We head north of the border for the first time in 2017 this weekend when FC Cincinnati travel to Canada’s capital for their penultimate regular season match of the campaign. And with playoff places still on the line, there are some pretty important points for the taking in this one, too.
Read on to get an idea of what to look forward to in what remains an absolutely crucial match for the Orange & Blue.
WHEN
Sunday, October 8, at 2:00pm EDT.
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
OPPOSITION
We’ll be traveling to face first-year USL outfit Ottawa Fury.
VENUE
TD Place, Ottawa, Ontario
DIRECTIONS
FORM
FCC: The Orange & Blue enter this weekend’s fixture riding our longest undefeated run of the 2017 campaign. Currently sitting on six matches, we began that streak with a 3-1 home victory back on August 23rd against… the Ottawa Fury. During that unbeaten spell, the guys have posted a 3-0-3 record and have outscored their opponents by five goals. Even more promising? They've achieved half of those positive results on the road, reversing a concerning run of poor road form that’s dogged the team all season. That’s been imperative for a side that, while currently 8th in the East table with a match in hand, needs all the points they can get to assure a berth in the 2017 USL Playoffs. However, if FCC can hand them a loss, we'll extend our streak andguarantee our participation in post-season play.
OFFC: Though they currently rest in 13th place in the East, the Fury aren’t a team to be taken lightly. They’ve only lost once in seven matches since our last meeting, sandwiching that loss with six draws against teams in or around the playoff places above them. But, the Fury also haven't won since we faced them either, going 0-1-6 and slipping out of playoff contention. That said, they’ve only lost twice at home all season and will probably be quite happy to continue that form and play the role of spoiler to our own playoff hopes.
COACH
"We are excited to go to Canada’s Capital to play against Ottawa. Their league position is not a good reflection of the class that they have in their group and we know this will not be an easy challenge. They have lost very few matches recently and this will be a physical battle against a team that will now be playing with little to no pressure on them. We also know the importance of continuing to pick up points on the road in the race for playoffs."
- Head Coach Alan Koch
PLAYERS
FCC: Going six matches unbeaten is no easy feat, and FC Cincinnati have managed to pull that off despite not seeing much production from our forwards. The last goal scored by one our line-leading men in open play came back on August 23rd. However, if there’s a silver lining in that stat, that Danni König goal came against... the Ottawa Fury. And if the Danish striker is able to get on the scoresheet again, he’ll go level with Djiby – who hasn’t scored a USL goal of his own since July 22nd – at the top of the team scoring charts in 2017.
OFFC: If there’s one player that we need to keep our eyes on tomorrow, it’s Ottawa forward Steevan dos Santos (#8). Though he was sitting on just four goals in seventeen appearances going into our last meeting, he’s more than doubled that tally since and is currently on nine and leads the team in scoring. And if you recall, one of those was the lone goal Ottawa scored against us in that August meeting.
HISTORY
We’ve met the Fury just once previously in a competitive fixture, the aforementioned 3-1 win at Nippert on August 23rd thanks to goals from König, Jimmy McLaughlin and Sem de Wit. To be fair though, our record isn’t completely blemish-free against Ottawa. There was also a preseason meeting prior to the start of this season in Bradenton, where we drew 1-1 thanks to a Djiby headed goal.
WEATHER
Though there’s some rain in the early Sunday morning forecast, at the time of writing, all of that is set to clear out by mid-morning leaving us with cool and dry conditions at our 2pm kickoff. The temperature is currently looking like it will top out and stay around 72° F throughout the match.
WATCH
If you didn’t ready your passport to follow the team up to Canada, you can still watch our match here in Cincinnati on local television. Ottawa vs Cincinnati will be shown live on Star 64 (WSTR), with station info on most local providers available below.
Over the Air: Channel 12.2
Cincinnati Bell Fioptics: Channel 17 (SD) or 517 (HD)
Spectrum/TWC (OH): Channel 20/13 (SD) or 989 (HD)
Spectrum/TWC (KY): Channel 20 (SD) or 989 (HD)
DirecTV: Channel 25
DISH: Not Available
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.
