The weekend off didn’t help the Legion any; the Jägermeister Cup run comes to an early end with a less than scintillating performance in Rhode Island. Everything looked good for 15 minutes; then Tyler Pasher got hurt and the team’s energy just got sapped. The game also ended with two red cards for the Three Sparks – one to Edwin Laszo for an absolutely necessary foul and the other to Mark Briggs for absolutely necessary foul language. Neither card will result in suspensions for this weekend’s game but will apply to the first game of next year’s Cup.
The most important part
So the Three Sparks now have to focus on league play. The team has 10 games remaining. Of those, 3 are against Western Conference teams and all of those are on the road. And the opposition will hardly be easy: Orange County SC, FC Tulsa and San Antonio FC. The first two are coming up over the next two weeks and play each other this weekend (see below).
Four of the seven Eastern Conference games are at home (for what that’s worth): tomorrow against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, North Carolina FC and The™ Miami FC. Away games are Indy Eleven, Loudoun United and the Charleston Battery. All of them should be considered must-win games and all should also be considered winnable. And that includes the Battery game, which is the regular season closer; the Battery may have nothing to play for at that point.
That being said, a home playoff game is a remote possibility at this point. Just making it back to the playoffs has to be the minimum goal.
And that starts tomorrow (7:00pm, ESPN Select). It also means the players need to get seriously motivated, which with one notable exception they seem to have largely failed to do. Mark Briggs constantly talks about the mindset and the team just doesn’t look to have got on board with that. Most of them have got to understand that their jobs are on the line now and they need to do whatever they can to impress over the final stretch. It’s wake-up time, basically.
It;’s been quite a while since the first game back in March with Pittsburgh, which ended in a 2-0 home victory. The Riverhounds have been their usual boring but reliable selves since then. The record is 7-7-6 and they have scored just 19 goals and allowed just 18, 1 off the lowest in both cases (the lowest scoring team is Las Vegas Lights so take that as you will). The away record is rather dismal though: 1-5-3, the only road win a predictable 1-0 affair over Rhode Island in May. They do tend to feed off the energy at Highmark Stadium (which is about to get a major upgrade). So that’s in the Legion’s favor at least.
The Tyler Pasher injury, which looked like a hamstring, is a major blow, of course. The weight is now on other players and the one I think most likely to pick it up is Sebastian Tregarthen, the exception I already referred to. He has been a breath of fresh air and was a big win for the team. Sam Shashoua on the left wing should also provide some energy. We shall see.
No interviews to report this time; today’s practice was not opened to the media.
Prediction: As much as I want to call a Legion win, it’s going to be a tough call, as is every other game yet this season. If the Three Sparks come as they Wednesday evening it’s definitely on the cards but they need to keep the pace up all 90 minutes. They have mostly not done that this year. The abominable Riverhounds are bad on the road, however; call it a draw.
Best of the rest
All 24 teams are playing this weekend, all Saturday evening. Also of note: ESPN+ came to an end yesterday and was replaced with ESPN Select. If you already had a plan with ESPN+ it automatically transferred so you haven’t lost access. It appears that all content is now simply in the regular ESPN listings rather than in a separate child site. The ESPN+ moniker will likely remain for a while as people get used to the new name. Here are the key games for tomorrow:
Hartford Athletic v. Rhode Island FC (6:00pm, ESPN Select)
Both teams emerged victorious Wednesday evening, the Athletic more impressively so than Rhody. Both have also beaten the Legion recently. This is a huge edition of El Clamico and will have a major impact on the standings. Hartford should be the favorite here, despite a long trip to San Antonio; they are also 2 points ahead of Rhody with a game in hand.
Detroit City v. Tampa Bay Rowdies (6:00pm, ESPN Select)
Detroit is 6th but fading; Tampa Bay is last but improving. The Rowdies are also just a point behind the Legion with a game in hand. A draw here would be the best overall outcome. A Tampa win would not be too bad either as the Rowdies still have to come here next month (all 3 games against the 2 teams were draws). It should be a fairly close game; keep an eye on it.
Indy Eleven v. The Miami FC (6:00pm, ESPN Select)
Both teams are a point above the Legion (Indy has a game in hand but is on the schedule still). So a draw would be ideal. That seems a fairly likely outcome: these 2 have 1 win between them in the last 5 league games and Indy just lost to League One’s Greenville Triumph (albeit on penalties). Miami just sent keeper Bill Hamid to Tampa Bay in a straight swap for Nico Campisi, adding a new wrinkle to the game.
FC Tulsa v. Orange County SC (7:30pm, ESPN Select)
This one matches up two Western Conference teams very much on the upswing. Tulsa is enjoying unusual heights: the team has never finished higher than 7th in its history. OC is also climbing up the standings, in 5th with the home playoff spots well within reach. This could be the game of the week and very much worth checking out after you get home from Protective Stadium.
