It’s a bummer that Louisville City’s unbeaten streak came to an end. Allowing four goals against LA Galaxy 2 was very uncharacteristic for the squad, even one that was run down by fixture congestion and featured a heavily rotated lineup. Thankfully, the boys in purple will have a full week to recover and learn from the mistakes in LA before their next match. LouCity’s next opponent is an unfamiliar Monterey Bay FC who only joined the league this year.
Who is Monterey Bay? Well, currently they are a team struggling to find results. Normally, this is the part where I’d list out how they stack up in the league on various statistical measures. However, I’ll let the below visuals do most of the talking. They only have six points and a league-worst goal differential of -16. They are bottom of the West and FiveThirtyEight is giving them a 46% chance to stay there. They are comparable to NY Red Bulls 2 or Charleston Battery. Simply put, they are not good.
Not many standouts on the roster from a statistical perspective. Chase Boone leads the team with three goals, with USL veteran Hugh Roberts behind him with two. The Canadian Morey Doner has featured in all nine matches and has two assists to his name. And finally, there is Robbie Crawford who has seen limited minutes but is already tied for first on the team with two assists. It’s not unusual for new teams to struggle and as the season goes on, a few players will rise to the top, however, this is the best they currently offer.
You couldn’t ask for a better rebound match than this one. A new, struggling team heading to Lynn Family Stadium against an upset LouCity coming off their first loss. Most of the regular starters for City should be available for this one (minus Paolo DelPiccolo for yellow card accumulation). It has all the making of a beat down. FiveThirtyEight agrees. Morados has a 72% chance to win and a 19% the match ends in a draw. While there are many reasons to be optimistic, the team will need to focus and ensure the counter-attacking that got them beat in LA doesn’t serve as Monterey Bay’s path for their third win of the season.
Parting Thoughts
Be sure to check out my assessment of LouCity's start to the season as well as my feature on Josh Wynder!
Want to do a little more reading on LouCity? I suggest the following:
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