Kings of the North

cones

The Hounds went to Rochester and came back with the rare win. To be fair the Hounds were more or less filling in for the Rhinos, but we’ll take any victories up there when we can. The boys were a little sloppier than their last outing against Atlanta 2. Toronto had quite a few dangerous looks in the second half, and eventually got a late goal. Fortunately Toronto is tteerrriibbbllleee and couldn’t do anything about the Hounds two goal lead for most of the game. Despite having a consistent starting 11 for once, Toronto’s defense was particularly bad this week. They looked like a bunch of cones out there and were about as effective. Perhaps they got a little rattled from playing I front of a dozen more people than they’re used to at home. The Hounds attack really had their way with them and we’re unfortunate to not run up the score again. This very easily could have had a similar score to the match last month. It’s a little concerning that now two games in a row the Hounds seemed to really fall off in the final ten minutes. They’ve been dangerously flirting with giving up a late game equalizer that thankfully hasn’t bit them in the ass yet. In the end though the Hounds survived the fury and two was all that was needed to keep this undefeated hype train going.

Another day, another Lilley coached win. The Hounds continue to be a model of efficiency. They got their goals early and (mostly) shut things down until the final whistle. It’s the Lilley way. We leave the weekend as the sole remaining undefeated team in the league, and also have the fewest goals against. E-friggin-fficient. Some would argue the Hounds success is because they’ve opened with an easy schedule. And you know what? Yes, we have been beating up on the bottom of the table. More importantly though we haven’t stumbled against them. If you’re going to be a championship team you can’t drop points to bottom feeders. It also gives you a small buffer in case you do stumble against top teams. So yes our schedule has been easier than others, but the Hounds have been doing their jobs admirably. We’ve witnessed what is probably the best opening to the season in club history. Now we’re getting into the part of the schedule where the new Hounds really need to prove their mettle. The boys will get their first big test of the season this Friday when Indy Eleven comes to town.

Notes:

Brett continues to be a gem.

The first goal was another 2018 Riverhounds special. Quite a few goals this season have been a result of taking it to the end line inside the 18 and passing back to the PK spot.

In support of the last point, all 10 goals scored this season are from inside the box.

I don’t think the attendance at these Rochester matches are going to put much confidence in the local investors.

After the Hounds second goal there was a weird scrimmage feel to the game.

Speaking of efficient, how about those ball boys?

I think this was the first time this year we really dominated possession.

If you still don’t have tickets for Friday, today is the last day you can get in on the Night Out package.

#UNLEASH