For the first time in a while the Hounds were on the right side of a late goal, snagging a point on the road. For a team only playing their second match of the season the Hounds looked strong pretty much the entire match. If they would’ve came away from that effort with nothing it would’ve been extremely disappointing.

It was another game of two halves for the Hounds. In the first half it looked like they were trying to get a quick goal more so than controlling play. There were a lot of through balls on the ground and in the air, and they actually got quite a few chances from it. The midfield threaded the needle though Toronto’s high line to connect with Parkes and Hertzog on runs. Probably half the time they were just offsides, but the other times the forwards were just a slight touch off from putting it in the back of the net. If Parkes and Hertzog sure up their finishing as the season progresses they’re going to be even more dangerous than they already are.

It wasn’t all erroneous finishing on the Hounds part. Kudos has to be given to Toronto’s keeper playing an aggressive game. He charged the top of the 18 quite a bit, cutting down the angle and stopping chances. That style doesn’t always work in your favor, and Toronto is probably going to lose games because of it here and there, but it worked here.

Parkes really rebounded from the opener. He stepped up as the focal point of the offense, and had a lot of great opportunities with his deft moves. His give and go to Hollingsworth on the first goal made Toronto look like practice cones.

While the first half had some good runs, they were kind of flashes in the pan. The Hounds seemed to have a little bit of difficulty sustaining pressure. It wasn’t until the second half that they really started to control play and looked more consistently dangerous. It’s yet to be seen if the different style halves is intentional or some early season wrinkles to work out.

Mike Green probably had it the roughest on Sunday as he was involved with both goals against. The first Toronto goal had the set piece monster rear its head again, and had a here we go again feel. Green let his mark get a little in front of him and that’s all it took to head it home. On the second goal, a penalty kick, was the result of Green’s foul in the box. To be fair to Green I thought it was a soft call. There was some arm wrestling, but nothing crazy. Toronto’s guy was looking for it. If I didn’t know any better you’d think Green took a baseball bat to him.

All in all none of the Hounds looked particularly bad. It was a solid day at the office in this young season. Even if they weren’t able to get that late goal I was coming away from this match pretty optimistic in the team (especially after the opener). Toronto II aren’t pushovers this year. This past weekend was a good early test of the team’s resolve. Now they get to take the positive result and stomp on lowly Orlando City B this Friday at Highmark Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:00 pm. Tailgate starts at 4-5ish. Leave work a little early, it’s a pizza party tailgate.

#UNLEASH

Photo from Toronto FC II