When Louis Pérez signed with the Hounds in February straight out of the University of Central Florida, he was one of the few players on the club without USL Championship experience.
To make things even more difficult, he had to compete against veterans such as Kenardo Forbes and Todd Wharton for minutes in the midfield. But months later, Pérez has carved a niche for himself in the offense by working hard and buying into head coach Bob Lilley’s philosophy.
Even though he appeared in the club’s first three matches of the season, Pérez’s minutes were limited. He admitted that it took a while to adjust to the vibe of the club.
“When I first came here, I wasn’t really used to the coaches and what they were asking for,” Pérez said. “It maybe took me a month or a month-and-a-half to get used to them, my teammates and the environment. Everybody needs to be on the same page in terms of running and moving. Just getting used to the movements the coaches wanted for each position took a while.”
Pérez made his first career start against Austin Bold on June 6, playing, at that point, a season-high 45 minutes in the loss.
“It was big, because before that I wasn’t getting any starts,” he said. “It’s always hard when you’re not starting, but with a lot of hard work, even as a left back, I was ready to show some quality.”
He wouldn’t make his second start until the Hounds played against Loudoun United FC on June 30. He had one of his better performances of the season, tallying a team-high three shots, including his first professional goal in 48th minute.
“It was a great moment,” Pérez recalled. “The team was down one goal going into halftime, and I found that goal to get us back into it. I was really happy, even though we didn’t win that game. Fortunately, I got a goal against Hartford (on July 31), and we won that game. I hope I’m going to get some more, for sure.”
One could say the Loudoun game was his breakthrough game, in terms of his playing time and his confidence.
While Pérez’s minutes weren’t consistent to start the year, they have been since that Loudoun game. Of his 399 minutes this season, Perez has played 295 of them over the past eight games, as opposed to just 104 minutes in the first 10.
In the club’s next match on July 3 against Charlotte Independence, he put up another good performance, totaling two key passes and a team-high three shots in 68 minutes of action. He did so playing out-of-position as a left back, where Lilley has used him at times this season to get an extra attacking player — and a left-footed one, at that — onto the field.
Pérez credits his hard work and determination for his shift in play.
“It was a lot of hard work, listening to the coaches and teammates and just trying to be on the same page with everyone as a team,” he said. “It’s not about the individual, but more about the team, so I was just trying to make myself better for the good of the team. Recently, I’ve been playing a lot of minutes, but for me, I hope it’s just the beginning.”
In the club’s past eight matches, Pérez has scored two goals, tied for the third-most in that span, and has notched 16 crosses in that stretch. However, Pérez still thinks he can be sharper, which in turn may let him play even more minutes.
“I still need to be more available, more of an outlet for the team,” he said. “The coaches are asking for me to play a lot of different positions, but I’m happy because it means I’ll get more minutes.”
When the Hounds visit American Legion Memorial Stadium for the first time tonight, Pérez will indeed get more minutes when he makes his second start against Charlotte this season.
And as his confidence increases, who knows? Maybe he’ll score another goal, too.