They don't get much more devastating than the loss FC Cincinnati endured in their 3-2 Hell is Real defeat to the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field on Friday.
Cincinnati were just 15 minutes away from a cathartic 2-1 victory after Isaac Atanga silenced the home crowd with a go-ahead goal, giving the visitors the lead after a Lucas Zelarayan free-kick golazo originally put them in a 1-0 hole.
But, as has been the case too many times this season, Cincinnati couldn't hold on, conceding two goals to Columbus substitute Miguel Berry across a two-minute span to extend their winless streak to 11 games.
Giving away points from a winning position against a rival is always a tough pill to swallow. But the frustration is compounded by how this is far from the first time Cincinnati have relinquished a late lead this season. In the last Hell is Real matchup, at TQL Stadium last month, Cincinnati surrendered a two-goal lead against a Columbus side that was down to 10 men.
"It's always tough in a match like this, where it's high intensity," Ronald Matarrita, who scored his side's opening goal, said through a translator after the match. "But we're losing matches in the last 15 minutes and we need to be better. We need to fix that. That's what's causing us to lose matches, is the last 15 minutes, so we need to be better."
One player is never solely to blame for a result, but two questions on head coach Jaap Stam's postgame video call centered around goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer, who initially saved both shots on Berry's two late goals, yet spilled them for rebound finishes.
While Stam said that the 35-year-old goalkeeper himself would likely admit that he could have done better, the coach also said that his team's concessions, and the defensive lapses as a whole, are about more than just Vermeer.
"Can Kenneth do better, that's probably one of your questions. Yeah, he needs to probably hold onto it," Stam said. "The other thing we need to do when we need to track back, we need to defend, you need to give your life for it to hold onto that lead.
"We also need to be honest, and Kenneth knows it as well, sometimes if there's a shot on target then you need to also handle the ball so it's not falling in front of the opposition's feet," he added. "In saying that, you also need to understand that when a ball comes at you at 100 miles an hour, sometimes it's not easy to take the time and think, 'I'm going to put that ball in that corner over there, so nobody can touch it.' So that's the thing we need to understand as well. For Kenneth and for me as a coach and for all the players, you need to take your responsibility. So he knows that as well and we all know he could have done better in those situations."
The ending soured a competitive showing from Cincinnati against their Ohio-based rivals in an entertaining, back-and-forth Heineken Rivalry Week encounter that saw both sides create plenty of chances to add to the scoreline.
Though Friday's result leaves them 10 points adrift of the Eastern Conference's playoff line, Cincinnati will also know that time is running out to make a postseason charge.
"Sometimes we're not maybe decisive or not or aggressive enough or ruthless enough in certain moments as well to kill the game or to hold onto that lead," Stam said. "The players need to keep it [positive] as well, and that's difficult and it's frustrating that it's not working and they can't keep hold of it.
"The players feel that as well in how we play and what we're doing, it's working very well and it's giving us a lot of enjoyment, but still if you keep on drawing or if you keep on losing the game, then of course their heads are going to go down, that's normal, that's how it works in sports in general. The coming week – it's a whole week we have – we need to get the guys in good spirits and keep believing in what they're doing."
