Detroit City FC wrapped up the USL Championship regular season with a 0-0 draw in Louisville last weekend. The result dropped Le Rouge to the third seed in the Eastern Conference, but because of their overall record DCFC is the fourth ranked team in the entire league. Should DCFC survive until the championship match and the three teams above them be eliminated, Keyworth Stadium would host the final. It’s a long shot, but there’s a chance!
Finishing with the fourth best record in the Championship means that DCFC will host at least one playoff game. That game comes on Friday night against Hartford Athletic (8:00 pm, Golazo Network). The visitors will be confident coming into Keyworth. They beat DCFC in Connecticut 2-1 in May and earned a 1-1 draw at Keyworth in early September thanks to a goal in the tenth minute of stoppage time.
At the time of that draw between the teams, Hartford was in the midst of a lengthy unbeaten run that included advancing to the Prinx Tires USL League Cup final. That run came to an end in the final where they lost to Louisville City. Perhaps the extra games took a toll on the team. They only won one of their last seven games. However, they did beat their nearest rivals, Rhode Island FC, to finish the regular season and jump into the sixth spot.
Hartford Athletic are led on offense by Michee Ngalina and Barry Coffey, who each scored six goals during the regular season. Sebastian Anderson chipped in with six assists and Ngalina had four. Coach Brendan Burke had many different players contributing low numbers to the attack. They scored just 32 goals in 30 league games, while conceding 33 and keeping 9 clean sheets.
DCFC set the standard for defending in the USL Championship. They led the league with the fewest goals conceded, just 21 in 30 games. Carlos Herrera won the Golden Glove award as the league’s top goalkeeper with 14 clean sheets and a total of 55 saves. That award and those terrific numbers are due in equal parts to Herrera’s goalkeeping and the stability of the back four during the long season. Consistency in team selection built cohesion in the team’s defensive play.
Friday night’s single elimination playoff game is likely to be a tense, tight affair. The 1-1 draw in early September didn’t see a goal scored until second half stoppage time when DCFC took the lead, only to be pegged back at the death. Hartford tried the well-worn tactic of trying to intimidate DCFC with physical play. They committed 21 fouls, but somehow only picked up one yellow card. DCFC will hope for a strict referee, who will not allow persistent fouls to disrupt the game. DCFC had 73 percent possession and took 24 shots only 6 of which were on goal as Hartford set up to defend and offered little else.
If Danny Dichio wants his team to set the tone, they can best do so by finding an early goal. It hasn’t happened often, but that would throw Hartford’s gameplan out the window. Given the vociferous support DCFC will have, Hartford’s undoubted ambition will be much like their most recent visit. Expect them to slow the game down, use all the dark arts, and hope for either a lucky break or to hold for penalty kicks.
At least Dichio will have a full strength team to select. Herrera returned from his one-match red card ban to earn the shutout in Louisville. The back four of Michael Bryant, Callum Montgomery, Devon Amoo-Mensah, and Aedan Stanley picks itself. Darrin Smith will lead the line up front after finishing the regular season with 14 goals. In between the rock solid defense and the threat of Smith, Dichio will have some decisions to make.
Kobe Hernandez-Foster is most likely to start at the base of midfield. Haruki Yamazaki has been a fixture, mostly at right back, but further forward now that Bryant has reclaimed his spot. He provides great energy and draws a lot of fouls but doesn’t score or assist nearly enough. Maxi Rodriguez has been starting next to Hernandez-Foster, but didn’t make the trip to Louisville, so there could be a fitness issue. Ates Diouf has also been a fixture in the starting team even without providing much in the way of offense. That leaves the #10 spot behind Smith open. It’s been a revolving door this season. Jeciel Cedeno, Rodriguez, Alex Dalou, and Abdoulaye Diop have all seen time there without making much impact. Someone has to seize the reins of the attack now that it’s win or go home.
The USL does not re-seed the teams during the playoffs. If DCFC can get past Hartford, they will either travel to Charleston or meet Rhode Island at home in the next round. The rest of the Eastern Conference bracket has the top seeded Tampa Bay Rowdies at home against Miami FC and Louisville City hosting the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. While it would be easy to say that the home teams, who had better records during the regular season, are most likely to win, that doesn’t always happen. DCFC pulled off the biggest upset in league history last year when they went into Louisville as the 8th seed, having barely qualified, and beat the league’s best team on a solitary goal by Devon Amoo-Mensah. None of the top teams want that to happen. That is why the games will be likely be closely contested and low-scoring. The stakes are high and any team that visits Keyworth will get a warm reception from the City faithful.
