Carolina and Minnesota picked up big wins in pursuit the playoffs, while New York and Edmonton nabbed ties to inch closer to the postseason themselves last weekend.
To reset: Indy Eleven is going to the playoffs based on winning the Spring Season title. The Fall Season winner will also go, and the New York Cosmos leads FC Edmonton by three points for that honor, but have played two more matches than the Eddies.
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The other two slots go to wild card teams, who earn the honor by being the two highest-ranking non-title winning teams in the combined season table. One of those seems destined to the Edmonton or New York, and right now it looks like it’ll be either Minnesota United and Carolina for the final slot.
Teams on the ⬆️: NYC, FCE, MNU, FTL
— NASL (@naslofficial) September 8, 2016
Zero losses in the last five games for these clubs. pic.twitter.com/wOswjNvo5a
United sits fourth in the combined table now with 39 points and has been buoyed by talisman Christian Ramirez, who is on pace for another NASL Golden Boot (Read about his USMNT ambitions in this week’s feature here).
But Carolina has played two fewer games, and can make up six of its seven-point deficit by winning those matches-in-hand.
On Saturday night, the Railhawks host an Ottawa team that hasn’t won in ages and stand a good chance to keep the pressure on United. Minnesota has to travel to New York to face the first place Cosmos, a challenging task.
NASL weekend schedule
Indy Eleven at Fort Lauderdale -- 7 p.m. EDT Saturday
Minnesota United at New York Cosmos -- 7 p.m. EDT Saturday
Ottawa Fury at Carolina Railhawks -- 7:30 p.m. EDT Saturday
Tampa Bay Rowdies at Puerto Rico FC -- 7:30 p.m. EDT Saturday
Miami FC at FC Edmonton -- 4 p.m. EDT Sunday
Jacksonville Armada at Rayo OKC -- 8 p.m. EDT Sunday