Yesterday, I hopped onto Facebook, and found my counterpart, Sydney’s, MASL Week 2 Power Rankings. As I scrolled down the page, the teams he was listing in certain places was a little off from where I would put them. So, with that being said, here is my MASL Week 2 Power Rankings:

1.) Milwaukee – Milwaukee dominated Cedar Rapids at home last weekend to go a perfect 2-0 after defeating Tacoma on the road opening night. Max Ferdinand and Ian Bennett picked up where they left off last season, and it showed against Cedar Rapids.

2.) Monterrey – While I was waiting for the San Diego-Syracuse matchup, I watched Monterrey versus Florida. And let me say, the name matches their style of play. Unselfish passing and great goaltending by Diego Reynoso puts Monterrey just below Milwaukee in the power rankings this week.

3.) San Diego – San Diego manages to get into the 3rd spot this week due to a victory over Syracuse on Sunday. I don’t think we’ve seen this team at their full potential. John Sosa is a huge acquisition for them.

4.) Baltimore – Yes, Baltimore is still without a win, or a loss, but they’ll take number 4 this week based on the fact they are returning most of their team from last season which dominated the Eastern Conference. My only concern is change of venue. Will a smaller field affect their defensive style of play? On Friday, we will find out, when Cedar Rapids comes to town.

5.) Soles de Sonora – They are still the Ron Newman Cup runners-up, so they’ll sit at number 5 until next Thursday when they take the field.

6.) Syracuse – Yep. I did it. My counterpart has Syracuse all the way down at number 13, and I couldn’t disagree more with that. Syracuse went into Turlock, a place where very few have won, and pulled off the 7-6 comeback victory, then two days later, took San Diego to the 59th minute. If it wasn’t for Matt Clare, (a thorn in the Knights’ side since his days in Wichita after his stint in Syracuse) they could have pulled out that game as well. Am I biased? No. What I saw last weekend exceeded all expectations for the season. The Oncenter will be rocking Friday night when Ontario comes to town.

7.) Cedar Rapids – They ran into a buzzsaw in Milwaukee, but made a valiant comeback in the 4th quarter. Don’t fall asleep on Gordy Gurson, Taylor Bond, and company. I expect them to put up a great showing in Baltimore Friday night.

8.) Florida – If I had to pick a sleeper team for this season, Florida would be the team. They almost made the playoffs last season in their inaugural year. They’re another year older, and they’ve added Mauricio Salles, whose already paying dividends for the team.

9.) Tacoma – Yes, they are 0-1. But, they almost pulled off a HUGE upset against Milwaukee. On a side note, I miss Elliot Fauske and his mohawk. We miss the Mohican Warrior!

10.) Kansas City – They still have Leo Gibson, and Bryan Perez, two great soccer players. This team showed a lot of grit going back and forth with St. Louis in a 10-8 victory.

11.) Harrisburg – Harrisburg takes the number 11 spot this week because, well, they haven’t played yet. I’ll be sure to watch their first game of the year when they take on Ontario on Saturday. This leads me to number 12…

12.) Ontario – It’s so tough to rank these teams, but when I watched the Ontario-Turlock game, nothing really popped out at me about Ontario. Yes, they won the game, but they beat a tired Turlock team that went to overtime against Syracuse two nights prior, and Turlock played on a larger field. Ontario, prove me wrong on Saturday against Harrisburg, but not on Friday against Syracuse!

13.) El Paso – El Paso gets lucky 13 this week for its victory against Rio Grande Valley, my only incorrect prediction so far this year. Christian Gutierrez is a beast, and when all is said and done, I see him taking the goal scoring title for the MASL. He sits in 2nd, right behind MVP front runner, Ian Bennett.

14.) Turlock – Before the game against Syracuse, I had heard about how hard Turlock was at home, playing at the “Area 51 Hangar”. Those folks were correct. I felt as though Syracuse dominated the 4th quarter and overtime with ball control, tiring out Turlock. They’re a big, physical team, and I know they will climb out of this spot in the upcoming weeks.

15.) St. Louis – Hewerton Moreira is in the process of turning this team around. You can tell by the body language of the Ambush players during that game against Kansas City. They went shot for shot with one of the great teams in the MASL. I see a steady improvement by this team, but this week, they sit at number 15.

16.) Rio Grande Valley – Ugh. RGV sits at number 16 this week after losses against El Paso and Florida. To my Syracuse friends in Rio Grande, keep plugging away. I think this is just a case of a new team just starting out. Business will pick up down there. And if you ever need any snow, let me know. It’s supposed to start Friday!

Well, there you have it. My MASL Week 2 Power Rankings. Predictions will come out tomorrow, where I hope to go undefeated for a second week in a row.

MASL Nation, what do you think? Have I lost my marbles? Let’s hear you!

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