You know what they say – no news is good news. Well we had plenty of “no news” from our local soccer teams yesterday, so things must be going great! Nevertheless, some interesting stories still earned our attention. To the kicks!

Very good dog steals ball during Philadelphia Union vs. Alianza CCL game (MLS): Does anyone remember the score of this game? My memory will forever be of that phenomenal pitch invader and that smile… (The score ended 0-0 by the way)

CCL shocker: Austin FC upset by Haiti’s Violette AC in Round of 16 (MLS): The only other MLS-imbued CCL match that finished before this writer went to bed last night ended quite unfavorably for the MLS side; a quite CONCACAF-flavored welcome for Austin as they play in their first continental tournament.

St. Louis’ fairytale start, Nancy-ball arrives in Columbus & more from Matchday 2 (MLS): A tidbit in this is that Matt Doyle does have something nice to say about D.C. United.

D.C. weren’t bad, by the way, and Wayne Rooney’s 4-4-2 isn’t nerfing Mateusz Klich the way I thought it might (Russell Canouse playing like it’s 2018 again is a part of that). They do need a little more from those wide midfielders – I think Ted Ku-DiPietro will start next week, right? – and a lot more from the second striker under Christian Benteke.

That should be Taxi Fountas when he gets back, but we’ll see.

Matt Doyle

Loudoun United FC Announce Newest Signing (Loudoun United): Spoiler: this young signing has me itching to take a trip to Segra Field. The new signing even has a twitter account that gives me some @RolfesHeadband vibes.

The Spirit were busy at Media Day as they continue to show off their new kits:

That’s all this morning. Add your kicks to the comments below!