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USL Nashville SC

Nashville SC Regrets Missed Chances After Early U.S. Open Cup Exit

May 30, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Nashville SC News Release


MURFREESBORO - Nashville Soccer Club had a whopping 26 total shots in 120 minutes of play, but couldn't find the back of the net more than once as it fell to Charleston Battery in the Third Round of the U.S. Open Cup in penalties.

The frustrations were palpable for Head Coach Gary Smith and his players.

"We controlled pretty much the entirety of proceedings and can only blame ourselves for not winning the game," Smith said. "A multitude of opportunities, some rank, awful finishing. A goal that they score out of...I don't know how many sights of goal, but very few. Very disappointed, very frustrated, and in fact very upset that we've not been able to deal with this in 90 minutes and move on to the next round."

Smith noted the multitude of misses his players had throughout the match, and how different the result might have been if just one more chance gets converted.

"There's no way of ever telling why somebody misplaces a shot or doesn't tap one in, or heads a ball three goals wide when they should head it on target, or misses a target when they're six or seven yards out," Smith said. "You name it, there were a multitude of missed opportunities from all angles and from a lot of people, but obviously there were more than one or two opportunities that fell to one or two individuals. There's nothing I can do on the line other than burst a vessel in my neck or head screaming at what might've been."

"I thought our play in the second period after a bit of, I wouldn't say slow but we got lulled into that slower pace of game, there was a change of tempo, we looked brighter, sharper, created an opportunity immediately. All in all, I thought we dominated proceedings and opportunities in that second half. We shouldn't be talking about anything else other than a win. And now I'm having to discuss my frustrations and disappointment in going out, when really and truly that game should have been wrapped up. We should all have been able to go home with 20 minutes to go and not worry about what was going to happen in the last 20 minutes."

After the whistle blew and regulation time ended 1-1, Charleston finished three of their four penalty kicks to beat Nashville 3-0 in the shootout. While Smith was not happy with the lack of converted penalties, he also knew it should have never reached that critical point.

"The penalties are one thing, to not score a penalty is something concerning as well," Smith said. "However, it should have never got to that point. The guys put themselves in a difficult place and when you get to that point, I've seen it numerous times where a team in a Cup competition have hung in there somehow, someway, so credit to them for that. They've hung in there, and they've managed to scramble through by the grace of penalties. That's all part of the game. You've got to finish teams off, and if you don't, then you run the risk of what happened, which is we continued our anemic look in front of goal in the penalties."

Winger Kharlton Belmar was Nashville's lone scorer on the night, as he found the business end of a nifty Ropapa Mensah cross at the back post and knocked the ball into the net in the 72' minute. However, just scoring a goal wasn't enough to keep Belmar satisfied moving forward.

"You always want to get on the score sheet, but at the end of the day, we didn't get the result," Belmar. "It doesn't really mean too much. It's leaves a bitter taste in your mouth."

Nashville SC's run in the U.S. Open Cup is over far earlier than the squad wanted it to be, and now the Boys in Gold will have a week and a half to think about it before returning to league play against Bethlehem Steel FC on Sunday, June 9.

"I think this month has been exhausting for all of us," said Midfielder Matt LaGrassa. "Obviously we want to stay in the Cup, there's no doubt about that. We all wanted to win tonight. Eight games in the span of four weeks is a lot. I know my legs are tired, and I think a lot of the other guys too. It's been a long month for us even though we've been able to rotate the squad. I think the weekend away from the league will probably be good for us to some extent. We'll be back at it."

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