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USL Cup Playoffs Notes: Indy Undone by Set Pieces

By JOHN ARLIA - john.arlia@uslsoccer.com, 10/22/18, 12:29PM EDT

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Hounds fall in penalty shootout, Battery struggle to solve Red Bulls II


Indy Eleven's inaugural USL season came to an end with a 4-1 defeat to Louisville City FC on Saturday at Slugger Field. | Photo courtesy Matt Schlotzhauer / Louisville City FC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Indy Eleven’s inaugural USL campaign came to an end in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the 2018 USL Cup Playoffs, as the side suffered a 4-1 road defeat to reigning USL Cup champion Louisville City FC on Saturday night at Slugger Field.

The Eleven started the match brightly – with leading-scorer Jack McInerney forcing a save out of Louisville goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh in the game’s opening 20 seconds – but were ultimately undone by the hosts’ superiority from set pieces.

Niall McCabe converted a pair of training-ground routines on either side of halftime, applying similar first-time finishes to Oscar Jimenez’s low deliveries from a 29th-minute corner kick and a 48th-minute free kick. USL Golden Boot winner Cameron Lancaster compounded Indy’s misfortunes by curling a stunning free kick into the top-left corner with 17 minutes remaining to round out the scoring on a frustrating night for the visitors.

“We lost three goals tonight on set plays, and I think that’s really disappointing because throughout the season we haven’t lost many goals on set plays at all, and we’ve been quite dangerous on set plays,” said Indy Head Coach Martin Rennie.

Ilija Ilic also scored for Louisville, which led 3-0 until the 67th minute when Soony Saad pulled a goal back for the Eleven to give his side a lifeline. At that point, Rennie thought his players showed the hunger and belief to claw back into the contest, but Lancaster’s strike six minutes later killed the game off.

“It’s disappointing for us, our fans,” Rennie said. “I just feel like looking at the season as a whole, there’s lots of things we can say in terms of that it was a late start, it was good to get into the playoffs and things like that. Ultimately, we were below the standard that I would expect, so there’s massive improvement that needs to happen at this club for it to become the force that I believe it can be.”

While Indy will certainly need a few reinforcements to compete with the league’s top teams in 2019, Rennie and the Eleven set the groundwork for success this year despite difficult circumstances. The side didn’t have a single player on its roster that had played in the USL’s Eastern Conference last season but still managed a seventh-place finish in a transition year that started off with a short preseason. 

With the core of his team already in place and a full offseason to look forward to, Rennie believes the Eleven are on the path to becoming one of the USL’s elite.

“Given a little bit of time, this club can absolutely be the best club in the USL, and it can be challenging at the very top,” said Rennie. “We need to build on what we’ve done this season and we need to make it into the best club. Otherwise, all the work we’ve done this season is for nothing.”

PENALTIES CUT SHORT PITTSBURGH’S PLAYOFF RUN: After a tremendous regular-season campaign, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC saw its postseason run end in dramatic fashion as the No. 3 seed fell 8-7 in a penalty shootout to No. 6-seed Bethlehem Steel FC in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the 2018 USL Cup Playoffs, after the two sides had played to a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes on Saturday night at Highmark Stadium.

 

The two teams converted each of their first seven attempts in the shootout and Olivier Mbaizo kept his nerve to score for Bethlehem to open the eighth round, but Hounds defender Ray Lee dragged his shot wide of the left post to send Steel FC into the Eastern Conference Semifinals. 

“I think both teams did a really good job on the penalties,” said Pittsburgh Head Coach Bob Lilley. “Both teams deserve credit for holding their nerve there. Someone was going to miss at some point, and unfortunately it was us.”

Riverhounds SC will be disappointed to have let the match get that far after taking the lead in regulation through Ben Zemanski and again in extra time through defender Hugh Roberts. But, Bethlehem showed its resilience against the USL’s best defense – which conceded just 26 goals in the regular season – as Michee Ngalina scored with 20 minutes remaining in regulation to force extra time and James Chambers cancelled out Roberts’ 105th-minute header just four minutes later with a spectacular free kick to send the match to a shootout.

After the game, Roberts said that Pittsburgh resorted to its usual tactics to try to hold onto its wining positions but just couldn’t keep out the Steel FC fightback.

“We went to five in the back,” said Roberts. “Usually when we have a lead, we go to five in the back. We played five in the back all year, so we were feeling very confident.” 

While falling short in front of a club-record crowd of 5,139 fans will be a disappointing pill to swallow, Roberts was proud of the progress the club made in his first season at Highmark Stadium after finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference last year.

“We’ve made tremendous strides,” said Roberts. “To even lock up a home field advantage, to be top three to where this team has been over the years, it’s been tremendous for us, for this crowd, this atmosphere and for everybody.”

DÉJÀ VU STRIKES CHARLESTON: For the second year in a row, the Charleston Battery saw their season end in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals with a home defeat to the New York Red Bulls II, as the side dropped a 1-0 decision on Saturday at MUSC Health Stadium. 

 

After falling to New York 4-0 in the 2017 USL Cup Playoffs, Charleston sought revenge in its 2018 postseason opener and the No. 4 seed played on the front foot as it looked to keep the high-scoring Red Bulls II on their heels. The home side attempted 13 shots and hit the target four times – both more than the visitors – but Tom Barlow’s 21st-minute strike was enough to push No. 5-seed New York through to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the second straight year.

“I thought we played well,” Charleston Head Coach Mike Anhaeuser said after the match. “We did everything we needed to do to win, but they buried their chance and we didn’t. We had plenty of chances, but unfortunately we couldn’t score tonight. You almost feel worse, losing 1-0 and having so many chances.”

Anhaeuser admitted that the Red Bulls II proved to be a difficult side to play against as their high press and devastating counterattacks caused the Battery’s top-five defense problems throughout the evening. In fact, the scoreline could have been worse for the hosts if not for the frame of Joe Kuzminsky’s goal, which denied New York forward Jared Stroud on two separate occasions.

While the disappointment of another playoff defeat may linger, Anhaeuser believes his side has plenty to be proud of after maintaining its record of making the USL Cup Playoffs in every season of the USL’s modern era.

“To finish in the top four in our conference is a big achievement,” said Anhaeuser. “It took our whole squad. From top to bottom, from the guys who played 100 minutes to the guys who played 2,000 minutes, everyone did a great job this season. It always stinks to lose, but you have to take the positives out of it. Unfortunately, now we have to make things better for next year because the goal is to win it.”

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