Roots Report: Late Concessions

T2 lose points due to another very late goal conceded.

Seattle Sounders 2: 2-1 Loss

T2 put in a much better performance in their second trip to Starfire this season. But unfortunately the outcome was still the same. Villyan Bijev got his team-leading 7th assist. And that puts him in 2nd across the entire USL league only behind Daniel Barrera of Sacramento Republic (who has 8).

As the match started I stated on our T2 game day twitter feed that the key to the match would be for the good guys to withstand the first and final 15 minutes of the match. Both periods their most notorious time windows for conceding goals. And sure enough the first 15 minutes saw quite a lot of S2 dominance as they came out quick looking for an early goal. But none came and after that T2 began to get settled in. Both sides saw their fair share of half chances and near opportunities through the first half but went into the break scoreless.

In the second half, T2 put themselves in a position to chase the game by conceding a penalty kick in the 52nd minute. S2's Mathers stepped up and sent the ball down the middle, into the net, and put the home side up 1-0. Following the concession though was a significant amount of T2 possession. All that possession did lead to a few decent T2 chances but as T2's possession edge waned, they got the equalizer they were looking for in the 76th minute.

In a counter attack, Villyan Bijev sent a ball behind the S2 defense to the feet of Victor Arboleda. Arboleda was able to avoid a last ditch challenge and nutmeg the keeper for his 4th goal of the season and bringing it to 1-1 late in the second half. But unfortunately, T2 could not hold on for the draw.

In the 88th minute, S2 got the ball into the box and Jordan Schweitzer put it past McIntosh to restore the one goal lead for the home side. And S2 were able to very comfortably see the rest of the match out. In the earlier visit to Starfire, T2 conceded in the 89th minute to lose 1-0. So it was very, very close to the exact same time to concede the goal that lost them points again. The result keeps T2 second from bottom and in a battle with Tulsa for the wooden spoon. T2 sit 9 points out of the final playoff position with 5 games remaining (3 of which are on the road in 9 consecutive days). But on the bright side we don't have to see S2 again until 2017.

Other Stories

If you haven't already, check out my piece on Blake Bodily and his choice to take a gap year in order to stay with T2 longer before he heads off to the University of Washington.

And, of course, don't forget to give Play The Kids a listen. Episode 20 just dropped this morning and it's a good one.

What's Next?

T2 get to play their second to last home match this Sunday evening at Merlo Field. They will host the OKC Energy FC with a 7:00pm pacific kickoff time. After that, they get 3 straight road games in only 9 days before closing out the season at Merlo vs Arizona United.