If you didn’t see Nashville SC or Ottawa Fury score this afternoon, you’re not alone. Thanks to streaming issues for the Youtube feed, only those live and in the stadium saw Alan Winn bury a penalty kick for the Boys in Gold, and Carl Haworth level it for the Fury shortly thereafter.
Nashville started a lineup primarily consisting of players earning their first start of the season. Indeed, even some not even signed with the team (a pair of players on trials earned a defensive slot) hit the pitch. However, while many of those players had experience primarily in Nashville SC’s secondary formation (a 4-4-2), they had the opportunity to get game time in the preferred 5-3-2 that NSC is expected to base out of during the USL season.
That meant plenty of opportunities for new faces – and in a way, older ones, as well – to make an impact on offense. Winn had previously provided the assist on the first goal in history for the Boys in Gold, and tacking on the second-minute penalty puts him atop both the assist and goal-scoring charts in the early days of club history. Those around him, including former U-23 standout Martim Galvaão, had their chance to make an impression with a bit of offensive flair. He did that, with a couple nice skill dribbles in traffic to set up chances that were left wanting – once by his service, and multiple times by the attempts to finish.
Backup wing-backs Taylor Washington and Michael DeGraffenreidt were able to push up the field and send in crosses, while central midfielders Ramone Howell (who showed off a few very nice skill moves of his own, though he’s still working toward stringing them together to create true threats) and Bolu Akinyode were solid.
Most of what had been the starting lineup entered in the 54th minute, with goalkeeper CJ Cochran remaining in net – just minutes after making a nice diving save when centerback Jordan Dunstan gave the ball away in his own defensive end – one of just two staying on the field. While there seemed to be more consistency of play from back to front with the first unit on the field, still the final pass and clinical nature required to score in the offensive third didn’t click enough to create any serious scoring threats.
Third keeper Micah Bledsoe entered the game around the 75th minute (shortly after a minor scuffle between DeGraffenreidt and a Fury player spread to both squads and stopped the game for nearly a minute), and from there, NSC seemed to shift its backline to a four-man group – which the starters hadn’t had to implement in significant game scenarios previously – and the overall threat from either side dried up to a large extent.
Given that Nashville was able to hold Ottawa level – or even look pretty comfortable on the front foot – with plenty of secondary personnel through much of the game, it’s hard to look down on a 1-1 result as a disappointment. NSC approached the game as a practice or scrimmage, whereas Ottawa was in its first friendly of the preseason and needed to give its top-end players meaningful game time.
We would know much more about this team after Sunday’s match away to Orlando City, but it’s a closed-door affair from which we might hear a final scorer and the goal-scorers. We won’t know a whole lot about tactics, form, or even lineups, though. Both sides are likely to play this one to win, rather than try things out – something that we haven’t seen 90 minutes of from the Boys in Gold yet in 2018.
Club and Country 