Joe Public 2-1 New England

Tauro 2-0 Chivas USA

Montreal Impact 1-0 Real Estell

Alajuelense 1-1 Puerto Rico

No, those score are not some kind of joke. After the first leg of the preliminary round of the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, two USL 1 clubs got big results while their MLS older brothers just flat out stunk.

I'm a big fan of this tournament and completely elated The Confederation of North America, Central America and Caribbean Football finally evolved out of the international club soccer Dark Ages and finally created a tournament modeled about the popular and successful UEFA Champions League. What's even better is that the tournament is actually getting coverage on Fox Soccer Channel.

So last Tuesday I tuned in to see the MLS clubs in action. I'll admit I flipped back and forth between Law & Order re-runs, but I watched nonetheless. Clearly New England was the favorite over Trinidad's Joe Public, but the home-field advantage favored the underdogs. Gregory Richardson and Jamal Gay both scored second half goals for their side which proved fatal for the Revs. The return leg will be at Gillette Stadium on September 2, but the pressure is on for Steve Nicol's club.

Chivas USA continued MLS's curse of poor results away from Estados Unidos in international competition losing to Panama's Tauro without even scoring a goal. Edwin Aguilar scored not once, but twice on Preki's side. The Goats must scored three goals in the return leg and not concede one.

Okay, so the MLS clubs played poorly on the road- no big surprise there. The real surprise was Wednesday night at I watched the USL 1 clubs rise to the occasion under extreme pressure and harsh circumstances.

The Montral Impact got to play at home but they still shut out Nicaraguan champions Real Estell 1-0. The goal wasn't pretty as Impact midfielder Joey Gjertsen capitalized on a poorly cleared ball by the Real Estell defense and fired a volley from 18 yards out that Real Estell goalkeeper to his right. The return leg will be played in Honduras' Carlos Miranda Stadium because no stadium in Nicaragua met FIFA standards. Awesome.

Puerto Rico is known for Bacardi Rum and baseball players- not futbol. No one and their brother would have picked the PR Islanders to pull an upset over Costa Rica's Alajuelensa. The result wasn't a win, but a 1-1 draw with the CONCACAF Champions Cup winners just four years ago was good enough.

As I watched the Impact and Islanders played, I couldn't help but think: "Man, this is some good soccer!" USL clubs have a solid history of upsets over MLS clubs in the U.S. Open Cup, so why should this be any different right? Perhaps the gap between the two leagues is narrowing and a relegation type system might be closer than we realize. Now that I have the wonder that is Fox Soccer Channel, I've become more exposed to USL soccer and I think the ugly-headed step child of MLS is closer in talent that it realizes.