Player Ratings:

FC Cincinnati came away with a 0-0 draw in Louisville on Saturday night. While it wasn’t the prettiest game of soccer you will ever see, there are some nice takeaways. Check out our play ratings from FC Cincinnati’s latest performance.

Starters

Mitch Hildebrandt – 10: Why not a 10? He played out of his mind the first half and single handedly kept FC Cincinnati in the game. Check out this monster save below.

Here is the replay of @mitchhilde save pic.twitter.com/ft2XaArMY1 — Cincy Soccer Live (@cincysoccerlive) June 26, 2016

Pat McMahon – 7: McManBun held down the right side of the defense well. To be fair, LouCity like to attack down the FCC left towards Polak & McLaughlin so he had less to do, but was able to swing over on Chandler Hoffman when required. Also saved the ball off the line twice in a sequence.

Paul Nicholson – 6.5: Bend but not break. Nicholson managed to contain Hoffman as well, but did allow the far post run that led to Mitch Hildebrandt’s spectacular save. Will be interested to see what will happen if Berry is ready to go soon.

Harrison Delbridge – 7: Was able to get into the offense on some free kicks. Held firm in the back and was the one to step up when the ball got to the top of the box. Did receive a yellow card in the match.

Tyler Polak – 6.5: The speed of Dacres absolutely shredded Polak. He looked gassed when subbed out, but to be fair he did not allow a goal. It seemed the LouCity made him their #1 target to run at, which was probably a good tactical move. Picked up a yellow and per usual was not precise on his free kick.

Kenney Walker – 6.5: Harkes employed Walker & Bone in a low line in the first half which allowed the LouCity attack to run right at Walker. He is not a true DCM so he will make some poor defensive plays and needs to time when to make tackles better. Is still the teams heart.

Corben Bone – 7: Got into the attack more than Walker. Picked his times better. I sometimes question where he makes passes, but overall had a decent performance. He and Walker did have their work cut out for them in the first half. Needs to make passes faster sometimes.

Andrew Wiedeman – 6.5: Not great, not bad. Provided good defensive cover for McMahon. Needed to provide as a better outlet for the central midfielders. When he did get the ball in the first half, he sometimes didn’t have anyone with him. Also, but in a decent ball early in the 2nd half that may have touched a LCFC arm or hand.

Eric Stevenson – 6.5: Stevenson is still working up to his fitness and game speed. You saw several problems with the speed of the game in the first 45 minutes. He did have a close shot in the 43rd minute. Needed more of the ball, but LouCity just dominated in the first half.

Jimmy McLaughlin – 6.5: Needs to get his crosses better, but he still provides some of the most creativity. Random thought: “Any chance we could see him as a 10? Has some of our best vision and foot skills. Passing in so-so.” Did have a great run down the left, but was stripped before he was able to take a shot. Thought his defense was okay. Provided better cover than Hoppenot.

Sean Okoli – 6: Horrible first half. Great second half. When he moves around you see the midfielders get more creative with their passing and FC Cincinnati maintains possession. When he doesn’t move or provide an outlet, you see things like the first half. I really enjoyed him and Cummings working together. Needs to work for 90 minutes, not the 45-60 he is known for recently. Also was pulled down at top of box with no call. Could this be due to his “diving” reputation?

Subs

Derek Luke 57′ (Polak) – 6.5: Held down the left much better than Polak. This may have been due to Dacres being tired. Continues to impress off the bench. Wasn’t called in to the attack much.

Omar Cummings 69′ (Stevenson) – 6.5: Played well for his first 10-15 minutes when FC Cincinnati had more possession. Had a nice flick on to Okoli. Wish he would have been brought on 10 minutes sooner.

Antonio Hoppenot 83′ (McLaughlin) – 6: Didn’t provide much for FC Cincinnati. Thought that he didn’t provide as much cover as McLaughlin, but his fresh legs did make up for it. Once he came on LouCity began to get more possession

Ross Tomaselli 90′ (Walker) – NA: Wanted this sub MUCH sooner. Could have given back 4 more cover if employed earlier.

Evan Lee 90’+ (Okoli) – NA: Very late time wasting sub.

Coach

John Harkes – 5: I agreed off the start to play conservative, but the midfield line was too deep and it took almost 40 minutes for a change to happen. Looked better in the second half, but I feel that he used his subs way too late. He trusts Walker & Bone. This is fine, but when you have 5 subs to use, I would think that using Tomaselli earlier, could have freed up one of them to roam forward.

Fans

10 – You guys were amazing. Fans in Louisville Slugger Field heard people chanting on their way into the stadium. They were saying, “oh, here are the Coopers.” Their mouths hit the floor when they saw it was our Supporters Groups. FC Cincinnati fans dominated the game from a supporters stance. You were loud, passionate and all a traveling side could ask for. Wonderful job!

MotM Mitch Hildebrandt

@bryanjweigel for @cincysoccertalk

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