FC Cincinnati returns to their travels for their fourth away match and sixth regular season match of the 2018 season. Check out our 5 Things to Know for FC Cincinnati’s match against Ottawa Fury FC.
Where: Ottwaw, ON – TD Place Stadium
When: Saturday, April 28th at 2:00 p.m. EST
2018 Form: FC Cincinnati – 6th Place (2W-1L-2D, 8 pts.), Ottawa Fury FC – 16th Place (0W-3L-1D, 1pt)
YOUR FAVORITE PEOPLE THIS WEEK – Ref Assignments:
REF: CANADA CSA, AR1: CANADA CSA, AR2: CANADA CSA, 4TH: CANADA CSA
March to Matchday Podcast – FC Cincinnati vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC:
Join host Bryan Weigel (@bryanweigel) with co-host Boston Brazzell (@bostonkeith), as they preview FC Cincinnati’s sixth USL regular season match of 2018 facing Ottawa Fury FC. This show will hopefully fit in your drive time to work, to the pub on game day or lead you right up to game time. We hope you enjoy!
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5 Things to Know
Rotation: FC Cincinnati hits a little period of fixture congestion for the first time this season and fans will get the opportunity to see how Coach Koch decides to handle this. With 3 games in an 8-day stretch, it seems certain that some players are going to be rested and likely that we’ll see a player or two or three get their first start. With Ottawa in last place in the table, this would be a likely game for Koch to roll out some new faces, especially ahead of the game Wednesday against current fourth place Indy Eleven. Fans saw Cicerone in the 18 in the last game, could he get a start for this one to make sure Ledesma is rested for Indy? What about Ryan in midfield? With Walker back from injury does Coach Koch rest Ryan as well? Or maybe he tries out the latest signing, Lahoud? And of course, the Lasso / Keinan duo has been a fixture in the back, but perhaps it’s time for Barrett to show his stuff. Of course, picking up 3 points could be the priority and Koch may come out with his XI from last week with the plan to rest for Indy or Atlanta.
Road Form: Last year, FCC struggled on the road. Their first three games of the season were away games, and they only picked up 3 points (1-W, 2-L, 0-D) with the fourth game ending in a draw for 4 points out of four games. The entire season, Cincinnati only won four games on the road. Their away record this season is already improved with 7 points in 3 games (2-W, 0-L, 1-D). A win against Ottawa would be a dramatic improvement over last year’s road form. If Coach Koch is looking to get the road form monkey off his back from last year, he’ll be trying to pick up 6 points in these next 2 games and be on par with last year after only 7 games of the season.
Off to a Rough Start: The Fury are off to a rough start this season. They have only earned one point in their first four games. Their first 2 games, they bled goals giving up four to Charlotte and five to Tampa. Against Pittsburgh, they only gave up a single goal, but Coach Lilly is known for a score and bunker style of soccer so if a team can’t break down his defense, he’ll happily take a 1-0 victory. The only point they earned came against North Carolina, another team struggling at the beginning of this season.
Club History: The two teams met three times last year. In the preseason, they tied. During the season, each game resulted in 4 goals. At home, a 3-1 victory for the Orange and Blue, and away, at the end of the season, Ottawa handed Cincinnati an embarrassing 0-4 loss. With FCC’s road form and Ottawa’s rough start, it would be easy for fans to assume an easy win, but Ottawa struggled last year and missed the playoffs, and they still were able to do some damage when the teams had their last contest.
Doneil Henry: The Fury have obviously been trying to figure out how to shore up its defense after giving up 9 goals in their first two games. Their solution appears to be to acquire Doneil Henry on loan from the Vancouver Whitecaps. Henry is a Toronto FC Academy product who signed with Toronto FC in 2010. He moved to Europe in 2015 and spent time with West Ham and Blackburn before returning to Canada with Vancouver this year. He brings MLS and European experience to Ottawa. However, at the end of 2016, Henry suffered an ACL tear that ended his season. He did not play any games in 2017. The question, if he starts on Saturday, is where he is regarding fitness level. Henry only appeared in a handful of games while in Europe. Upon his return, he was unable to crack the starting lineup in Vancouver. Robinson, the Whitecaps head coach said, “Doneil has worked extremely hard to get himself fit this season. This is a great opportunity for him to play in some games and take that important next step in his recovery before returning to the club in a month’s time.”
Growler Cup – Round 6
Returning for 2018 is our Growler Cup! If you contribute $5/ month or more as a supporter of the site, you are entered into the Growler Cup prediction contest. Supporters of the show along with our hosts will predict the score and result for the upcoming week’s match. We have changed the rules for 2018. You get 3 pts for picking the correct result, 1 pt for correct FCC goals and 1pt for correct opponent goals. There will be many opportunities to win as well in 2018. Along with the overall champion (2017 – Chris Dimeo), fans can get on our show to chat with the staff or partake in a trivia contest by scoring the most amount of points in a given month. You will see the predictions of our staff below. Please consider supporting the site at CincinnatiSoccerTalk.com/Support.
Week 6 Recap: FC Cincinnati 2, Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2
Staff Standings:
| 11 | Ken |
| 10 | Seubs |
| 9 | Yosief |
| 9 | |
| 8 | Boston |
| 7 | Bryan |
| 7 | Bill |
| 6 | Griffin |
| 5 | Ben |
| 4 | Rob |
| 4 | Trisha |
Supporter Groups Pregame Match Parties
The supporters groups will be taking up residence at their favorite away match viewing locations. See the list below for more information.
Die Innenstadt: Rhinehaus OTR – 19 E 12th St, Cincinnati 45202
The Pride: 50 West Production Works – 7605 Wooster Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45227
The Pride Norden: BC Bottle Lodge Montgomery – 8175 Hetz Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45242
Queen City Firm: Bucketheads – 6507 Harrison Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45247
The Bailey Bastards: Murphy’s Pub Clifton – 2329 W Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45219
To see other viewing party venues, check out FC Cincinnati’s list of Pub Partners.
Viewing
TV: This contest is set for a 2:00 p.m. EST kickoff on Saturday night. Broadcasting partner Sinclair Broadcasting Group will now air all FC Cincinnati home & away matches. The broadcast duo of Tom Gelehrter and Kevin McCloskey will provide the play-by-play and color analysis to FCC fans live on WSTR Star 64. The match will also be broadcast at FC Cincinnati’s pub partners or by Streaming internet on ESPN+.
RADIO: ESPN 1530 AM
Stay tuned to our Twitter handle – @CincySoccerTalk, for updated information.
@billwwolf of @CincySoccerTalk
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