Atlanta Ruckus: The Ruckus will play the U.S. U-23 Olympic team May 27 at Adams Stadium…. Jamaican under-23 standout Fabian Davis has signed and will be on the field for Atlanta’s season opener May 17. Davis is currently in Canada with the Jamaican team for CONCACAF qualifying for the 1996 Olympics. He’s a top playmaker with great speed and skill…. Negotiations are ongoing between the Ruckus and Mexican super-agent Guillermo Lara to secure a top level player from Mexico. Lara negotiated the Jorge Campos deal with Major League Soccer.
Colorado Foxes: The Foxes played the L.A. Galaxy of Major League Soccer on May 9 at the Rose Bowl in a preseason scrimmage. Former Atlanta coach Lothar Osiander, now with the Galaxy, and Colorado coach Lorne Donaldson set up the friendly exhibition. A day earlier, the Foxes played Cal Irvine in its last preseason scrimmage…. Colorado is now training for its season opener on AstroTurf to prepare for its May 11 game in Seattle…. Colorado has moved its operations to Mile High Greyhound Park, the site of its new multi-million dollar facility.
Montreal Impact: The Impact returned from New England, where it played two preseason matches. Montreal played to a 1-1 tie against the University of Massachusetts in rainy conditions May 3 and then defeated the USISL’s New Hampshire Phantoms 6-1 May 5. Lloyd Barker scored twice against the Phantoms…. The Impact plays a scrimmage Wednesday, May 8, against St. Catherine of Roma, the CNSL semipro champion, in Montreal…. Montreal announced the signing of goalkeeper coach Daniel Courtois and two rookie keepers, Hubert Busby and Ricky Tangredi. Busby last played for Telstar in the Netherlands and Tangredi for Hermes in Montreal…. The Impact has its official team presentation on May 10 in downtown Montreal and its first game on May 24.
New York Fever: In preparation for its season opener on Friday, May 10, in Rochester, the Fever is training at Team USA in Port Jervis, N.Y., for the next few days. The team will leave directly from Port Jervis to travel to play the expansion Rochester squad. The game will be televised live on Prime, the first of 22 live Friday night games.
Rochester Rhinos: The Rhinos’ latest signee, Hector Marinaro, has been a gold mine for the NPSL’s Cleveland Crunch, and the new A-League expansion club hopes to share the wealth with the acquisition of the goalscoring forward. Marinaro, who continued to rewrite the NPSL offensive record book in leading the Crunch to the championship, has been voted co-MVP for the 1995-96 season. Marinaro shares the honor with Milwaukee goalkeeper Victor Nogueira. Marinaro, 31, won the award in 1992-93 and 1994-95. He led the league in scoring for the third time in the last four seasons despite missing seven games due to injuries. In the playoffs, Marinaro scored an all-time NPSL single-season playoff record 101 points in 13 games to lead Cleveland to its second championship in three years…. Cleveland teammate Zoran Karic, who will join Marinaro in Rochester this summer, finished third in MVP voting . Karic won the award in 1993-94. Both Marinaro and Karic were selected to the 1995-96 all-NPSL first team as well…. Also signed with the Rhinos, Danny Kelly earned second-team honors playing with the Harrisburg Heat…. The Rhinos finished their preseason play at 3-0. On May 3, the Rhinos beat the Portuguese All-Stars in Toronto 1-0. Forward Gustavo Romanello got the lone goal. On May 5, the expansion club beat the University of Waterloo-Ontario 6-0. Romanello scored twice before the starters were pulled leading 5-0 at halftime…. Rochester has sold more than 3,000 tickets for its home opener May 10 against the Fever. The Rhinos will play their first few games at Fauver Stadium on the University of Rochester campus.
Seattle Sounders: The Sounders are excited about the head-of-time return of defender Wade Webber, who is coming off reconstructive knee surgery…. Midfielder Sidney Zanin, a tryout player, is vying for a starting position. Zanin, 32, is originally from Brazil, where he played as a teenager before moving to New York. In the mid-1980s, Zanin played for various club teams in the New York City area before moving to Seattle. He tried out for the Sounders at an open trial session this spring and is now a possible starter for the defending champions…. Midfielder Jason Farrell has returned from the NPSL runner-up Kansas City Attack.
Vancouver 86ers: The 86ers are headed to Kelowna, B.C., Wednesday, May 8, for a press conference to prepare for their June 2 match against Colorado in Kelowna…. Vancouver has a long break through May while several of its players will be playing for the Canadian Olympic team for qualifying matches held in Edmonton…. Forward Garret Kusch scored the tying goal in a 2-1 victory over the U.S. U-23 team in Calgary May 4.