NORTHEAST BY NORTHEAST

Two upsets occurred over the weekend that gave the Newark Ironbound Express some much-needed help in its pursuit of securing Premier Development League playoff berth. But a Brooklyn Knights win over the rejuvenated New Jersey Rangers Sunday night has elevated the Knights into the top spot in the Northeast Division.

The second-place Express will host the Rangers, facing the expansion side at a time where they are playing its best soccer at Luketkin Field in Newark, N.J. Tuesday at 8 p.m.

With the PDL regular-season winding down, Brooklyn (7-2-4, 25 points) resides in first place in the Northeast with Newark (6-2-6, 24) hot on its trail. The Express has the disadvantage of having only two games left while the Knights have three matches remaining. The Westchester Flames (6-5-2, 20), Ocean City Barons (5-3-5, 20) and Long Island Rough Riders (5-4-4, 19) are still for playoff contention. Only the Rangers (2-9-2, eight) are out of the post-season picture.

The playoff format for the Eastern Conference will take the three division winners with a fourth club that will get the nod as a wild card. Among the three divisions, the team with the best record after the division winners will take the four seed. The Express hold that wild card with the Fredericksburg Gunners (7-5-0, 21) and Ottawa Fury (6-3-2, 20) not far behind.

On Saturday, the Rangers upset Rough Riders, 2-0, while the Richmond Kickers Future helped out Newark by handing Fredericksburg a 1-0 defeat.

On Sunday the Hampton Roads Piranhas handed the Ocean City Barons their third loss of the season, 2-1, and the Ottawa Fury pulled out a tight 3-2 win over the Westchester Flames. The Rangers almost pulled off their second upset in as many days but fell to Brooklyn at Aviator Field, 4-3.

Following Tuesday's game, the Ironbound Express will head to Europe to play three international friendlies in Portugal. Newark will conclude its inaugural regular season at home on Saturday, July 19, hosting Westchester.

7/7/08