The Hounds traveled to “THE” rival FC Cincinnati but came home empty; falling 1-0 to the home team. I mentioned on Twitter that if this was another year under different circumstances this wouldn’t have been too bad of a loss. It was another match where the Hounds seemed to play pretty well for stretches, but it’s 2016 and here we are. The Hounds are once again winless in their first seven, the third time in four years.
Coach Steffens talked about making some changes after the loss to Red Bulls II, and the most obvious one for this match was Mauricio Vargas getting his first professional start in net. Vargas was a little shaky at first. In one particular moment he came out to the edge of the box but wasn’t able to control the ball. The Cincy player had a shot at a nearly open net, but the Hounds defenders were able to get in his way. After that Vargas seemed to settle in and put on a very impressive showing for the rest of the match. The main knock against him was his rebound control. There were a few times where the ball bounced dangerously off of him. The lone Cincy goal was off of a rebound, though there wasn’t really any way for him to scoop up that one. Time will tell if his rebound issues are just first game nerves or the negative side of him that may have kept him on the bench early on. It took Brown a couple games last season to settle in. I suspect it’ll be the same here. All in all a strong first showing from Vargas.
Another player that stood out on Saturday, before he took a ball to the face anyways, was Marshall Hollingsworth. The Columbus Crew loan had a strong performance on the back line for the first twenty minutes or so. Cincy was really attacking the Hounds left side but Hollingsworth stood strong. He was able to recover from the quick counters and get himself into a position to disrupt several crosses. Unfortunately at one point a hard cross caught him in the chin. He eventually had to come out with what I imagine is concussion symptoms. Pittsburgh sports fans have seen the gamut of how long concussions can take to recover from. Hopefully he’s not out too long.
The Hounds offense sizzled out once again. While it did seem like they had more opportunities in the offensive half this game, they weren’t really able to do anything with them. Kevin Kerr tried his best to carry the team on his shoulders as he zigged and zagged through the midfield, but he can’t do it all. The Hounds were sorely missing a big target in the box, especially on quite a few free kicks that just sailed over everyone’s head. One of the more curious aspects of the match was Corey Hertzog taking a lot of throw ins. Apparently he’s a long throw in specialist, which is all well and good from time to time, but taking one of your strikers out of a scoring position seems like an odd call for a team struggling lately.
Personally I didn’t think getting a win in Cincy was in the cards this week, but with all away games you hope for at least a point. Sadly we got neither. I mentioned before that the Hounds have made a habit of winless starts lately. I decided to look at their first seven games for the last eight seasons to see just how far back it goes.
Year: W-L-D (Pts)
2016: 0-4-3 (3)
2015: 2-3-2 (8)
2014: 0-4-3 (3)
2013: 0-4-3 (3)
2012: 2-5-0 (6)
2011: 2-3-2 (8)
2010: 1-3-3 (6)
2009: 2-3-2 (8)
Well, at least we’re consistent.
Things aren’t looking to great these days, but maybe beating up on some amateur players in the U.S. Open Cup will inject some cheer into our hearts. The Hounds take on Lansdowne Bhoys FC this Wednesday night at 7:00 pm. I know that conflicts with the Pens playoff game but I hope to see some of you at Highmark. The Hounds return home for regular season action on Saturday against Toronto FC II.
#UNLEASH
