Head Coach: Alex Kao
Venue: Maryland SoccerPlex
2024 Regular Season: 16W-2D-1L, 50 pts, finished 1st in the NISA Eastern Conference, 2024 NISA Playoffs: Club was declared ineligible to participate in the NISA Playoffs
2024 Season Recap:
The Maryland Bobcats FC completed its fourth season in NISA, finishing with the best record, topping the Eastern Conference with 50 points, and finished the season on a 17-match unbeaten streak. During the previous offseason, the club kept core players such as Richard Forka, Josselin Possian, Darwin Espinal, and Drew Wivell. The club found its replacement at goalkeeper keeping Jacob Boyle after former keeper Alex Sutton left to join MLS NEXT Pro side Carolina Core FC. The club also added Tyler Gabarra, Jacob Campbell, Kelvin Mwape, and Travis Ward while bringing back Elijah Amo. Their season began in the 2024 U.S. Open Cup, defeating West Chester United 2-0 in the opening round before falling to the Richmond Kickers 5-2 in the second round. The Bobcats only NISA match in April was their opener, defeating the Savannah Clovers 3-0 on the road. At the beginning of May, the Bobcats suffered their only loss of the season, losing 2-0 against the Michigan Stars FC. After that, the Bobcats dominated the Clovers, Club de Lyon, and Georgia FC and avenged their loss to the Stars with a 2-1 win on June 7. The Bobcats cruised past the Clovers, Club de Lyon, and Georgia FC again through the summer months and won 11 consecutive matches. In the NISA Independent Cup, the Bobcats defeated Alloy SC, Baltimore City FC, and Golden Ball Soccer Academy to win the East Regional Championship. It’s the fifth consecutive time the Maryland Bobcats FC have won a regional championship in the NISA Independent Cup. Caleb Pritchett scored five goals in three NISA Independent Cup matches for Maryland. As we enter the months of August and September, the Bobcats finished its final set of matches with five wins and two draws. The club also announced some significant additions down the stretch, such as signing former D.C. United and USMNT goalkeeper Bill Hamid and former Flower City Union forward Alioune Diakhate. Darwin Espinal finished the season as the club’s top goalscorer with 13 goals and won the 2024 NISA Golden Boot. The Maryland Bobcats finished the regular season with 16 wins, which is the most in club history, crowned 2024 NISA Eastern Conference Regular Season Champions, and look set to do some damage in the NISA playoffs. However, on October 2, the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) deemed the Maryland Bobcats FC ineligible to participate in the 2024 NISA playoffs due to a lack of compliance with the league and USSF despite having the best record in the league. At the time, the club issued a statement on social media responding to their exclusion from the playoffs, stating, “We would love to challenge league officials for the sake of consistency that all standards and expectations that are required of one team is required for all participating teams.” The club also called on the league to be transparent. This decision by the NISA league caused a lot of backlash from fans on social media, especially when the Bobcats had a legitimate shot at winning a NISA championship. I even shared my thoughts on the Bobcats situation a few months ago on BT90. The Bobcats final match of the year was a 3-1 victory against Bridge Sports Soccer Club in a friendly.
Offseason Updates
It’s been two months since the Maryland Bobcats FC’s season ended. The club hasn’t announced its plans for the 2025 season or any roster movements. I know there has been much speculation on social media that people are expecting the Bobcats to leave NISA and go to a regional league and eventually move to USL League One, but neither NISA nor the club has announced its plans for 2025. In a recent interview on BT90 in October, Kartik and Calum asked NISA Commissioner John Prutch what happened to exclude the Maryland Bobcats from the NISA playoffs in part 1 of their interview series. Commissioner Prutch stated that the Bobcats have not paid their league dues for two years, did not put in a performance bond, and tried to work with the club during the season to comply, but they refused and also stated that this violates U.S. Soccer rules. Bobcats Club President and CEO Jide Saba and General Manager Mohamed Gueye did an interview on Ron Rowe FC to share their thoughts on the 2024 season. They also expressed their thoughts on the league’s decision to exclude the Bobcats from the 2024 NISA playoffs despite being the top team in the East and wanting answers from the league. As I mentioned, those interviews were from two months ago, and I haven’t heard much since then. It’s hard for me to see a path forward between the Bobcats and the league at the moment regarding 2025, and the Bobcats have removed all mentions of NISA from their bio page and respective social media pages. If this ends up being the final season in NISA for the Bobcats, they will join a list of former NISA clubs who left the league with impressive unbeaten streaks.
I’ll keep you posted if any more news develops regarding the Maryland Bobcats during the offseason. What are your thoughts on Maryland Bobcats FC’s 2024 season in NISA? Let me know in the comments section below. Next week I’ll recap the Michigan Stars FC’s 2024 season in NISA.
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