Our special guest was the GM of Roc City Boom who begin play in MASL3 in January, Mark Mandell, who spoke on how the Boom came to play indoors this year, the hiring of former Lancers' coach Jim Hesch, the home schedule at the Sports Garden and the teams the Boom will play against in MASL3.

Our US soccer correspondent, Michael Lewis, gave his onsite report of the NY Red Bulls upsetting NYCFC at Citi Field in NYC in the MLS playoffs and reviewed the other quarterfinal matches on the weekend, plus discussed our US National Teams - the men's win in the CONCACAF Nations league against Jamaica and the women facing England on Saturday at Wembley which could be the last match for Alyssa Naeher who is retiring from the USWNT.

Joe and Andrew gave the international report on the European league results and this week's UEFA Champions League matches and what is coming up in Europe this weekend.  Andrew also reported on William Smith making the final 4 of the NCAA D3 women's soccer tournament.

November 25, 2024 Show

On our year end show of 2024, we had our 3 correspondents give their thoughts on the biggest stories of the year:

1) Mr. Zero Dick Howard discussed the highlights of Canadian soccer, including Calvary FC winning the CPL, Vancouver Whitecaps being sold, Canadian women's national team looking for a new coach and the Canadian men doing well in Europe.  Dick also discussed Italian and English soccer with Joe and Andrew.
2) Our MASL indoor correspondent, Greg Suttie, talked about the Rochester Lancers finishing runner-up in MASL2 and going 14-1 on the year, the start of the new MASL Women's League and the 3 divisions of MASL all starting off strong this season
3) Michael Lewis talked about NISA no longer being sanctioned by US Soccer, Netflix winning the broadcast rights to the '27 and '31 Women's World Cup and the US Women winning the Olympic gold medal.

Andrew and Joe talked about the Flower City Union player signings and what is coming up for Union and 1872 in January, plus thanking all of the show's sponsors in 2024.

December 30, 2024 Show

Our special guest was the head coach of the MASL3 indoor Roc City Boom, Jim Hesch, who spoke what he has done in soccer since his last appearance on the show in 2013, how he became coach of the Boom, the former Rochester Lancers players on the team and Saturday's opener against Cleveland.

Front Row Soccer's Michael Lewis talked about former Western NY Flash player McCall Zerboni leaving Gotham FC after 5 seasons, Antonee Robinson winning the 2024 US Soccer Male Player of the Year, the upcoming big dates for the NWSL in 2025, the selection of the USMNT for the upcoming January friendlies and Lionel Messi receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Andrew and Joe talked about the Coppa Italia being won by Milan over Inter and Christian Pulisic scoring the tying goal and assisting on the winning goal in the final and the upcoming matches this weekend in Europe, including the FA Cup in England.

January 6, 2025 Show

Our special guest was the top goalkeeper in MASL3, Roc City Boom's Jakeb Mitchell, who spoke on how last year's Rochester Lancers M2 players pulled together to play for the Boom this year and keep indoor soccer alive in Rochester, the opening 21-4 win over Cleveland on Saturday and how he as a practicing nurse was able to assist when 2 players collided heads in the 1st quarter of the match.  

Front Row Soccer.com's Michael Lewis gave his report on the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Chicago, including his attending a seminar by USWNT coach Emma Hayes, the naming of former NASL Rochester Lancer Edner Breton to the Long Island Soccer Players Hall of Fame and Rochester's Kathryn Nesbitt being named the first US Soccer Female Referee of the year.  

Andrew and Joe talked about the latest and upcoming matches in Serie A, the 3rd Round FA Cup results and the big cup ties in Round 4 and the Spanish Super Cup final.

January 13, 2025 Show

Our special guest was Roc City Boom's Dan Reger, who spoke on his background in soccer, the pair of wins the Boom had against Youngstown last weekend, the unity and cohesiveness of the Boom and Saturday's important match against Sahara Gunners.  

Front Row Soccer.com's Michael Lewis gave his report on the USMNT's 3-1 win over Venezuela on Saturday and the top players in the match, Alyssa Naeher winning the US Soccer Female Player of the Year, the return of the Buffalo Stallions club in the NPSL and the latest from the transfer window for US players.

Andrew talked about the weekend's matches in Europe and this week's UEFA Champions League ties, plus the latest signings from Flower City Union and 1872.

January 20, 2025 Show

We had 2 special guests:

1) Our MASL correspondent, Greg Suttie, talked about the latest news from the league and Wednesday's 1st ever in-season MASL All-Star game taking place in Utica.

2) Roc City Boom's leading goal scorer Jameson Railey, who talked about his background in soccer, the Boom's big 25-4 road win over Sahara Gunners where he had 6 goals and 5 assists with many regulars and Saturday's 3rd game in a row against Sahara this Saturday at the Rochester Sports Garden.

Front Row Soccer.com's Michael Lewis talked about the start of MLS next weekend, the outstanding place of USMNT's Christian Pulisic and Josh Sargent in Europe and the US U17 Men looking to qualify for the World Cup this week in CONCACAF qualification.  

Andrew and Joe reviewed the league and FA Cup matches this past weekend and previewed the 1st leg of the Round of 32 in the UEFA Champions League.

February 10, 2025 Show

Historian Ben Baumann talks about the history of the US soccer team, the development of professional soccer in America, and how far the sport has come in the United States.

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#214 The History of Soccer in America

Our special guest was the leading scorer for MASL3 Roc City Boom, Eduardo Figueroa, who talked about his background in soccer, his success this season having 6 hat tricks in 7 matches, how the team has been preparing the final 2 regular season matches at Cleveland this weekend and how this season has differed from when he played for the MASL2 Lancers.

Our US Soccer correspondent, Front Row Soccer's Michael Lewis, talked about the latest results in MLS and the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the start of the NWSL season and the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League Final 4 between the US/Panama and Mexico/Canada. 

Andrew and Joe gave the international report discussing Newcastle winning the Carabao Cup, the latest results from Italy and Spain, the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League and this week's quarterfinals in the UEFA Nations League between Italy/Germany, Holland/Spain, Denmark/Portugal and Croatia/France.

March 17, 2025 Show

Our special guest was the captain of the MASL3 regular season champion Roc City Boom, Konrad Zydowicz, who spoke about the 2 wins the team had over the weekend in Cleveland to clinch the MASL East and then the Supporters Shield, his teams going 24-1 over the past 2 seasons and the upcoming MASL3 playoffs next weekend.

Our US Soccer correspondent, Front Row Soccer's Michael Lewis, talked about former NASL Rochester Lancer Edner Breton being inducted into the Long Island Soccer Players Hall of Fame this past weekend and the US Men's National Team losing both games in the CONCACAF Nations League Final 4 to Panama and Canada.

Andrew and Joe gave the international report discussing the firing of Juventus' manager Thiago Motta, the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League and the current slate of World Cup 2026 qualifying with Japan and New Zealand punching their tickets over the weekend. 
Andrew also reported on NISA not having a regular season in 2025 and the latest news from Flower City Union and 1872.

March 24, 2025 Show

Our special guest was the coach of the MASL3 regular season champion Roc City Boom, Jim Hesch, who spoke about the undefeated regular season and the MASL3 playoffs this weekend where the Boom will play in the semi-finals on Saturday.  

Our US Soccer correspondent, Front Row Soccer's Michael Lewis, talked about the passing of Hank Steinbrecher, the former secretary general for U.S. Soccer throughout the 1990’s, the US Women facing Brazil in a friendly on Saturday and taking on Canada July 2, the latest news results in MLS and the 1st leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Andrew and Joe gave the international report discussing the quarterfinals of the FA Cup where all the road teams won, the latest from Serie A and the upcoming matches around Europe this week.  Andrew also talked about his trip in England, how the BBC and ITV cover live soccer matches and his visit to the pub in Covent Garden where the rules of modern soccer were finalized by the FA in 1863.   


March 31, 2025 Show

North America's Longest Running Soccer Radio show, heard Mondays live at 6:30 pm ET on WYSL Radio in Rochester, NY and at www.soccerisakickinthegrass.com

A podcast by historian Ben Baumann that uses history from the formation of the universe to the present, illustrating how our world came to be. The podcast provides brief historical summaries of various subjects and features oral history interviews with guest experts who have lived experiences related to the topics discussed.

"Billions of years led to you, so make the most of it"

New tracks tagged #US Soccer