Well, that was a delightful introduction to NCFC! We’ll talk more about the numbers in a bit, but first I want to say that I throughly enjoyed watching that game. It was a combination of factors for sure. A large part of it was the delightful commentary from the local commentary team of Austin da Luz and Dean Linke along with quality camera work and high resolution images. Both commentators have a long standing history with the club and region gave gave a glimpse into the rich history of the club and soccer in the region. Sure there were quaint mispronunciation of a bunch of our players names but that happens at it happens at Werner Park too! Only the most ironhearted would not have appreciated the shoutouts to our players with NCFC connections and their parents. Now, it was clear from the surprise shown to things like, Nuhu’s kicking ability, that they hadn’t watched much of us, but I had watched none of them so who am I to judge. But best of all, to finally hear someone associated with League One give unlimited praise to our team had to be salve to even the most jaded member of Buho Nation. It was neat. The result didn’t hurt either, so let’s dive in.
1) Streak breakers!
Thank goodness, I don’t have to update any of my scoreless streak data from last week. The streak ended 7 minutes into the game at 380 minutes. Let’s not need to revisit this information anytime soon. Dami’s goal was brilliant and Evan Conway got his first ever game winning assist!
Also let’s not dismiss Austin Panchot as our good luck talisman in this endeavor. In two of the three games he has started for the club we’ve broken 300+ minute scoring draughts. He even scored the draught breaker last year.
But that wasn’t the only streak that was ended on the night. We got a penalty!!
I thought this was awfully harsh penalty for NCFC to receive. Perhaps this is because the more typical League One experience is Ricky having his jersey pulled, impeding play, while running through the box with no call being made. But on the balance of play this year we deserved at least ONE penalty so, glad we got one. I also loved that their goalkeeper got a yellow for messing up the area around the penalty spot.
We went 29 games without a penalty being called. 382 days are a long time, but Evan and Dami once again combined to snap a streak that had gone on too long.
2) DAMI WATCH
There is still 35.7% of the season remaining, but with a performance like that, Dami leaves no doubt in my mind that he is the USL League One defender of the year. Let’s review the case:
| Category | Dami | League Rank | Team Rank | Defender Rank |
| Goals | 4 | 13 | 2 | 1 |
| Assists | 2 | 22 | 4 | 4 |
| xG+xA | 5.44 | 19 | 2 | 2 |
| Crosses | 130 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Chances Created | 41 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Oh also, he plays left back for the best defense in the league. Are you not entertained?
3) Teams we haven’t beaten
With our victory against NCFC, our list of teams that have played in USL League One (when we were in the league anyway (RIP Lansing)), that we haven’t beaten is down to three: Chattanooga (0-2-1), Richmond (0-1-1), and Toronto FC (0-0-1). I’m hopeful we can wrap this list up before the end of the season. That would, of course, involve us beating Chattanooga in the playoffs, but that kind of seems necessary to win the title anyway. Our first shot to get this list to zero, is Saturday at TFC II. See you there!
Who Gives A Hoot? 