Things can only get better for the San Diego Flash.
The National Premier Soccer League club is off to a fast start to the 2011 season. The team is undefeated after six games. It has turned heads only in its first year in the league after not competing in official matches in competitive leagues for almost a decade.
The Flash could begin to make more noise nationally after their match Sunday against the Sacramento Gold at Westview High School.
The match is set to be televised by Fox Soccer Channel and it's to be made available nationally through the network. The network typically broadcasts several live international matches played by elite clubs worldwide, such as from the UEFA Champions League and Spanish First Division.
There is interest in the Flash (6-0) for their fast start and their eligibility to qualify for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The NPSL club from the Western Division with the best record through seven games earns a slot in the national tournament open to professional and amateur level teams.
The Flash sit atop of the Open Cup qualifying standings while Hollywood United is in second, with a 6-1-0 record, their loss coming against the Flash during the second week of the season in a 3-1 outing.
Through their seven matches, Hollywood United sits with 18 points and now must hope for a loss by the Flash to advance via goal differential tiebreaker (United + 26 vs. Flash + 14).
Sunday's match is also a battle for the Flash as they take on the NPSL defending champions.
Sacramento is coming off a bye week. Before that, Sacramento routed Real San Jose 4-0 on April 30.
The Flash also routed San Jose 5-0 last week to finish a road trip to the Bay Area. Sacramento is the first match of a two-game home stand for the Flash before entering its bye week. The Flash has not allowed a goal in its last three games while outscoring the opposition 17-3 in its six games.
The goal is to finish the next three weeks unbeaten before entering the last seven regular season matches.
Flash CEO Clent Alexander didn't hesitate to speak about the importance of Sunday's match in a club statement.
"This is a huge opportunity for our club, the Sacramento Gold and the National Premier Soccer League to be in front of tens of millions of soccer fans around the world," Alexander said. "Through the hard work of everyone in our organization and the support of our investors we find ourselves in this unique position. I believe we will represent San Diego and the NPSL well. We thank FSC for their interest in covering this match."
ivan.orozco@sandiegored.com
