NASHUA – The soccer ball will often take strange and abrupt bounces.

It goes that way in the soccer world with amateur and semi-pro teams as well.

Things haven’t been the same since early last July when the International Soccer Club of Nashua Eagles fell in the UPSL New England Conference semifinals at Rivier University’s Joanne Merrill Field. That team now is the Beech Street FC playing out of Manchester after seven years in Nashua, mainly at Rivier.

But one door closes, another one opens. Introducing Black Rock FC, which calls Merrill Field home and plays in the USL2, labeled a “pre professional league.”

One of the people behind all this is Rivier men’s soccer coach Jon Cross, who is an assistant coach with Black Rock and also its Director of Community Engagement.

Here’s the simple version, according to Cross.:

The Eagles didn’t quite have the backing needed to survive in the United Premier Soccer League, so they more or less merged with Beech Street FC. “It just kind of made sense for all sides,” said Cross, who was involved with the ISC team. “Beech Street decided to go into a more official capacity.”

Enter Black Rock. “The UPSL and the USL are very different,” Cross said. “UPSL is an open league, anyone can join it with a fee. USL 2 is a lot different, mostly geared for guys who mostly play Division I, we have a couple of ex pro players … We’ve got a guy from Syracuse, Yale, UMass-Lowell, high level guys everywhere.”

That UML player? Former Nashua South and New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year Santi Somorrostro. There’s your local draw right there.

As Cross will tell it, USL 2 is in the “pyramid” of pro soccer, so it’s called pre professional. And overall Cross maintains the level of soccer is higher than the UPSL. Whether that’s debatable or not, Nashua has a new team. Black Rock,and Cross maintains that most of the players in USL2 have pro aspirations.

“It’s a huge league on the rise,” he said, “and we were really lucky to have a USL 2 team here.” Some teams draw huge crowds, as many as 3,000 for the franchise in Vermont.

Cross recruits for Rivier out of USL2 clubs, and had more or less an open house recruiting event at Merrill Field. One of the Black Rock directors was enamored with the Robinson Pavilion/Merrill Field facility and said it would be an ideal spot for USL2.

The groundwork was laid, and Cross said the relationship was a fit. And in the spring, Black Rock, whose founder and director is Jon Moody, moved from its home of Colby Sawyer College.

“Not a lot of fan base and our field’s a little nicer,” Cross said, “if I’m being honest. We grew into a good relationship, I joined the coaching staff, and work with the community.”

So while in the works for a while, everything came together rather quickly.

The team’s first home game was on May 23 as part of a 14-game schedule. Rain, Cross said, kept the crowd down to about 100. There are six more, all at 7 p.m., beginning with tonight vs. A.C. Connecticut. The others: Tuesday, June 10 vs. Vermont Green; Saturday, June 21 vs. Boston City FC; Saturday June 28 vs. Albany Rush; Monday June 30 vs. Seacoast United Phantoms; and then July 12 vs. Boston Bolts. The home opener was free and there may another free game “so people can get to know us.” But of course the push will be to get youth clubs – including ISC – to be part of the process and come to games, with a lot of free tickets.

Cross admits that trying relate everything to the layman who just wants to watch good soccer can be complicated. What level? Where are they from? How did they get here?

“I’d just say it’s the highest level of soccer that’s been put in this area ever,” Cross said. “Very similar to the Silver Knights, or the Cape League in the summer. There are guys on our team that will eventually go pro. It’s just a matter of how many.

“There are guys who will play on our field (in USL2) that will win a national title for some school somewhere, and eventually will creep into the pro world. It’s the highest level that has touched this area for awhile.”

It’s also a higher streaming level – games are streamed on an NBC sports engine.

The league, Cross says, stresses a lot of attacking and high pace play. “People want to be entertained, guys want to stay fit over the summer that plan to go back to their colleges, so it’s definitely a high level.”

Cross played with the UPSL a few years ago, and he’s 38. Now, that’s at the high end of the age; the Eagles didn’t have anyone over 30. But the oldest Black Rock player is 27 and the average age, Cross said, is 22.

The concept for USL2 is similar to the UPSL. Black Rock is in a regional division but the league itself is nationwide. “It’s a good league,” he said. “You have to have a decent amount of financial backing to be in it, and there are a lot of rules and regulations, you have to have a certain level of fields, it has to be streamed correctly.” And, he added, the head coach needs a certain level of qualifications. Black Rock FC is coached by Jose Coss, who has coached on the international club circuit, is from Puearto Rico, and teaches at the Northwood (N.H.) School.

Moody’s creation started out at the prep school level and then grew into something more, Cross says that the organization is “trying to give back to the Nashua community.” The Club has made its dollars off prep programs, etc. and Cross said that there is clearly an effort to get sponsors.

Rivier men’s soccer coach Jon Cross is a key figure with Black Rock FC. (File photo)

“My goal here, one of the reasons I was talking to Jon, is we want to have filled stadiums at Riv,” Cross said. “This is Nashua’s team, we want the fans to come out and enjoy themselves. I would love to be at capacity here, and really have a great vibe – like the Silver Knights. I really want to have the soccer version of the Silver Knights.”

Why is Cross putting so much effort into it? He wants to help put Nashua soccer on the map; plus one of the things he told the people at Rivier when he was hired over a year ago as the new men’s soccer coach at Riv, he said one of his goals “was to be able to access the community and give back. … This is another way to produce the dream of players going high level in Nashua and giving them an opportunity to play.

“And on a personal level or Riv, so people know where it is and understand it’s a really great facility.”

Cross likes the configuration of the Black Rock squad, a lot of countries are represented, there’s the local flavor of Somorrostro plus another Nashuan named Max Makar.

“We’re in the process of figuring out how all these different types of players can play together,” Cross said. “But once it clicks it will come off really well.”

Cross put together a local tryout, but many of the players are Black Rock’s soccer school alums, “which is pretty cool.”

Keep an eye on players like Sachiel Ming, a Bermudian National Team player. Or Ifu Acharra, formerly of Toronto of the MLS. Or UNH’s Cabot McLaren.

It’s an introductory year for Black Rock FC in Nashua; that’s how Cross is treating it. “We want to get people to know who we are,” he said.

Cross wants to have a broader base as far as the soccer community goes, different organizations, but ISC was their primary youth partner for their home game last month. They also want a corporate sponsor for every game.

In any event, high level spring/summer soccer is still here – as if it had never left. Follow the bounce.