The Final Four. Out of over 120 clubs nationwide, Ballard FC is one of the last four remaining in this year’s playoffs. To make the National Final, Ballard FC will need to beat Central Conference Champions and hosts, the Flint City Bucks, on Sunday night.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Ballard side that just went 120 minutes in 94-degree weather on Friday against the Ventura County Fusion to win the Western Conference Championship. However, the Bucks have a quick turnaround as well, Sunday’s match will kick off less than 48 hours from when their match kicked off on Friday.
Sunday’s Semifinal kicks off at 4:00 PM PT / 7:00 PM ET. There will be a watch party in the Reuben’s Brews Taproom where there are multiple viewing areas. However, seating is first come, first served. The match will also be available to stream on the MSN YouTube page.
National Semifinal Live Stream
Now let’s meet the semifinalists.
In only their second-ever season, Ballard FC won their first trophy by winning the Western Conference Championship on Friday. Last season, they lost in the Western Conference Final to Ventura County Fusion, but they found revenge in 2023 with a dramatic comeback. Down two goals after 81 minutes, the odds of a Ballard victory seemed very low. But a late brace from the big man Stas Korzeniowski put the match into Extra Time. And then in Extra Time, Korzeniowski would complete his hat trick and then assist a wonder strike from Charlie Gaffney for goal number four. The Fusion would pull one back, but it was too little too late as Ballard FC won 4-3.
Although the inaugural season was greatly successful for Ballard, year two has been a season of firsts. In 2023, Ballard FC have won their first Northwest Division Title, first Western Conference Championship, and are about to appear in their first National Semifinal. The Bridges will hope this trend continues and that they will be playing in their first National Championship next weekend. Korzeniowski scored eleven goals in nine regular season matches and has six goals in his three playoff appearances for a total of 17 goals in 12 matches. If he can keep this streak going, the championship chances for Ballard FC will be strong.
A Flint City defense led by Hugo Bacharach will have something to say about Korzeniowski’s fine form. The Bucks defeated the Des Moines Menace in their Conference Championship 2-0 on Friday, making that their eighth clean sheet of the season. With eight clean sheets, the Bucks have now kept a clean sheet in over 50% of their matches this season. The battle between the Ballard attack and the Flint defense will ultimately be the decider in Sunday’s Semifinal.
Although the defense may be the biggest strength of this Flint City side, the hosts aren’t exactly lacking in attack either. With a very balanced attacking unity where goals can come from anywhere, defenses have a hard time keying in on one person. This is a big part of the reason Flint continues to score multiple goals. Anytime the Bucks do score at least two goals, opposing sides have their work cut out for them. It is so difficult to score just one against the Flint defense, so needing two or more can feel like an impossible challenge. With four USL2 national championships, the Flint City Bucks will be looking to play for their fifth next weekend. But first, they need to play a semifinal.
Four-time national champions against a side in their first-ever semifinal appearance. The old guard vs the newcomers. Sunday’s Semifinal is set. Who will prevail?
