Westfield, Ind. – FC Cincinnati dropped its first game of the preseason after falling to Indy Eleven, 3-2, at the Grand Park Sports Campus. Nick Hagglund and Darren Mattocks scored first-half goals for the Orange and Blue. The match was FC Cincinnati’s fourth preseason game of the 2019 Major League Soccer Preseason presented by Advocare.
Cincinnati got on the scoresheet in the 12th minute off of a set piece. Forrest Lasso headed a Victor Ulloa corner kick towards the far post, Hagglund collected the ball and scored to give the Orange and Blue the early lead. Emmanuel Ledesma nearly doubled Cincinnati’s lead on a counter attack in the 18th minute, but his shot was corralled by Indy goalkeeper Jordan Farr.
Just prior to the half-hour mark, Indy found its equalizer in the 29th minute. Eugene Starikov set up a trialist, who slotted the ball past goalkeeper Przemysław Tytoń. Just minutes later, FC Cincinnati made seven substitutes, with Lasso, Ledesma, Tommy McCabe, and Blake Smith remaining in the match for the remainder of the half.
In the 34th minute, Indy recorded its second goal of the afternoon and took the lead. Matt Watson beat the backline on a through pass and snuck his shot past goalkeeper Spencer Richey. Less than a minute later, Mattocks brought things level once again after slotting a ball inside the far post after receiving a pass from Corben Bone. Indy nearly reclaimed the lead prior to halftime, but Richey made a diving save to keep the match at two goals apiece.
Cincinnati opened the second half with one substitution, as Frankie Amaya replaced Ledesma. After the home side registered a number of chances at the start of the second half, Indy tallied the eventual game-winning goal in the 60th minute. Although Richey was able to put a hand on Dane Kelly’s attempt, it slid past the keeper to put Indy back in front.
FC Cincinnati will depart to Charleston, S.C. on Thurs., Feb 14. The Orange and Blue will return to return to action on Sat., Feb. 16 against the Charleston Battery for their opening match of the 2019 Carolina Challenge Cup.
FC Cincinnati’s debut MLS game will be at Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday, March 2, at CenturyLink Field. The Orange and Blue will make their home debut as an MLS team at Nippert Stadium on Sunday, March 17, when the team hosts MLS Cup finalist Portland Timbers at 5 p.m. Season tickets, mini plans and individual-game tickets are on sale at fccincinnati.com/tickets or by calling 513-977-5425 (KICK).
For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team’s official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FCCincinnati. For more information about FC Cincinnati tickets, call 513-977-KICK (5425) or visit fccincinnati.com/tickets.
MLS Preseason
Indy Eleven 3, FC Cincinnati 2
Grand Park Sports Campus | Westfield, Indiana
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
SCORING SUMMARY
CIN – Nick Hagglund (Forrest Lasso, Victor Ulloa) 12’
IND – Trialist (Eugene Starikov) 29’
IND – Watson (unassisted) 34’
CIN – Darren Mattocks (Corben Bone) 35’
IND – Dane Kelly (Trialist) 60’
FC Cincinnati (First Half): Przemysław Tytoń (Spencer Richey 31’), Blake Smith, Forrest Lasso, Mathieu Deplagne (Justin Hoyte 31’), Nick Hagglund (Hassan Ndam 31’), Tommy McCabe, Victor Ulloa (Nazmi Albadawi 31’), Caleb Stanko Allan Cruz 31’), Emmanuel Ledesma (Frankie Amaya HT), Roland Lamah (Corben Bone 31’), Fanendo Adi © (Darren Mattocks 31’)
FC Cincinnati (Second Half): Spencer Richey, Blake Smith, Forrest Lasso, Tommy McCabe, Hassan Ndam, Justin Hoyte ©, Nazmi Albadawi, Allan Cruz, Corben Bone, Frankie Amaya, Darren Mattocks
Bench: Jimmy Hague
Indy Eleven (First Half): Jordan Farr, Trialist A, Karl Ouimette, Trialist B, Matt Watson, Ayoze García Pérez, Kenney Walker, Trialist C, Ilija Ilić, Eugene Starikov, Neveal Hackshaw (Trialist D 23’)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CIN – Blake Smith (caution) 77’
Weather: Indoor Facility
GAME NOTES
- Tommy McCabe, Blake Smith, and Forrest Lasso were the only players to log 90 minutes of action
- Nick Hagglund scored his first goal of preseason
- Darren Mattocks scored his second goal of preseason … he tallied in FCC’s preseason opener against the Montreal Impact at IMG Academy on Jan. 30, 2019
- Forrest Lasso recorded his second assist of preseason on Hagglund’s 12th-minute goal … Lasso registered an assist on Darren Mattocks’ goal in the preseason opener against the Montreal Impact … Lasso also recorded a goal in the Orange and Blue’s second preseason match against the Colorado Rapids on Feb. 2
- Victor Ulloa recorded his first assist of preseason when he notched the secondary assist on Hagglund’s 12th-minute goal
- Corben Bone picked up his first assist of preseason on Darren Mattocks’ 35th-minute goal
- Fanendo Adi wore the captain’s armband in the first half. After Adi exited the match, Justin Hoyte took over as captain for the final 60 minutes of play
POSTGAME QUOTES
FCC Head Coach Alan Koch
On Today’s Performance
“Firstly, the result doesn’t mean anything. We certainly didn’t get carried away when we beat Colorado and we don’t get too low when we lose to Indy. It was a good exercise. I’m glad we got as many players minutes as we did. I think some individuals rose to the challenge today and some players definitely didn’t, and that’s probably what led to a few of the opportunities we gave to Indy. Most importantly, it was another exercise. It gives us another opportunity to reflect. In preseason, reflecting on good exercises is a positive and reflecting on bad exercises is also a positive too. There were a few disappointing moments in the game today. That gives us a bigger body of work today to now go reflect on.”
On some players playing 90 minutes
“Well, it’s tough obviously. The first time you go play a full 90 minutes, you’re going to be feeling it the next day or two. So, the guys that, we’re obviously going to be very, very careful with them in terms of their workload the next day or two. But we want to increase as many guys now as we can to get them to 90 minutes because when the league starts, we’ve only got three subs. We need to push everybody at this time to get them used to playing 90 minutes.”
FCC Midfielder Corben Bone
On the team’s performance in the match.
“Yeah, it was good. It’s another preseason exercise for us to go out and get minutes and build relationships. Obviously, the result did not go the way we wanted it, but it is still preseason so you look at stuff beyond the result. You look at partnerships, the way you play as a team, and kind of moving towards buildings things collectively moving forward. I think overall, we got what we wanted out of it and it is just fun to play a fellow rival in the past and moving forward looking to more preseason matches.”
On midfield partnerships developing.
“It is good. It is always fun to play with good players. More and more at practice and on games. Seeing what the other players are good at and trying to build those relationships to make each other better. It is a fun process and I think so far, it’s been pretty good.”
How much does it test you to face players that are not teammates?
“It is good. Especially in preseason, you normally have a lot of training so you’re playing against yourselves. It is always nice and refreshing to get on the pitch and play an opponent different from yourselves, and you can test out things that you’ve worked out on training. You can put them in gameplay. So yeah, it is always nice to face an opponent other than yourself. We got three good ones coming up in Charleston, so it will be fun.”
On seeing former teammates
“It’s always nice to see friendly faces. You know those guys are awesome. That is one great about this game. You’ve got friends everywhere so it was great to see those guys.”
