After the last couple interesting weeks (more draws) the playoff picture has come a bit clearer into focus. The best news: we’re in it. The unclear part is where at exactly. But that will be known by the end of this weekend. So let’s take a look at some numbers going into this last week of the regular season!
More Draws
After two draws these last two games against NCFC and Tormenta, this team has earned itself a place in USL League One history. We have been past the high for numbers of draws in Union Omaha history for a while now. However, this past one gave us sole position for the highest number of draws in a USL League One season, surpassing Madison’s 12 last year. It has been an admittedly short history, but 13 draws means that we have had almost HALF of our games end with the scores level. So if you felt like there have been a lot of them this season… you are record-setting-ly accurate. This last game could do that to an even greater extent, though hopefully it’s a win instead.
That’s because a win would not only guarantee us a home playoff game (a draw would as well) but give us a chance at a bye as well. With the table looking like this going into the final day:
We can finish anywhere between 2nd and 5th. Fortunately, Chatt and Tormenta play one another on the final day. So a loss plus a Tormenta win is the only way we slip to 5th. A draw guarantees us at least 4th, with 3rd being possible with a Tormenta win. A win is the only thing that at least guarantees us a shot at 2nd and would greatly improve our chances for at least 3rd. The trouble with 2nd is that Richmond and Greenville play with Richmond having already clinched. One could see them resting some players (as we did last season) heading into the playoffs, not to mention Greenville has a good record against the Kickers anyway. Still hope, but a single home playoff game is looking like the much more attainable goal.
Seriously, so many red cards against us
I’m not sure if it’s the stigma of being the defending champs or what exactly, but we really have continued to have so many red cards against us this season. We also have a lot of yellows against us as well, but that has evened out a little bit throughout the season, with new league leaders taking over that position. The table for each team in the league is below:
NCFC and NoCo have shot up in yellow cards against. We’re currently in fourth, with Chatt just overtaking us with their wild recent games. Even still, look how many red cards we’ve had against us this year! Double digits! 3 more than Fuego who has had the second most against. About half are straight reds while the others are second yellows. Fuego, NCFC, and Richmond also are right about half and half. It’s curious to see how the other teams lie, with Charlotte, Chatt, Hailstorm, Tormenta, and Tucson being teams that have more second yellows against them while Madison and Greenville have more straight reds. Admittedly in Madison’s case, three of those game in the same weird game against NoCo. I’d be curious to see if the discrepancy here is due to reffing, play style, having a target on your back for some reason, etc., as I’m not sure if there’s an obvious thing that sticks out to me about why it ended up in this distribution. Either way, a curious look at those numbers before the final game of the regular season.
Kit Choices
One choice that needs to be made is what to wear. Both for all of the fans heading there (supposed to be a somewhat chilly) as well as the team itself. During the pod this week, there was some discussion of which uniform combination would be good to pick. Earlier in the season when that conversation came up, I did a first update on kit combo records. Well, here’s the updated data on those records (these include Open Cup):
The Blue goalkeeper kits have the most wins for us, while also having a decent number of draws and losses. The Gray jersey has been very hit and miss. Finally, the Volt kit has seen the majority (barely) of our record number of draws.
As far as the kit combinations themselves, the all white option has been our most used this season. It’s done pretty well, too, but also with that large share of games also has more losses than any of the others. The all black uniforms, which were mentioned on the pod, are a bit more draw heavy, mostly due to the home draws we’ve had in the second half of the season. Unfortunately we have never done a kit with all three of the colors, which was one option mentioned on the pod. We also haven’t done Black/Volt/Black as Shaft mentioned liking the idea of. The closest to that is the Black/Black/Volt combination, which gave us our home win against Charlotte as well as the Open Cup win up in Minnesota. Maybe it is time we see that option return? We will see if that, or if anything, can help pull us to a win and at least 1 home playoff game.
Who Gives A Hoot? 