The long national nightmare is over- the 2015 USL schedule is finally out. We gave the USL a lot of crap on Twitter last week, and rightfully so for putting out a late schedule yet again, but man… golf clap to the schedule makers. I love this schedule. The USL has long struggled with the layout of the season. Over the years we’ve seen a lot of midweek games, and the dreaded double header weekend. It sucked for us fans, and really sucked for the players. It looks like with the league expanding the USL decided to, or was finally able to, turn the corner because there is next to none of those issues this year. The Hounds only have two weekday games, not counting the Open Cup, and there are ZERO two game weekends. The worst stint for the Hounds is early July where there are 3 games in the first two weeks, but compared to previous years that’s not bad at all. Based on what other supporter groups are saying on Twitter it sounds like the other teams also have good schedules. So once again, I tip my hat to the league.
The other thing to note is who we’re playing. At no point during the regular season will the Riverhounds play a Western Conference team. Great for travel costs and great for our bed times. It would’ve been nice to go to Portland or seek revenge against Sacramento, but you kind of need conferences at this level (especially with this many teams), and I’m completely fine with it. That said boy does the Eastern Conference look tough this season. Seasons past you could look at the schedule and go “Ok we should win these matches no problem cause these teams tend to suck.” This season? Maybe Charlotte but that’s about it. The Eastern Conference is full of historic and historically strong teams, and the new guys are shaping up to not be push overs either. It’s going to be a brutal season, and it is imperative for the Hounds to start strong.
Fun aside- The Eastern Conference has 6 teams that have played 10+ seasons. The Western Conference has 2 teams that have played 4+ seasons. A lot of history in the East.
Speaking of starting strong let’s look at the Hounds opening 1/4 of the season. Harrisburg, Rochester, St. Louis, Louisville, Toronto II, NYRB II, Charleston. Two Rivals, two MLS II teams, two strong new comers, and 1 historically strong team. Yikes… Coach Steffens is going to have quite the trial by fire. Like I said, the East is going to be brutal. On the plus side 4 of the first 5 games are at home. Highmark Stadium needs to be a fortress early this season. Get those voices warmed up folks, we got a job to do.
Finally, in the past we would sometimes get long stretches of home or away games. It’s great this year that (other than the first month), things are pretty evenly stretched out. There are two home games a month from May through September, and only two stints where it’s longer than two weeks between a home game. It’s going to be a great summer. We’ll post more details about away trips and watch parties soon.
To warp this up here are five games I’m looking forward to-
Riverhounds vs Harrisburg City Islanders- March 28th
Home opener against a rival? About the best thing we could have hoped for.
Riverhounds vs Louisville City- April 25th
Louisville seems poised to start where Orlando finished. The Coopers also have their shit together which may lead to a nice Ohio River rivalry. I’m looking forward to seeing what both the team and the supporters group can do
Riverhounds vs NYRBII- July 4th
The annual 4th of the July game is always a blast. While some may scoff at an MLS II team, the NYRB NPSL team always played well. It could be a tough match up and revenge for the Open Cup game last year.
Riverhounds @ Toronto II- August 8th
The few of us who made it up to Toronto two seasons ago had a blast watching the Hounds beat their Reserves. Once again the Toronto FC contingent within the Steel Army will be switching allegiance for the day in what should be another really fun away trip.
Riverhounds @ Harrisburg City Islanders- September 19th
We finish the season the way we started, against our rival. If the Hounds still have something to play for at this point the away trip to Harrisburg is going to be crazy.
#UNLEASH
