After opening the 2019 Carolina Challenge Cup with a win against the Charleston Battery, FC Cincinnati return to MUSC Health Stadium on Wednesday night for a second match in the round-robin tournament. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on charlestonbattery.com.
Cincinnati will play the Chicago Fire, an MLS opponent, after two consecutive friendlies against USL Championship teams. This is FCC’s sixth preseason game overall.
“Every exercise, every game is very exciting,” FCC Head Coach Alan Koch said. “I saw Chicago and Columbus (Crew SC) the other day and they drew, so we’re looking forward to playing them. It’s one of our (in-conference) competitors but it’s a preseason exercise and we’re going to approach it that way.”
The Fire will be the fourth MLS team the Orange and Blue play this preseason and will be the first of two MLS sides in four days. Cincinnati plays Columbus on Saturday night to end the CCC.
Koch said FC Cincinnati will enter the match following two of the longest practices of his coaching career on Monday and Tuesday. The third-year coach simply said there’s more to work on.
What to expect
Before beating the Charleston Battery, 2-1, last Saturday, Koch said FC Cincinnati would use two sets of players in that match and then rotate their roles against Chicago. Therefore, it’s expected Saturday’s starters will be second-half substitutes, while the second group from the Battery could draw starts against the Fire.
“It’s another beautiful game, another opportunity for us to prove what we’ve been working on, especially these last two days,” midfielder Victor Ulloa said. “Tactically, offensively, and defensively, we’d like to see what we’ve been working on.”
Club connections
Midfielder Corben Bone was picked No. 13 overall by the Fire in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. He made 18 league appearances in four seasons with the club.
Strength and Conditioning Coach Austin Berry was the No. 9 pick overall in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft and earned MLS Rookie of the Year honors. He played 62 matches for Chicago.
FC Cincinnati beat the Fire on penalty kicks in the fifth round of the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Nippert Stadium in their lone competitive meeting.
Carolina Challenge Cup standings
- FC Cincinnati — 3 points
- Chicago Fire — 1 point
- Columbus Crew SC — 1 point
- Charleston Battery — 0 points
