WHO:
Bethlehem Steel, 5-5-2, 17 points, 7th place, Eastern Conference
WHAT:
A regular season USL match
WHEN:
Saturday, June 9, 2018, 5:00 p.m. The match is early because Goodman Stadium doesn’t have any lights. The More You Know!
WHERE:
Goodman Stadium, 150 Goodman Drive, Bethlehem, PA 18015
WATCH:
TV: WDRB RADIO: 840 WHAS STREAM: ESPN+
Hometown Pizza on Preston Highway is hosting a big watch party for this one, so get out there! Otherwise, you can be sure that Against the Grain, Saints, and Falls City Taphouse will have the game on. All those places have beer, you’ll like ’em!
WHO, AGAIN?
I honestly had forgotten that Morados had already played the Steel earlier this season. Cam Lancaster and Ilija Ilic scored a bunch of goals in the first twenty or so minutes and the rest of the game was more or less a formality. That doesn’t mean we can dismiss the Steel, however. Corey Burke and Brandon Allen may have moved on, but the Steel are on a decent run of form. Bethlehem’s won three of their last five matches, four of which were away. They picked a dub away against Indy Eleven and put three on New York Red Bulls II, bka USL Jekyll and Hyde. The Steel give up a bit more than a goal per game and only have one clean sheet in twelve matches, so it seems likely that City will score tomorrow. Bethlehem isn’t bad at scoring, themselves, however, scoring 18 goals. Nearly half their shots on the season were on target, and they convert almost 14% of those into scores.
Derek Jones and Adam Najem are still patrolling the Steel midfield, and those two gave our center mids some problems the last time out. Jones in particular is a really talented and physical guy, so watch to see how O’Connor sets up his midfield to negate that. Marcus Epps was the goalscorer last time against City, but he’s only appeared in six games for the Steel so far. Santi Moar is getting more consistent minutes, and is always a threat to create chances on the wing and cutting in.
Louisville City is, of course, on short rest after putting in a shift midweek in the Open Cup. I’ll be interested to see who, if anyone, gets rotated. Shaun Francis was listed as questionable, but I’d like to see him become a more consistent figure in the lineup so we can do some rotations with the usual City midfield of Paolo, Speedy, Kyle, and Oscar. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Alexis play in defense, but maybe as a substitute. Who knows what we’ll see up front.
