With June being the busiest month of the Hounds’ schedule, chances for Bob Lilley to look back on his team’s performance and reflect have been few and far between with the next match often just three or four days away.
But after going 3-1-1 in June with two matches remaining — the next one at 7 p.m. Friday at home against the New York Red Bulls II — the Hounds have had the closest thing all month to a normal match week.
Earlier this week after practice, Lilley talked about his team’s upswing in performance, highlighted by the consecutive road wins at Indy Eleven and the Tampa Bay Rowdies that came just 96 hours apart from each other.
“We took a chance on some guys in Indy, and they delivered, and I think that just boosted the group’s confidence some more. Tampa was our best game so far this year, and hopefully now, we have some momentum and continue to put good performances out there and start to get consistent results,” Lilley said.
As always, there are technical and tactical aspects of the game where the Hounds can stand to improve, and the coaching staff will continue to push the players throughout the season. But after taking far too passive an approach against Austin Bold on June 6 — the team’s only loss of the month — Lilley has liked the change in demeanor he has seen from his team in taking seven of the next nine points available.
“We’re competing better.” Lilley said. “There’s going to be moments in a game where you have to dig in, and you have to be tough mentally, physically and you have to be prepared to suffer, and our guys were. Even being dealt a tough situation, going down to 10 men in Indy and having to close out the last 30, 35 minutes with stoppage time, that counts a lot over the course of the season if you have that in your back pocket. I think we were a little short in those areas (earlier in the season), but I think that’s coming.”
One of the stars of the first two months has been Russell Cicerone, who leads the Hounds in scoring with five goals and an assist through nine games.
Lilley first saw Cicerone up close when the striker was a collegian at the University at Buffalo, which would often face Lilley’s Rochester Rhinos in preseason. Now that Cicerone is scoring goals for him, Lilley spoke about what makes him so successful.
“He’s got a nose for goal, but he’s aggressive. He takes risks. He’s brave in the box, he makes hard runs, and he’ll take chances,” Lilley said. “We’re just executing better right now, and that helps out. It helps out a lot, but I think he come in and worked hard for the team, does it on both sides (of the field), and most games, he’s carved out two or three really good chances. He’s taken them well. He generally hits them on frame or thereabouts, and I think if you do that consistently and get in dangerous spots, you’re going to score goals.”
Last, but not least, Lilley turned his attention again toward the future, and getting three points in front of the home crowd is his next priority.
“I look at all three home games, and I don’t think we deserved to lose any of them. I don’t know if we did enough to win any of them, so we need to put a good performance out there. Nothing’s guaranteed, and certainly, we hope to win our first home game sooner, rather than later,” he said.
See the full footage of Coach Lilley’s thoughts after training above. To check out the team in action, pick up tickets for Friday’s match HERE.
