Non-analytics nerds to the left. Louisville City’s played 14 games, which means the season is already half over :(. USL’s statistics aren’t awesome, but they tell us enough that we can learn a few things:

  • Matt Fondy is obvs the most important player in our attack (his hair is the second most important). He’s tied for second in the league with 9 goals, has 14 points total (points are stupid in soccer but I’ll use it here), leads the league in shots and is tied for second in shots per game.
  • One thing we don’t really have is a setup man, though I’m reeeally hoping MAG RAM becomes that person for Elsie. The team has a total of 16 assists on the year on 26 goals for an A/G ratio of 0.615 which is good for seventh in the USL, but could use some improvement. Rasmussen and Fondy each have 3 assists on the season, while Bryan Burke has 4.
  • It’s no surprise that Fondy leads the team in goals, but Rasmussen’s shot efficiency is kind of otherwordly: 4 goals in 14 shots for a shot percentage of 28.6%. We’ll ignore that one of those goals was a penalty.
  • Scotty Goodwin’s goals against average is 1 per game, up from half a goal per game at the quarter-season mark, and his save % is down to .720 from closer to 80% earlier this season. I’d still take him over just about anyone not named Brandon Miller in this league.
  • Speaking of defense, Louisville City is second in the league in goals allowed, behind only Rochester, whose defense is in another category unto itself.
  • Thanks in large part to the last game against Okahoma City, Louisville City leads the East with 1.86 goals per game, and is tied with Charleston for total goals with 26.
  • Attendance has little to do with play on the field, but Louisville City leads the East in attendance with 6,000 per game, and is second in the entire league.

And now, the coup de grace, total shot ratio:

Team Shots For Shots Against TSR % Change
Rochester Rhinos 163 81 0.668 -0.042
Louisville City FC 197 129 0.604 0.030
Sacramento Republic FC 213 155 0.579 0.018
Charlotte Independence 149 111 0.573 0.109
Charleston Battery 167 131 0.560 -0.035
LA Galaxy II 198 160 0.553 0.002
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 167 145 0.535 -0.058
Real Monarchs SLC 158 149 0.515 -0.014
OC Blues 146 141 0.509 -0.116
OKC Energy FC 169 167 0.503 -0.019
Harrisburg City Islanders 131 132 0.498 0.039
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 154 157 0.495 0.004
Seattle Sounders FC 2 192 200 0.490 -0.050
Richmond Kickers 163 174 0.484 0.033
New York Red Bulls 2 169 181 0.483 0.009
Tulsa Roughnecks FC 200 218 0.478 -0.004
Austin Aztex 161 181 0.471 0.041
Portland Timbers FC 2 159 185 0.462 0.026
Wilmington Hammerheads FC 114 142 0.445 0.001
St. Louis FC 128 163 0.440 -0.043
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 173 231 0.428 0.051
Arizona United SC 117 169 0.409 -0.029
FC Montreal 100 146 0.407 0.000
Toronto FC II 99 158 0.385 0.000

Conclusions:

  • Matt Fondy is really good.
  • Magnus Rasmussen might yet develop into a real game changer.
  • Rochester, again, is in a category all their own. They’ll win the Commissioner’s Cup running away this year. They’ve given up 30 fewer shots than anyone else in the league, and are 150 shots better than the most out-shot team, Vancouver.
  • Real Monarchs might win the wooden spoon this season, but they actually aren’t all that bad on the field, with a TSR of better than 50%.
  • The better defensive teams are in the East, if you rank them by shots against. Eight of the top ten teams in that category are from the East, which includes FC Montreal at ninth, if you can believe that. The bottom five are all Western conference teams.
  • Biggest movers: The OC Blues, just in the wrong direction. Interesting how that coincides with their fall down the table in the West, eh? Also, Charlotte is much better than they were to start off the season.
  • Louisville City is still really good.