St. Louis CITY SC break record with third consecutive victory
By Alex Windley
St. Louis CITY SC continued their dream start to MLS life with a 2-1 victory away at the Portland Timbers, as goals by Jared Stroud and Kyle Hiebert sealed the deal.
After conceding early, St. Louis rallied back quickly, scoring two unanswered goals to go top of the Western Conference, just in front of LAFC and the Seattle Sounders.
“One or two could be fluky or lucky. And there's some bounces that have gone our way, but I also thought in those first couple of games, we were creating a lot of great looks,” said defender and goalscorer Kyle Hiebert.
St. Louis is now the first club in MLS since the LA Galaxy in 2015 to record three straight come-from-behind wins. They’re also the first team to do it in their first three games.
Like Hiebert’s sentiments, head coach Bradley Carnell doesn't believe their run of good form is due to luck and mentions that these come-from-behind wins will only make their team stronger in the long run.
“I thought it's a massive step for us together as a group this time, to show little moments of growth, every time I feel we hit a speed bump, I feel we get stronger. This will only serve us well down the line.”
Though some may say St. Louis was fortunate in how they’ve won their matches, the team doesn’t feel the same. They've carefully crafted their roster so they can play this specific style.
“This style of play is not easy. This style of play demands a lot of commitment, not just to the philosophy, but to each other as a teammate.”
Carnell stressed that while the team is in a good spot at the moment, there is still room to grow.
“...We felt every minute that the lights were not on us in MLS, these were moments for us to grow and get ready. We just taken everything in our stride. We feel we've achieved nothing and we have to keep it calm and exciting for next time."
St. Louis will look to add to their win column as they take on the San Jose Earthquakes, Saturday March 18th.