There’s Not Much Meat in These Gym Mats: Westchester SC Shutout On the Road Again

Westchester SC Extends Dubious Away Goalless Drought. (Worst. Road Form. Ever.) 

On March 29th, Conor McGlynn scored a 68th-minute goal against Greenville. Since then, we’ve put away our winter coats, set our clocks ahead an hour, paid our taxes, and celebrated Passover and Easter. What we haven’t celebrated in that span is a Westchester SC away goal in any competition.

The Golden Apple has now gone an astonishing 322 minutes of play without a single tally.

It’s not for a lack of trying, though, as the boys in blue and gold arrived at 322 after a scoreless draw in Vermont, a stinker in Boise, and now a long, frustrating outing in Richmond that saw plenty of chances but none finding the back of the net. Is it a lack of scoring touch, a lapse in concentration, a tactical problem… Danhausen? There really is no way to be sure, and the season is still young, so we may not need to jump off the Kensico Dam just yet.

The Match: “Halfback passes to the center, back to the wing, back to the center. The center holds it...holds it...HOLDS IT!"

Richmond struck early and then held on.

Josh Kirkland, who we tried to warn you about, scored a 14th-minute goal, finished after a scramble in the box, proved to be the difference. From there, the match settled into a familiar pattern, with Westchester chasing and Richmond digging in.

Westchester controlled the majority of possession, generated 10 corners, and put more shots on target, but couldn’t find a way past goalkeeper and professional beard model Yann Fillion and a Richmond backline that came up with multiple key interventions, including goal-line clearances.

Fillion finished with five saves, several of them in high-pressure moments, as Richmond absorbed sustained pressure and secured their first clean sheet of the USL1 season.

In the end, it was a match defined by early opportunism and late resistance, with Westchester left to wonder how they came away without a goal.

“Am I So Out of Touch? No, It’s the Goals That Are Wrong” 

On paper, it’s the kind of stat line that should produce a result.

55% possession. 10 corner kicks. More shots on target.

Instead, it produced another zero.

At some point, it stops being about whether Westchester can create chances and starts being about whether they can finish them. Because right now, the numbers say they’re doing enough to stay in matches. The results say something else entirely.

"You Don’t Win Friends With Salad" 

For the 914th Infantry, it was a tough night on multiple fronts.

A small traveling contingent made their way down to Richmond for the match, and while they may have walked away empty-handed, it still looked like an enjoyable away day.

Credit: @hudsontoharborny

Meanwhile, back in Westchester, the rest of the Infantry gathered at The Hollows, a very cool new space inside DeCicco & Sons in Sleepy Hollow, for a watch party. While the scoreline wasn’t what anyone wanted to see, it marked the start of a new chapter, as yet another Westchester business has opened its doors and its heart to Westchester SC and the 914th.

"Everything’s Coming Up… Ft. Wayne?" 

If Westchester was hoping to return to the friendly confines of Memorial Field and lick their wounds, they will be disappointed. The schedule now sends them to Indiana to take on Ft. Wayne this coming Saturday, May 9th.

For George Gjokaj and company, it’s another chance to end this road goal-less streak before things get really Spursy.

And as for the Infantry, the party moves again. This time to another new Westchester location, Smokehouse Tailgate Grill in New Rochelle, for the May 9th watch party.

Stay tuned for more info.