A more appropriate title for my laissez-faire posting habit.
The second half of the Hounds season started the same way the first half ended (and generally went), with a disappointing loss at home. I think it’s safe to say the embarrassing 3-1 loss to Richmond on June 22nd was the lowest point for the team and for the Steel Army this season. Being down by two goals early after two disappointing results to Harrisburg lead to a dead atmosphere on and off the field. We bounced back a little the next game against Dayton, but even though the Hounds played pretty well again they found themselves on the wrong end of the score line after 90 minutes.
The Hounds traveled to Dayton and again found themselves down early. It looked like we were in for another disappointment. Then something happened. Things finally started to click into place. The team dug deep and bounced back in the second half to pick up their second win of the season. A mere two days later they played a solid game against Rochester and came out on top 2-0. First home win of the season. Third win of the year. A streak is born.
Fun fact: Rochester has only given up more than one goal in three games this season. Once against Orlando (Rochester’s first game of the season), and now twice against the Riverhounds.
HOLY CRAP WE’RE BACK IN IT! I guess that old adage “It’s darkest before the dawn” is true. Amazingly after such a bad first half of the season the team is back in the playoff hunt, and more importantly no longer dead last. The supporters section found its energy and was rocking all game. Even if the season doesn’t end up going anywhere, at least for one week in July everything was awesome.
The Hounds travel to Oklahoma City to take on expansion side Energy this weekend. The Energy currently occupy the last playoff spot but they haven’t been particularly good at home in their inaugural year going 2-4-1 | GF: 5 | GA: 9. Surprisingly the Hounds have been relatively decent on the road (for bottom half teams anyways). 2-3-3 | GF: 10 | GA: 15. It’s not crazy to think they can come away with a win. Though to be fair I’ve had this line of thought a couple times this year and look at where we are. At any rate if the Hounds do come away with a victory they’ll find themselves right on the playoff bubble.
It’s kind of crazy how much parity there is in the USL this season outside of the top 4 teams. Only 11 points separate 5th place from 14th. No team in the bottom half of the league is separated from the team above it by more than 2 points, and 14th place Arizona United is only 5 points out of the playoffs. Orlando is running away with it, which isn’t much of a surprise all things considered. But with just under half a season to go, and with most of the teams being so close, it’s still anyone’s game to make the playoffs. Then who knows what will happen.
Quick note on the Hounds bankruptcy case. I saw that they had their reorganization plan due date extended to October 22nd. Looks like it’ll be a while before we hear anything. No news is good news I guess, and at least they’re still operating.
#UNLEASH
