Lou City 2 Loudoun 1 As it Happened
Adrian Perez congratulates Sam Gleadle after he scores Lou City’s 2nd point of the match.
Elizabeth’s Gallery
Here is the link to Elizabeth’s favorite pics with commentary on each.
I love cup competitions. I find it odd that fans seem to deprioritize them in this city. Maybe the fact that the regular season also ends in a knockout competition takes some of the shine off of it. Anyway, the US Open Cup is the oldest soccer competition in America, so that in and of itself commands some respect.
Lou City lined up as:
1-Las; 2-McFadden; 4-Totsch; 5-Ordonez; 7-Serrano; 13-Dia; 16-A.Perez; 17 T. Davila; 23-Gleadle; 31-Lambert and 32-Adams (C)
15th Minute
After the match, I will ask Danny Cruz how Lou City controls a match with such little possession. Be assured that despite the fact that Lou City entered the 16th minute sitting on 26% possession, there were in complete control. The two best chances come on Lou City counters and while the match is rather uneventful, that is about to change.
18th Minute
Jacob Erlandson of Loudoun has a bizarrely terrible touch in his own half and Adrien Perez pounces on it and capitalizes by slotting it into a virtually empty net. Lou City are sitting on 28% possession when the ball hits the back of the net.
28th Minute
Lou City to continue to control the match with very little actual possession and Sam Gleadle buries a neat finish to end a nice build-up. When the ball hits the back of the net, Lou City now has a whopping 29% of the possession.
35th Minute
Lou City are having fun, especially Adrien Perez who does a neat bit of keepy-uppy dribbling to dazzle the fans in attendance.
Halftime
Lou City 2 - 66% Possession 0
I don’t want to say that possession is always a useless stat, but it is one where the statistic is at the mercy of the narrative instead of the other way around. Loudon did virtually nothing with their 66% possession, so that ends up being the story. I use halftime to put on a knit cap and gloves. I am still cold as I write this a couple of hours later.
66th Minute
Virtually nothing of note happens on the pitch, but since Kyle Adams is within about 10 feet of my photographer, she takes about 100 pictures of his throw in. I tell her she needs to chill with the Adams pics. This advice is ignored. Here are few of the 100.
75th Minute
I notice on the digital sign boards that there is an ad that says, “Drink Cornbread”. I can’t figure out what this is an ad for even after doing a web search.
77th Minute
There is a “much ado about nothing” skirmish in the Estopinal End. My photographer manages to catch the tail end of it. She was applying lip gloss instead of paying attention and probably thinking about the opportunity of getting to chat with Adams post-game. (She says it was cold, and it was to prevent chapped lips.) Yanis Leerman gets a “Bone Dry” Yellow Card for his part in the mini melee.
79th Minute
The center referee is starting to lose control of the match. Scouse’s House gives their opinion of his performance. In Cockney Rhyming Slang, they think he is a “Merchant Banker”.
82nd Minute
Gleadle, then Serrano a minute later, go close to making it 3-0 but neither can close the deal.
90th Minute
Loudoun score through Aboukoura when Totsch tries to chest down a ball in the box and Lou City can’t properly clear their lines. Loudoun don’t get close to scoring again, but Serrano does, hitting the post with the last meaningful kick of the match. He lays on the floor for about 30 seconds contemplating what he did to the soccer gods to not score on the evening.
Full Time
Lou City 2 - DC Suburb 1
Danny Cruz says that Lou City’s focus this season is on defending, knowing that goals will come. I think the playoff loss last season still stings, and they surely didn’t defend well in that match. Other than a late and meaningless goal, Lou City defended well on the night while only having 36% possession. It’s everyone’s favorite tournament cliche! “Survive and advance”.
