St. Louis City SC defender Kyle Hiebert lost a contact lens Saturday night — actually, he knew where it was, he just couldn’t use it — and picked up a yellow card at the same time.
The contact lens was actually crumpled up in the corner of his left eye, presumably after contact with someone, but he couldn’t get it loose to get it back into place. Eventually he got it out and replaced it with a spare one he brought with him.
“It was only one eye, so at first I tried to close one eye and see if I could play like that,†he said. “And I was like, I can’t do that. So I was like, I’ve got to get this sorted out. It was high up in my eye, all crumpled up. It was still in my eye but it had come off the pupil.â€
City SC defender Kyle Hiebert and Chicago Fire FC attacker Hugo Cuypers compete for possession on Saturday, May 11, 2024, in the second half of a game at CityPark.
As for the yellow card, in the 87th minute, Hiebert is unsure of the specific reason. The contact saga began in front of City SC’s net and Hiebert finally got up and walked toward City SC’s bench, before going to his knees again. That’s where he got the yellow card, which is listed in the game play by play as being for “poor sportsmanship,†which in this case presumably means stalling. It’s just the sixth yellow card he’s gotten in 49 MLS regular-season games.
People are also reading…
“ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were telling me to go down,†he said. “So I went down. The ref came and gave me a yellow. I don’t know who I need to talk to to appeal that.â€
Hiebert has started both games for City SC so far as part of the team’s three center back formation, a group that has allowed no goals so far.
“We’ve got a little more stability with three in the back,†Hiebert said. “I think some good moments box defending, and then the guys in front of us are doing the work nonstop to give us the opportunity to minimize their chances. So I think it’s just been a collective group.
“I like being outside center back, so it fits me. I can play on the left or the right. I played a bit of both them in both games, so I really enjoy three in the back. You’re kind of a hybrid center back, fullback. You have a couple of those 1 v. 1 moments outside but a lot of box defending moments and if one center back gets beat, then the rest of us who are covering for him. Trying to have a good relationship with Henry Kessler and Jannes Horn and I think we’ve done a good job so far this year.â€
Nilsson still out
Joakim Nilsson will apparently miss a third game with the knee injury he suffered in the team’s closed-door scrimmage the Saturday before their season opener, but coach Olof Mellberg is hoping to have the center back back on the field in practice next week.
“We’re going to have a good look at that knee on Friday,†Mellberg said, “and we’re hoping to get good news from the doctor that he can start training.â€
Another City SC center back, Timo Baumgartl, has yet to get in a game with the club. Baumgartl was brought over from Germany in the winter transfer window for coverage in case Nilsson got hurt again. Baumgartl last played a game on Feb. 24, 2024.
“He’s had a longer period where he hasn’t played a lot of games,†said Mellberg. “He got minutes in preseason, but he needs even more minutes to be at the level where he wants to be. … He’s fit and working hard. It’s just all of those things you get from playing games, timing, game-like situations, you might not get in training. At the moment, we have a lot of center backs doing really well, so that’s probably the position where he have the most competition at the moment.â€
Crowded schedules, but not for City SC
City SC’s next two opponents, the Los Angeles Galaxy and Seattle Sounders, are two of the remaining 16 teams in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It also could be a break for City SC.
The second round of the regional club championship begins this week, which means midweek games each of the next two weeks for the Galaxy and Sounders. City SC faces the Galaxy next Sunday in Carson, California, which will be the third match for the Galaxy in three countries in eight days. The Galaxy played at Vancouver on Sunday in an MLS match, face Herediano in Costa Rica on Wednesday and then goes home to play City SC on Sunday.
The following week, Seattle will play Los Angeles FC on Saturday, travels to Mexico to face Cruz Azul in the Champions Cup, and then comes to St. Louis to face City SC that Saturday. For Seattle, the City SC game will be its fifth in 15 days.
City2 opens on Sunday
City2, City SC’s team in the MLS Next Pro developmental league, begins Sunday with a rematch of last season’s Western Conference championship game (and de facto MLS Next Pro championship game) with North Texas, Dallas’ developmental team, in Arlington, Texas.
City2 has a new coach, David Critchley, who’s been a coach in the team’s academy system since it started. He succeeds Bobby Murphy, who left to run a USL League One team in Maine.
City2’s roster includes three of the team’s draft picks from the past two seasons, Brendan McSorley from the 2023 draft and forward Emil Jaaskelainen and goalkeeper Colin Welsh from the 2024 draft.
They also will likely have one of the most exciting players in the organization, Mykhi Joyner, who had 16 goals last season, the second-most in the league. Joyner has a first-team contract, but has been training with City2.
City2 plays its first two matches on the road and then opens its home season March 23 against Sporting KC.
