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Eastern Conf. Notebook – Nissan Return Spotlights NSC's Improvement

By CHRIS HOCKMAN - chris.hockman@uslsoccer.com, 07/09/18, 10:45AM EDT

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Business as usual despite changes for Louisville; Dramatic finish leaves NCFC scratching heads


Photo courtesy JFW3.com / Nashville SC

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Playing its second match of the season at its second home, Nissan Stadium, Nashville SC showed how far it has come since its inaugural home opener at the venue in March while holding Eastern Conference-leader FC Cincinnati to a 0-0 draw before a crowd of 18,228 fans on Saturday night. While only managing a scoreless draw, the same result as in its first outing at the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, the team increased its share of possession from 51.1 percent to 59 percent as it controlled the tempo and recorded a 20-12 shot advantage against one of the best attacking sides in the league.

“If I look at the body of work that’s been achieved from our last fixture here against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, I’m absolutely delighted. I thought we played some excellent soccer,” said Nashville SC Head Coach Gary Smith. “And controlled possession for good portions of the game. I thought against one of the top sides if not the top side, and certainly number one in the league at the moment. We showed some wonderful qualities with and without the ball.”

Nashville’s control in the opening half forced tactical changes for Cincinnati, which switched to a wider attacking approach in the second half to try and find space. What was somewhat surprising was there wasn’t a corresponding switch from Nashville to try and exploit the space that had come open in the middle of the field, but with the hosts employing Alan Winn predominantly as a left-winger to provide width the goal to provide service to Brandon Allen and secondary striker Lebo Moloto remained much the same, by design.

“It depends on how you look at it and how your tactics are. Ours is if a team does something new we stick to our same job, the same goal,” said Winn. “It doesn’t matter if they change it to a diamond or they don’t, we know what we do and how to do it.” 

With the added familiarity the side now has, it also meant the hosts were able to put on a much more consistent attacking performance for the 18,228 fans on hand, compared to the previous visit to Nissan Stadium that had resulted in only six shots total against the stingy Riverhounds SC defense. And while the side was unable to provide the attacking fireworks that have marked its games at First Tennessee Park, the team was still able to entertain an energetic crowd.

“It was a good show for the crowd. I think from the last time at Nissan we had a better attacking style than we had then,” said Nashville SC goalkeeper Matt Pickens. “We’ve been going to every game every week as a team. There’s more to come from this group and I think this is the beginning stages of this club. We headed in the right direction and hope to continue that down the road.”

CHAMPIONS BEGIN NEW ERA SUCCESSFULLY: After an emotional farewell to Head Coach James O’Connor, Louisville City FC’s second era picked up exactly in the manner its now-former coach would have expected it to with a 2-1 win on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rowdies that served as the club’s first league win since May 26th and moved it back into third place in the Eastern Conference.

And while there might have been concerns that the events of recent weeks might have an effect on the defending USL Cup champion, there was little that appeared to have changed for City FC after its change on the sideline.

“It feels good. It feels really good, not just for me but for all the guys in the locker room,” said Player-Interim Coach Luke Spencer. “One thing that I don’t want this to become is me on the sideline and me coaching because it’s 20 guys on the team that left it all out there, they leave it all out there in training, and that’s where the result comes from.”

It was a big change this week for Louisville, with Spencer, George Davis IV, and Paolo DelPiccolo being pushed into coaching roles in addition to their playing duties. That transition has gone smoothly for the trio with the team instantly getting behind the coaches in the unique set up, while both DelPiccolo as a starter and Davis as a second-half substitute saw action on Saturday night in their playing roles.

“It’s something special. Honestly, when you think about this, it’s never been done. You have three players that transition into [also] being coaches. You have 17 players that immediately buy into that transition,” said Spencer. “There’s a lot of trust between us three. We all value each other’s input, so it definitely helped me on the sideline having George [Davis IV] there with me and giving me his input and being able to watch for different things in the game and having Paolo [DelPiccolo] in the game, holding players accountable the entire game.”

A stunning free kick from forward Cameron Lancaster gave his side the win, with his ninth goal of the season both pulling him level with five other players in the lead for the USL Golden Boot and drawing him level with Matt Fondy for the club’s goal-scoring record. The English stalwart was certainly pleased to be in the same picture as the holder of the USL’s single-season goal-scoring record.

“I didn’t quite do it in the same time-frame as Fondy did, but I’ll take it,” said Lancaster. “It’s a pretty basic place to go. I saw where the wall was lined up and I always back myself to get it over the wall and on frame and thankfully, I did this time.”

FRANTIC FINISH FALLS SHORT FOR NCFC: With the final whistle approaching and scores level, North Carolina FC managed to get seven players in or around the box as it charged for a stoppage-time winner against Southern Derby rival the Charleston Battery at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. But as the hosts seemed certain to score, a clearance off the line and hit right post contributed to all four chances at goal coming up short as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

“[I was thinking] will someone just put it in the back of the net, please? Something like that,” said NCFC Head Coach Colin Clarke. “It was tough to watch. It was 30 seconds of madness, and nobody could get a handle on it. It looked like a puck in ice hockey, jumping around in front of the goal.”

The ending was just one part of a match that left Clarke frustrated as his side finished with 63.7 percent possession and 15 shots only to miss out on what would have been an important victory in the effort to get back into the playoff picture. Of those 15 shots, only four ended on target, with Battery goalkeeper Joe Kuzminsky finishing the night with two saves to help the visitors claim a point.

“I felt we had a lot of good possession, and we didn’t make their ‘keeper work enough,” said Clarke. “Felt a bad mistake [on Charleston’s goal] let us down at the back, and then we came back and got a point out of it – could have been three.”

After suffering an elongated defeat in midweek against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC that ended after midnight due to lightning delays, Saturday night offered a chance at a rebound performance on home turf. With that failing to materialize, the road to the playoffs continues to be a hard one with the side sitting six points out of the USL Cup Playoffs places and plenty of work to do.

“We now come into a stretch where it’s a game every weekend, and that’s an important stretch,’ said Clarke. “We need points in that stretch and they’re at home. Right now, we’re not where we want to be, but trending in the right direction, I feel.”

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