With Detroit City grimly holding on to a 0-0 draw in the late going, the Tampa Bay Rowdies knew that it would take something special to clinch the Eastern Conference and the USL Championship Players’ Shield. As time wound down at the end of the game, Sebastien Cruz delivered a long range blast that soared over Carlos Saldana for the only goal of the game in the 89th minute. The goal ended DCFC’s hopes of catching the league-leaders in the final stages of the regular season. While Detroit City will finish no lower than third in the Eastern Conference, their lack of ambition in this game hinted at how the playoffs might look in two weeks’ time.
The only absentee from Danny Dichio’s first choice starting eleven was goalkeeper Carlos Herrera, who was suspended after his red card against Rhode Island. Fortunately for DCFC, Saldana is a top goalkeeper in the league and there is no drop in quality. Consistency in the selection has been a strength for Le Rouge during the final weeks of the regular season. Having the regulars in good form has led to exceptional defensive displays. DCFC still boasts the stingiest defense in the league and neither goalkeeper has had too many difficult shots to handle. The back four, along with an organized midfield, prevents most opposing attacks from getting through. It’s at the other end of the pitch where DCFC has to become more dangerous.
Michael Bryant’s return from a serious ankle injury has allowed Dichio to push Haruki Yamazaki further forward on the right side. That also allows the team to slip easily into a back five as Yamazaki simply has to drop deeper and have Bryant slide inside with the center backs. Maxi Rodriguez has been playing next to Kobe Hernandez-Foster deep in midfield, depriving the attack of the late runs that so often created danger when Rodriguez played closer to the striker. Alex Dalou has taken that spot in recent games and has a high work rate but doesn’t create as many chances as his pace would suggest. Ates Diouf retained his spot on the left but again had no end product. Just two goals and two assists is a poor return. The team desperately needs somebody to pick up the scoring as teams work to shut down Darrin Smith.
Against the Rowdies last weekend, the team adopted an ultra-conservative approach. Dichio set the team up in order to stifle Tampa’s high-scoring attack. The Rowdies are third in the league in goals scored. That meant much of the game turned into an attack versus defense drill. Dichio adopted some of the tactics in Tampa that visitors use when playing at Keyworth. DCFC slowed the game down at every opportunity. They committed more fouls (24) than their opponents (16) and picked up four yellow cards, doubling the Rowdies in that unwanted category.
DCFC rarely pushed too far forward. The team generated just four shots of which only two were on target. DCFC’s four corner kicks amounted to nothing. Darrin Smith had the best chance when he took the ball off a defender’s foot and went in along on goal. Unfortunately, he couldn’t decide what to do as he entered the penalty area and ended up not even taking a shot as the ball ran away from him. Once the Rowdies took their late lead, it was far too late to change the approach and the final minutes ended tamely.
The playoffs have now begun to take shape. DCFC will be at home on Friday October 30 against one of three teams. Because DCFC will finish either second or third in the USL Eastern Conference, they will face the sixth or seventh placed team. The Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Rhode Island FC, and Hartford Athletic are playing to sort out the fifth through seventh places. Rhode Island and Hartford play each other on Saturday night in Hartford. Louisville City has two games left and will likely claim the fourth spot, barring a shocking loss to woeful Jacksonville in midweek.
Two games will determine DCFC’s final position in the table. The most important one is DCFC’s visit to Louisville Saturday night. The teams met last year in the playoffs and DCFC pulled off a shocking upset as the eighth seed, beating a Louisville team that had led the division wire-to-wire. Louisville would like nothing more than to prevent DCFC from its highest even finish in the USL Championship. The second game will be the Charleston Battery against Indy Eleven. Indy has to win to leapfrog idle Miami into the final playoff spot. As long as DCFC can earn a better result than Charleston, Le Rouge will finish second.
Will Dichio turn the team loose and press for a win in order to finish as high as possible? Given the way the top seed has faltered in the playoffs recently, that could lead to a tremendous home field advantage. DCFC finished with 10 wins and 4 draws at home out of 15 games this year, turning Keyworth into a rarely breached fortress. The team’s form on the road has been more uneven. The team has to find a way to give themselves the best chance of going for the championship.
