After five straight matches at Nippert, the Orange & Blue hit the road for the first time in nearly a month this weekend. The weekend also marks the return of league play after a successful fourth round Open Cup showing in the midweek. So what can you expect out of the boys, and the opposition for that matter? Read on to find out.
WHEN
Saturday, June 3rd, at 6pm
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
OPPOSITION
We’ll be traveling to Upstate New York to face the Rochester Rhinos. Now in the 21st season, the Rhinos are arguably the most decorated team when it comes to trophies in our league. In total, they’ve lifted a USL/USL-forerunner championship trophy a total of five times, most recently winning the USL Championship in 2015.
VENUE
Capelli Sport Stadium, Rochester, New York
DIRECTIONS
FORM
FCC: After a rocky start to the 2017 campaign, the Orange & Blue have looked far sharper over the last few weeks. Improvements on both sides of the ball have seen us go 4-1-1 in all competitions in the month of May, only conceding 4 times over that stretch. However, only one of those matches came on the road – the 1-1 draw in Richmond way back on May 6th. Regardless, the improved form has seen the club climb out of bottom half of the table and all the way to fourth in the Eastern Conference.
RR: While the Rhinos reside below us in the East table in ninth, don’t take them lightly. Due to scheduling, the Rhinos have actually played four matches less than we have to this point. Furthermore, they’re currently riding a six-match unbeaten run into Saturday’s fixture, including a 1-0 win over the second-placed Tampa Bay Rowdies in their last league fixture at home. On the plus side, they were taken all the way to double-overtime in their Wednesday Open Cup draw before they were able to down amateur side GPS Omens 2-1. So it’s possible tired legs could be a factor.
COACH
"This has been a super busy period of the season, but the players are confident despite having to play so many matches in a short amount of time. We know going to Rochester will be a tough challenge and we may have to make some changes to the lineup to manage our players’ work-loads. However, whichever players we put out, they will embrace the game and we will leave everything that we have out on the field for our club."
- Head Coach Alan Koch
PLAYERS
FCC: With so many matches in such a short period of time, don’t be surprised to see some of our first-team regulars rotated out of the squad in favor of some players who haven’t seen as many minutes of late. Among the players that could make a showing on Saturday is new arrival, Josu. The Spanish defender arrived stateside in time to enjoy our victory in the Cup on Wednesday, and will be available for selection this weekend.
RR: Rochester saw a decent amount of turnover after the 2015 season, but they’ve seem to have found their feet already this season despite a sporadic schedule thus far. Currently pacing the team with three goals in six matches is German defender Wal Fall (#17), though three others are on two each and another two are on one apiece – suffice to say, they’re spreading the love around. Also be sure to keep an eye out for pacey forward Jalen Brown (#22), who starred for Xavier University the last four years and faced us during the 2016 preseason.
HISTORY
We’ve met the Rhinos just twice prior to Saturday’s matchup, and we’ll enter that match still looking for our first win against them. The first of those meetings resulted in a 1-2 loss in Rochester in July, 2016. The return match at Nippert in August did see an improvement, though that ended in a 1-1 draw.
WEATHER
It should be a great night for soccer on the Southern shore of Lake Huron tomorrow night. Cooler temperatures in the upper 60’s await the Orange & Blue at kickoff, with not a drop of rain expected in the current forecast.
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
Away matches are not broadcast on local radio in 2017.
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.
