or voted for their top choice. We hope you like the look.

Abierto

Vietnamese United was brand new to Casa this year but quickly established winning ways, holding their own against tough competition and coming into the playoffs as the #3 seed with only two losses. Meanwhile, the Lot Lizards gained a reputation as a dominant force - with size, skill and speed that combined to get them the #1 seed. The teams had seen each other twice before in the regular season with a 0-0 tie and a 2-0 win to the Lot Lizards. Would Vietnamese be able to find the net this go around?

The Vietnamese made it clear they were there to win, stringing together crisp passes and streaking runs while challenging every 50-50 ball with fierce intensity. They suffered their first set-back early in the 1st half though as a penalty kick was converted by LL and they went down 1-0. Nevertheless, they remained undeterred and stepped up the pressure with a relentless assault. Finally penetrating the tough Lizard defense, some rough contact in the box led to their own PK opportunity. But the Lot Lizards are #1 for a reason and a shot that seemed destined for the back of the net was pushed to the post with a miraculous save by the fully extended keeper:

With the momentum clearly shifted to the Lizards, they seized control and never looked back. A few minutes later a flawlessly executed bicycle kick found the net and they took a daunting 2-0 lead into halftime. Another insurance goal on a surgically-precise free-kick mid-way through the second half sealed the deal and the Lizards claimed their first division title.

Going undefeated into the playoffs, perhaps NewPhillyUnited was a bit overconfident in their quarterfinal match up. Having trounced last placed FC Spartans 7-2 in their regular season game they almost faced a major upset and barely came away with a 2-1 squeaker. Things didn't get any easier in the semis as they narrowly escaped past Gremio FBPA in PKs. #3 seed Sons of Ben Athletic took a similar path, also advancing to the finals in PKs. Clearly it was shaping up to be a close one.

A game played predominately at mid-field, neither team was giving much space as both struggled to find a rhythm. Two of the divisions strongest defenses were on full alert, stifling progress at every turn. With an average of less than 1 goal allowed per game for both teams in the regular season, no one wanted to be behind early and half time saw a 0-0 score.

As the minutes of the second half ticked by it was beginning to look like the game was heading into PKs, just as the teams experienced in the semi-finals. Both teams continued to look for openings and it seemed they realized that if either team wanted to score in regulation that they wouldn't be able to walk it in. A well-hit, low shot from NPU connected and put them up 1-0. With newly established confidence, the shots then came with increased frequency and NPU were able to put another one in off of a rebound and win the game 2-0.

Segunda

The Cinderella story of the playoffs was clearly Penn United. At #6, they were the only team in the finals across the entire League that wasn't a top three seed. Playing against #1 seed and former Primera team KS Cracovia, it would seem they would be seriously outgunned and the fairytale story ending just short of happily ever after.

With the league's leading scorer on their team, KC Cravovia stuck to the basics, confident that the goals would come. Indeed, early in the first half a breakaway culminated with an elegant outside of the foot shot placed in the upper corner and KS Cracovia looking every bit the champions.

But Penn United had been behind more than once before this season and appeared unfazed. Just a short while later they came back with a nifty goal of their own and tied it up 1-1. Despite a few balls being cleared last-second from the goal mouth, neither team yielded any more goals in regulation, and it came down to PKs. Back and forth it went and with a fluke miss by KS Cracavia, Penn United had the chance to win it with the 5th shot:

Penn United won it all and found themselves vaulted into the 1st division for the fall.

Primera

Atop the 1st division both teams came ready to play. As if the two teams were a league unto themselves, The Allstars won it all last spring, only to cede the crown in the fall to Deportivo Arsenal. Coming into the finals at #2 and #1 respectively, neither side had any intention of going home empty handed.

The action lasted from beginning to end with Deportivo drawing first blood. Not wanting to provide any chance for rest, the Allstars blazing speed caught Deportivo off guard and a blitzing offense capitalized on a loose ball in the box and evened the score. Each team would find the net once more as the tension continued to build. A few set plays almost panned out but the stalemate would last through regulation and off to PKs it went.

Perhaps it was the wind, exhaustion or just bad luck, but two missed PKs by the usually sure-footed Allstars were more than enough to give Deportivo the opportunity they needed to seal the victory and take back-to-back Primera titles. They now enter the fall season with the opportunity to be the first 3-peat team and establish themselves as a Casa dynasty.

Full article here.

The Fall Schedule has been updated to reflect the date of the make-up for Week 1's rainout: Sunday, October 26th. This is shown both on the Master Schedule and each Team's schedule. Please note that these games are being held at the Philadelphia Soccer Club and NOT PENNYPACK. Also, the Wild Card games have been scheduled for Sunday, November 2nd.

The make-up games are not yet set in stone; we are still awaiting final confirmation but I wanted to get this date on everyone's calendars as soon as possible. I'll let you know if anything changes. Thanks.

Eric

We're starting off by offering a custom Casa scarf that is perfect for yourself, gifts for the holidays (Columbus Day is right around the corner!), keeping your pets warm, you name it.

A big thanks to our Vice President, Ryan Pine who not only was instrumental in the design and procurement of the scarves but will also be running the store.

More merchandise will be added in the future so stay tuned!

Eric

Our new photo album allows anyone to easily share their photos with the league and we want to see them! From now through the month of October, upload your shots (as many as you want) from any game to our photo album and you'll be automatically entered. Come November, Casa will choose 5 finalists at which point the Casa community will vote on the winning photo! 1st place is a $50 gift certificate to a sporting goods store (TBD), 2nd place is a $25 gift certificate and the remaining finalists will each receive a $10 gift certificate.

What makes a good photo? Here is a good resource for some general guidelines to follow. And don't forget to add a title description!

Good luck!

After a thorough review though, a clear winner emerged - NewPhillyUnited!

Among their page's highlights:

*A top-notch logo
*Embedded video (my favorite Nike commercial no less!)
*A mini ad campaign in their photo section
*Use of the player of the week function
*Player head shots and bios
*Notice about practices

Our two runners-up were Real Knockers and Real Mensches who both did an awesome job loading their pages with quality material in all aspects and supplied some great info on both the team and the players.

I'd also like to give mention to Calamity!, who came up with the idea of integrating a theme song into their page. For a team that only joined us this summer with all new players, they are doing a heck of a job getting organized. Now that we all know what's possible, let's aim to make every site worth a visit.

Captains - drop me a line at president@phillysoccer.org to claim your prizes.

And a reminder, we are now accepting all entries into our photo contest. It's free, easy and you could win one of several gift certificates to Modell's Sporting Goods on 15th and Chestnut (thanks to Briana, our PR Chairperson for working her magic there). More details here.

Let's hope we luck-out and get some clear skies this Saturday. See you on the field.

Eric

The schedule for the fall season has been posted here.

Also, a reminder about the upcoming contest deadline for the team pages contest which ends on 09/06. More info can be found here.

Contest 1 - Team Homepages
Every team now has control over their homepage so let's see what you're capable of! We're looking for a few items in particular, namely:

- A quality logo;
- Team photos or other graphics;
- Robust individual player profiles; and
- Anything else to make your team page stand out.

What's up for grabs? 1st prize is a set of numbered t-shirts for your entire team (20 shirts)! These are great for practice or if you need a different colored uniform for a certain game. 2nd and 3rd prizes are a match-quality soccer ball.

Every team is automatically entered. This contest will run up until the start of the fall season (09/06) with winners announced shortly thereafter.

Contest 2 - Photo Submission
Our new photo album allows anyone to easily share their photos with the league and we want to see them! From now through the month of September upload your shots (as many as you want) from any game to our photo album and you'll be automatically entered. Come October, Casa will choose 5 finalists at which point the Casa community will vote on the winning photo! 1st place is a $50 gift certificate to a sporting goods store (TBD), 2nd place is a $25 gift certificate and the remaining finalists will each receive a $10 gift certificate.

What makes a good photo? Here is a good resource for some general guidelines to follow. And don't forget to add a title description!

Good luck!

For Players
• Customizable profiles, including headshots, bios and more.
  
• On-line waiver signing - no more paperwork!
  
• Community photo and video album - share your highlights!
  
• Fully dynamic and expanded Leader stats; sort by category, season, division, team - you name it (yes, your historical stats are here too)!
  
• Attendance submission - let your captain know your status for game day with a click of the mouse.
  
  Note: If you are on a roster but haven't yet been sent an link to set-up a personal account, ask your captain to send you an e-mail invite. Once you receive it, follow the log-in instructions and then you will be able to control and modify your player page.
  
  For Captains
  
• A completely customizable team page; upload your logo, put your trophies in your team's personal photo album - whatever you want.
  
• Event planning and management. Whether it's a game, practice or just a friendly get together, you can send invitations and monitor attendance with ease.
  
• Stat inputs. Maintain your team's stats or assign permission to one of your players. Goals, assists, even Keeper saves can all be tallied.
  
• Captain's corner - a forum for captains only! Here you can check on your team's payment status, submit feedback on the refs or simply chat amongst your fellow captains.
  
• Expanded roster functions. Add/change/delete/disable any player to keep your roster up-to-date.
  
  ...and much more!