Club moves to seven matches unbeaten following 2-0 win over Harrisburg.
CINCINNATI, Ohio — FC Cincinnati stretched its unbeaten streak to seven games and posted the second clean sheet in the regular season with a 2-0 win over Harrisburg City Islanders in front of 16,097 Saturday night at Nippert Stadium.
“Really excited for the boys,” said Head Coach John Harkes. “In terms of the week of training, great preparation. I think the attitude was great coming in. We thought they would take the game to us and they did. We created the first goal extremely well. Movement off the ball and inter-changing is something we do in pattern play. [Andrew] Wiedeman had an unbelievable strike. It’s something you jump out of your seat for.”
Wiedeman launched a 25-yard strike in the 19th minute to put the home side ahead in the first half, scoring his first goal since Apr. 24 in the 2-1 1win over Toronto FC II. The goal was the result of a spectacular display of ball movement. As Corbon Bone moved down the field, he would feed Pat McMahon, who passed the ball off to Wiedeman. Wiedeman placed goal just above the outstretched arm of Islander keeper, Keasel Broome.
FCC capitalized late in the eighty-ninth minute with its second and final goal of the match coming from Sean Okoli’s penalty kick. The penalty kick stemmed from a mishandled ball by the Islanders that FCC’s Andrew Hoppenot would collect. As he broke down the field, Hoppenot was tripped up from behind by City FC’s Shawn McLaws.
From the start of the match FC showed the consistency of their attack on the Islander defense and relentlessly maintained it through the first half of play. Though the first half marked a number of impressive offensive opportunities, the FCC defense also had a strong showing as the club matched the physical style of play from Harrisburg City.
The physicality of the match continued into the second half, when FCC defender, Harrison Delbridge, went up for a header and took a hard elbow on the cheek from Harrisburg City’s Aaron Wheeler as the two collided mid-air in the 53rd minute. Wheeler would receive a red card for the play forcing the Islanders to play a man down for the remainder of the contest.
The Orange and Blue next match is this Wednesday at Tampa Bay Rowdies for the second match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The winner will face off with the Columbus Crew of the MLS.
FCC’s next USL match will be June 4 against Richmond Kickers at 7:00 p.m.
