User:Keskkonnakaitse/2020 Cleveland SC season

The 2020 Cleveland SC season was the club's third season of existence and their third consecutive season in the National Premier Soccer League, the fourth tier of American soccer. The season covered the period from December 22, 2019 to the start of the 2021 NPSL season. Cleveland SC competed in the NPSL Members Cup and the inaugural NISA Independent Cup; the league season for the NPSL, the U.S. Open Cup, the Hank Steinbrecher Cup, and the Ohio Heart Cup were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

As a result of all the cancellations, Cleveland played just three matches during the 2020 season. The Guardians finished as runners-up in both the Members Cup and the Independent Cup, ending the year with a final tally of one win, one draw, and one loss. Five players shared the honor of top goalscorer, with Vinny Bell, Coletun Long, Antonio Manfut, Paolo Termine, and Szabolcs Wiksell each scoring one goal on the year. Two notable players appeared for Cleveland in 2020, as goalkeeper Alex Ivanov and forward Riggs Lennon each played in two games.

NPSL
The full schedule for the Rust Belt Conference was released by the league and the respective clubs on February 27; the other two conferences in the Midwest Region saw their schedules released on different days. No teams were added to or departed the conference, meaning that CSC was set to play a ten-match schedule for the second straight league season. The club's first two home matches were to be played at Lakewood Stadium in Lakewood, Ohio, with the final three to be played at Krenzler Field in Cleveland. The two stadiums had been announced as the club's dual homes three days prior, after the Guardians had played at George Finnie Stadium during the 2019 season.

Cleveland had scheduled tryouts to be held on March 14 in Hudson, Ohio. Three days prior, the club restricted attendance to "essential operational personnel and players", but as late as March 13 were still planning to hold the tryout. On the morning of March 14, the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), of which the NPSL is an affiliate, suspended the activities of every party associated with the organization until March 31, forcing CSC to cancel the tryout. The National Premier Soccer League followed suit on March 26, canceling and voiding the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Cleveland SC, in their announcement, stated that they still intended to take part in the three cup competitions they were entered in, as well as "great additional presentations that will take place this summer and fall."

U.S. Open Cup
The National Premier Soccer League determined U.S. Open Cup qualification through the league standings from the previous season; Cleveland SC, through its playoff run, was the fourth-ranked team in the NPSL, thereby earning one of the league's 14 berths in the 2020 Open Cup. The Guardians officially confirmed their first-ever Open Cup berth on December 20, 2019, over a month before the initial draw was held. On January 22, the first round draw was conducted by the United States Soccer Federation. CSC was drawn on the road against Nashville United, a local qualifier from the USASA that became a NPSL expansion club in 2020. In a further draw on January 29, it was revealed that a Cleveland SC victory would see the club travel to take on USL Championship club Louisville City in the second round.

On March 14, less than two weeks before Cleveland was scheduled to play its first round fixture, the Open Cup was postponed by the federation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. CSC later reiterated their commitment to taking part in the tournament, following rumors that the United Soccer League intended to withdraw its teams from the Open Cup. However, on August 17 the tournament was officially canceled by the federation. In the USSF announcement, it was confirmed that Cleveland would be invited to take part in the 2021 U.S. Open Cup provided that they maintained Open Cup eligibility.

Ohio Heart Cup
On January 28, 2020, Cleveland SC was announced as a participant in the inaugural Ohio Heart Cup. Samuel Seibert, the club's owner, had started discussions about creating the tournament a year prior and became the director of the Heart Cup. Nine teams were slated to take part in the Heart Cup, representing three amateur leagues: the National Premier Soccer League, USL League Two, and the Northern Ohio Soccer League. In the initial draw, the Guardians were placed in a group alongside FC Columbus, their Cheese Barn Derby rivals and a fellow NPSL club, and Cincinnati Dutch Lions, representing League Two. Although the draw was not publicized, the matches were announced by CSC on February 27, alongside the release of the club's NPSL schedule.

Without a formal announcement, in March the Ohio Heart Cup was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. At the time that the NPSL had been canceled, Cleveland had committed to taking part in the Ohio Heart Cup in 2020, with the club later saying that they were hoping for clarity on the status of competitions by mid-to-late April. Eventually, the cup was simply not played and the inaugural edition was pushed back to 2021. The announcement on February 14, 2021 described the first attempt as having been "derailed in March of 2020 as were nearly all U.S. sporting events."

Hank Steinbrecher Cup
Ordinarily, the National Premier Soccer League champions represented the league in the following year's Hank Steinbrecher Cup. However, the league's 2019 champions, Miami FC, were a professional club that then departed the league to join the USL Championship. The spot in the Steinbrecher Cup therefore passed down to the highest-placed amateur club in the league; by having a better regular season record than ASC San Diego, Cleveland SC earned the club's first-ever berth in the tournament. The official draw was scheduled to take place on March 20, 2020, but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The United States Adult Soccer Association, which runs the tournament, had suspended all activities for every party associated with the organization six days prior.

The Hank Steinbrecher Cup was officially canceled by the USASA on April 8 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The week prior, association president John Motta had stated in an interview that hopes of the tournament happening were "not looking good"; in the statement announcing the cancellation, Motta said that the uncertainty surrounding the virus led to the cancellation.

NPSL Members Cup
Although the National Premier Soccer League canceled the league season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, league-sanctioned competition still took place in 2020: the second edition of the NPSL Members Cup was announced by the league on July 16. Cleveland SC was one of four clubs, all from the Rust Belt Region, that were confirmed to take part, alongside Erie Commodores, FC Buffalo, and Pittsburgh Hotspurs. Due to travel and time restrictions, the cup was played with an unbalanced format: all clubs played just two matches, with the Guardians facing Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

Cleveland SC finished second place in the Members Cup, ending as runners-up behind the Hotspurs. The Guardians played out a 2–2 draw against Pittsburgh in the opening match of the tournament, conceding a goal five minutes into second-half stoppage time to Pittsburgh's Nathan Dragisich. In Cleveland's second match, a Rust Belt Derby fixture against Buffalo, they tallied two late goals to claim a 3–1 victory. In the 87th minute, Paolo Termine scored the eventual winning goal on his club debut. That result, however, meant that Pittsburgh won the cup on goal differential; the Hotspurs had a plus-three, with Cleveland ending with a plus-two differential.

NISA Independent Cup
When the National Independent Soccer Association announced the cancellation of its spring 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, included in the press release was a note that the league was planning to create the NISA Independent Cup, a regional tournament to be played between NISA and "select high level amateur clubs." In May, the league began seeking clubs to participate in the cup, and the tournament was officially announced on July 1. For the inaugural edition of the Independent Cup, 15 clubs were separated into four geographical regions; because of the pandemic, the four regional champions did not face off to determine one unified champion.

Cleveland SC was entered into the Great Lakes Region, alongside the club's Rust Belt Derby rivals, FC Buffalo and Detroit City. In the region, the championship was decided in a round-robin format, with the winner determined by points. The first match for the Guardians, against Buffalo, was also counted as part of the NPSL Members Cup. In that game, Cleveland came up with a 3–1 victory. Two goals from the penalty spot, one from Antonio Manfut and one from Vinny Bell, saw CSC to victory in a match delayed just before halftime due to inclement weather. With a trophy on the line, the Guardians fell short against Detroit City, ending the season with a 3–0 defeat. Ryan Peterson scored the winning goal for Detroit in the 42nd minute, although Cleveland had just 13 available players due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Lower League eCup
Following the cancellation of the National Premier Soccer League season and the postponement of all lower league soccer due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the Lower League eCup was created on March 21, 2020. The competition, played through the online friendly mode of FIFA 20, was created to fill the lower league soccer void in the country. 111 clubs, supporters groups, and other organizations entered the tournament across the three separate cups, one for each console: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The schedule for the competition planned for a five-match group stage, followed by two-legged knockout ties to determine a champion.

On March 27, two draws were conducted: the club assignment and group stage draws. In order to conduct the tournament on FIFA 20, and to preserve the "spirit of the 'lower league' cup", all clubs were randomly drawn with a team from a major second-tier league that features in the video game. Teams from the 2. Bundesliga, EFL Championship, Ligue 2, Segunda División, and Serie B were assigned before the remaining spots were filled by teams from the A-League. As a result of this draw, Cleveland SC were assigned in the game to Spanish club Zaragoza. In the second draw, the Guardians were placed into Group E of the Xbox One cup. Also drawn into the group were fellow NPSL clubs Atlantic City FC and FC Buffalo, Crescent City FC of the Gulf Coast Premier League, and the Swan City Syndicate supporters' group, representing Florida Tropics SC. The schedule for CSC featured one intra-group match, against USL League One club South Georgia Tormenta from Group F.

As per the rules of the competition, clubs were allowed to change their human representative each week. The Guardians were represented in their first match by CSC midfielder Riggs Lennon and in weeks three and five by CSC midfielder Tom Beck; the representatives in weeks two and four were not publicly disclosed. Cleveland was eliminated in the group stage with a record of two draws and three losses, finishing on the bottom of Group E. The Guardians failed to advance to the knockout stage due to goal difference, with their -18 mark seeing them finish behind the Swan City Syndicate SG.

Appearances and goals

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Clean sheets

 * Notes

Awards

 * All-Time Top 10 NPSL Players: Vinny Bell (#3, representing AFC Cleveland and Cleveland SC)