The wait is over. Professional soccer officially returns to Cincinnati this weekend as FC Cincinnati returns to Nippert Stadium for their first USL regular-season home match of 2017. What’s in store? A whole lot, that’s what! So get the 4-1-1 on the match, the day’s events and more in our full match preview.
WHEN
Saturday, April 15th, at 7pm
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
OPPOSITION
Saint Louis FC will be the first side to line up across from us at Nippert in 2017. New to the Eastern Conference in 2017 – though they were in the Western Conference in 2016, Saint Louis was in the East in their inaugural season in 2015 – Saint Louis are coached by former US Men’s National Team standout Predrag Radosavljević, better known as Preki.
VENUE
Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
DIRECTIONS
FORM
FCC: The ball didn’t exactly bounce in the Orange & Blue’s direction last time out. FCC dropped their second match in three last Sunday in Pennsylvania when they fell 2-0 to Bethlehem Steel FC. Admittedly, an early injury to new left back Justin Hoyte coupled with Paul Nicholson’s send-off in the 23rd minute didn’t help a side making its third straight appearance on the road. Luckily, the friendly confines of Nippert beckon, and the team has been hard at work this week to get the train back on track
SLFC: While things aren’t exactly going according to plan for FCC, the opposite could be said about this week’s opposition. Saint Louis currently top the Eastern Conference and league with a 3-0-1 record, their only dropped points coming in a season-opening 0-0 draw at Louisville City. Preki’s men have looked threatening in all of their outings so far, having scored eight goals in their other three matches… but they’ve also conceded five.
COACH
"The team are ready and excited to welcome our fans back to Nippert. We start our home schedule against league-leading Saint Louis and will need the Cincy faithful to get behind our players. The squad are ready for the challenge and look forward to putting in a quality performance on our home pitch."
- Head Coach Alan Koch
PLAYERS
FCC: With the early red card last week, the FCC offense was forced into the backseat when Wiedeman was sacrificed to fill the hole in the backline. So don’t be surprised to see the team aim to rebound this weekend with an offensive outpouring. Additionally, many will be watching to see if a few of the players out due to injury recently will have impact against Saint Louis. Both defender Austin Berry and attacker Daryl Fordyce made returns in Wednesday’s reserve outing against the University of Dayton, and as such, could be in the squad this weekend.
SLFC: Saint Louis’ potent attack so far this season has been primarily fueled by two players new to the team in 2017: Christian Volesky (#9) and José Angulo (#19). Volesky, who has three goals and an assist already this season, spent the previous three seasons with the Rochester Rhinos bagging 20 goals along the way. Angulo joins Preki’s outfit after spending the last two years with the Ft. Lauderdale strikers, but he was USL MVP in 2013 after a 15 goal season while playing with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
HISTORY
This will be the third meeting between the two sides. The first two tilted decidedly in Cincinnati’s favor, with the Orange & Blue winning both with a score line of 2-1. The first of those came on the road in July with Omar Cummings and Eric Stevenson tallying the goals. The second victory came at Nippert in September, where a Sean Okoli brace was enough to overcome the visitors on their last trip to Cincinnati.
WEATHER
Our inaugural home opener last season fell on April 9th, and the supporters were subjected to frosty temperatures in the 30’s. This year will be a completely different story. The forecast at kickoff is currently calling for temperatures near 80° F, with nothing but partly cloudy skies. #OhioWeather
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
Home matches will once again be broadcast live on the radio by ESPN 1530, and you can stream their broadcast live here.
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.
