You know you’ve hit a busy stretch in your season when it feels like a month has passed since you last played… but it’s actually only been a week. That said, it is a holiday weekend. And what better way is there to kick off your Memorial Day weekend than to take in the Orange & Blue’s fourth home match in the last two weeks?!
Read on to find out what you can look forward to and how the team are looking in the full match preview below.
WHEN
Saturday, May 27th, at 5pm – Please be sure to note the earlier kickoff!
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
PROMOTION(S):
We’re encouraging all fans to wear their FC Cincinnati blue tomorrow night as we look to Blue Out Nippert to honor members of our military and first responders during our second annual Hometown Heroes Night, presented by Western & Southern! Not only are special discount codes available to them through local departments and offices, but also watch for honorary captains and a special halftime salute.
OPPOSITION
For the third straight league match, FCC will be facing a Major League Soccer reserve side when Toronto FC II come to Cincinnati. Tworonto are in their third year in the USL, and are coming off of a 13th-place Eastern Conference in 2016 that saw them finish 6-17-5.
VENUE
Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
DIRECTIONS
FORM
FCC: After an up and down first month, the squad finally feels like it’s finding its feet this season. Since the start of May, the Orange & Blue have lost just once in four outings. Those positive results have included a come-from-behind road draw at Richmond, a valuable win in the Open Cup and a confidence boosting win against a Bethlehem side that’s given us trouble this year. And the boys will undoubtedly be looking to end the month on a high note before returning to the road next weekend.
TFCII: While things seem to be improving for us, Toronto have experienced the opposite this month. The Young Reds sit bottom of the East and haven’t managed a win since their first game of the season at Phoenix. They’ve also picked up just two points from their last five matches. Interestingly, Toronto aren’t conceding goals in bunches this year. Instead, their results can be linked directly to their struggles to score: in ten matches so far, they’ve only found the back of the net three times.
COACH
"We look forward to playing a young and talented Toronto team this Saturday. We are aware that they have numerous talented players in their club and look forward to embracing whoever they select for this game. We are also excited to add Justin Hoyte back in to the group as he returns from injury. His return adds to the positivity of the group and we hope to go out and put in another good performance for our fans."
- Head Coach Alan Koch
PLAYERS
FCC: Just two matches in after arriving in a trade from Oklahoma City, new arrival Danni König has made quite the impression. While his first appearance against Orlando didn’t yield much in the way of goals, the industrious Dane was at the double against Bethlehem where he chipped in the opener and eventual winner. Also, could we see a return appearance for another newcomer on Saturday? Defender Justin Hoyte is in contention after resuming training this week following a six week spell on the touchline with a hamstring issue.
TFCII: With their offense sputtering, a surprisingly stout Toronto defense has been propped up by the excellent play of goalkeeper Angelo Cavalluzzo. Three clean sheets in seven appearances for a team in 15th place in the conference is fairly impressive. Also, be wary of Toronto’s ability to pull down players from the MLS first team. Players with attacking flair like Jordan Hamilton or Raheem Edwards – the latter of whom gave us quite a bit of trouble in 2016 – could easily be dropped in to give the team’s attack a little more bite.
HISTORY
Saturday’s fixture will be the third meeting between FCC and Toronto FC II, with both the previous results ending in 2-1 wins for the good guys. The first of those wins came in Ontario in April, propelled on by second half goals from Andrew Wiedeman and Omar Cummings. The second victory at Nippert was in June, where an Eric Stevenson give-and-go winner followed up a Harrison Delbridge header.
WEATHER
After last week’s heavily extended 90th minute rain delay, you can’t fault us for closely watching the weather all week. And all week long, there’s been the threat of rain in Saturday’s forecast. That threat of rain is still there, but the forecast has improved dramatically over the last 24 hours! Several models are now predicting that the rain should clear out by late afternoon and that we could be in store for a dry – albeit humid – 78° F by the time we get to kickoff on Saturday at 5pm.
WATCH
This weekend’s match will be broadcast live on Star 64 (WSTR). Most local providers’ station information can be found below:
Over the Air: Channel 64
Cincinnati Bell Fioptics: Channel 11 (SD) or 511 (HD)
Spectrum/TWC (OH): Channel 11 (SD) or 1011 (HD)
Spectrum/TWC (KY): Channel 11 (SD) or 915 (HD)
DirecTV: Channel 64
DISH: Channel 8354
Not in the local viewing area? No problem! Every match in the USL is available to stream as well, and this match is available for free on YouTube.
LISTEN
All FC Cincinnati home matches are broadcast live on local radio on ESPN 1530, which can be streamed for free through their iHeartRadio feed.
SOCIAL
As is the case every match, you can follow along with the action on our Twitter feed at @fccincinnati. For live looks from before, during and after the match, follow us on Instagram and Snapchat by following 'fccincinnati', too. Halftime and full time updates will also be available on Facebook.
