Week 2 Preview: all you need to know
Starting the season with a poor showing in a home loss was not good. Having to follow that up with a match against Louisville City isn’t too great either, and having the game postponed to Sunday afternoon (3:30pm, ESPN+) sucks as well. All told, very much less than optimal.
The most important part
On top of that, the Legion is already dealing with injury issues. There will be several players missing this week for various reasons. The good(ish) news is that Tyler Pasher is probably about two weeks from game fitness, but the gameday squad will be selected from a weakened roster.
Rather than putting our own spin on this week’s game, we’ll let the guys on the team give their perspectives.
Enzo Martinez will be available though. Asked today about how he felt watching from the sidelines last week he said “Yeah, super hard, obviously. You know, feeling like letting my teammates down a bit. Because you’re not able to do anything. It’s just such a helpless feeling.” He also recognizes that his role as a leader on the team is becoming more important: “As the years go by, I can see how it would be important for me to kind of shift the mindset…to be able to help younger players and to be able to be an example.”
As far as Louisville City, he said “It’s going to be a really tough game. Obviously, they’re a super organized team. They have the triggers, They press, they’re intense…so we have to be really, really good on the ball, because most of their chances come from being able to win the ball in good situations and transition really quick. So it’s going to be a game [where] the chances aren’t going to be a ton because it’s very disciplined so it’s going to be us making sure that we take advantage when we do have the opportunities.”
Checking in with Dawson McCartney, he was pretty clear about last week’s performance: “Not good enough…we need to perform better. We started off hot and then kind of faded away.” Direct and to the point. As far as working on the mistakes and getting ready for Lou City, he added “I think a lot of it is trying to focus on building about of the back better and getting used to playing againstthe back five that we’ll [see] this weekend. And also, we know they’re a high-pressing team, so adjusting to that and also working on our finishing, just being better in all facets of the game.” The team is looking forward to the game: “The guys are buzzing in practice. The intensity is higher, and we’re using that game last week as fuel…we’re ready for it and we’re excited for the challenge.”
Finally, coach Soehn had a few words. As far as the available players are concerned, he said “What we lose in talent, we make up for in heart. You know, we just gotta show up. Make sure we battle.” Asked about where Louisville has weaknesses he added “Well, they take a real risk by playing man-to-man in the back when they press…we have pace; we have to be able to hurt them with the pace.”
A high press of course is what the Legion were dealing with last week, so the boys already have some experience wth what they will see this weekend. Louisville City is a very tall order though.
Prediction: I hate to predict a Legion loss, but unless the team has completely cured its issues of last week I don’t really see a much better result. The good news is that Lou City is not generally a high-scoring team (yes, I know they hammered the Three Sparks for 9 goals last year), so if you can keep the game close, there’s a chance to catch them out.
Best of the rest
As with last week, there are only 11 games on the schedule this week; the teams with a bye are Hartford Athletic and Sacramento Republic. Looking at the schedule ahead a few weeks, it looks like this will be a standing feature of the season. The Legion’s first break will be the first weekend of April.
With the Legion playing on Sunday, you have a wide open selection of Saturday games to choose from. Here are our USL Championship picks for Week 2:
Colorado Springs Switchbacks v. Detroit City (5:00pm, ESPN+)
The Switchbacks had a somewhat surprising 2-2 draw with El Paso Locomotive last week; Detroit had a predictable 2-0 win over The™ Miami FC. This one could be a tight match and is mostly interesting to Legion fans for the reason that Detroit is next up on the Three Sparks’ schedule.
Charleston Battery v. Rhode Island (6:30pm, CBS Sports Golazo)
Charleston will be playing without Arturo Rodriguez after his (possibly a little harsh) red card last week in the close loss to Lou City but will want to get back on the right track this week. They are up against Rhode Island, who were off last week. No one expects Rhody to be rusty and an easy out. Moreover, head coach Khano Smith will be eager to justify the multi-year contract extension he was just given. Likely the game of the week.
Las Vegas Lights v. New Mexico United (9:30pm, ESPN+)
The Desert Derby? Las Vegas didn’t seem to have missed a beat last week without former head coach Dennis Sanchez, beating the Tampa Bay Rowdies 1-0. New Mexico stumbled, losing 1-2 in Sacramento. So, one team looking to continue the trend, the other trying to get back on track.
Orange County v. Lexington SC (9:30pm, ESPN+)
This game pits the two top teams in the West against each other. OC beat the Oakland Roots in the week’s highest scoring game, 4-2, and Lexington started its first Championship campaign with a 2-0 win over Hartford. Lexington beefed up its roster this week by adding long-time Championship player Christian Volesky to a short-term contract. Should be fun.
