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USL FC Cincinnati

Game Preview: FC Cincinnati at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

October 4, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Cincinnati News Release


USL Regular Season | Match #33

FC Cincinnati at Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Saturday, October 6, 2018 | 7 p.m.

Highmark Stadium | Pittsburgh, Pa.

TV: WSTR 64 | Stream: ESPN+

Talent: Tom Gelehrter (play-by-play), Kevin McCloskey (analyst)

Team Records

FC Cincinnati: 23-3-6, 75 pts. | First in USL East

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC: 15-4-12, 57 pts. | Third in USL East

MCLAUGHLIN REACHES, BONE CLOSES IN ON MILESTONE APPEARANCE

Jimmy McLaughlin made his 100th FCC appearance across all competitions when he started and played 90 minutes against Indy Eleven on Saturday, Sept. 29 ... meanwhile, Corben Bone remains two appearances shy of the mark, having made 98 appearances for the Orange and Blue in three seasons

McLaughlin has made 100 appearances, including 68 starts, and has scored 13 goals and added 11 assists across all competitions ... he has made 89 USL regular-season appearances, two USL Cup Playoffs appearances and nine U.S. Open Cup appearances for FC Cincinnati

Bone has made 98 appearances, including 90 starts, and has scored 13 goals and added eight assists across all competitions ... he has made 88 USL regular-season appearances, two USL Cup Playoffs appearances, and eight U.S. Open Cup appearances for FCC

FC CINCY CLAIMS THE USL'S ALL-TIME LONGEST WINNING STREAK

FC Cincinnati claimed its 10th consecutive USL win - the longest winning streak in USL history - when the Orange and Blue defeated Indy Eleven, 3-0, on Sept. 29 - besting the previous all-time longest winning streak of nine games, set by Real Monarchs SLC in 2017

Prior to the current streak, FCC's previous longest winning streak was four consecutive games, two of which were U.S. Open Cup contests, in May 2017

During the current streak, FCC has outscored its opposition 27-8 and has posted four clean sheets

FC CINCINNATI SEEKS TIE OF THE USL'S UNBEATEN RECORD

FCC enters Saturday's match riding a 21-game unbeaten run during which time FCC is 17-0-4 in USL play ... this is the longest undefeated run in club history

With the 2-1 win over Penn FC on Sept. 22, the Orange and Blue claimed the second-longest unbeaten streak in USL history, surpassing Orlando City SC's mark of 18 matches unbeaten, set in 2014 ... the Richmond Kickers set the USL's longest unbeaten run when they went unbeaten in 22 consecutive matches in 2013

FC Cincinnati has completed four consecutive unbeaten months after posting an unbeaten record in June (4-0-2), July (3-0-1), August (4-0-1) and September (6-0-0) ... overall, FCC has tallied eight unbeaten months in club history

During the run, FCC is 10-0-2 at home and 7-0-2 on the road

The club's previous longest undefeated run was 11 games in the first half of the 2016 season (7-0-4)

FCC RECORDS NINTH SERIES SWEEP OF 2018

FCC recorded its ninth series sweep of the USL regular-season when it defeated Indy Eleven, 3-0, on Saturday, Sept. 29

The series sweep of Indy Eleven is FC Cincy's first three-game sweep of an opponent this season

In addition, the Orange and Blue have claimed two-game sweeps against Atlanta United 2, Charleston Battery, New York Red Bulls II, North Carolina FC, Ottawa Fury FC, Penn FC, Richmond Kickers and Tampa Bay Rowdies

ADI NETS GOAL FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE HOME MATCH

Fanendo Adi scored his third goal of the season when he tallied against Indy Eleven in the 34th minute of the match ... Furthermore, the goal marked a third consecutive home match in which Adi has tallied for FCC

Adi provided the USL's Goal of the Week for Week 27 when his superb individual effort against Toronto FC II gave FCC its second goal of the match

The forward opened his USL account when he scored a late game-winner against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Saturday, Sept. 1

HISTORIC FOURSOME OF GOAL SCORERS

So far in 2018, Emmanuel Ledesma, Danni Konig, Nazmi Albadawi and Corben Bone have combined for 46 of FC Cincinnati's 69 goals ... that is more than 21 USL clubs have scored this season

When Albadawi scored at Richmond on Sept. 26, it marked the first time three FC Cincinnati goal scorers have reached double digits in a single season ... The Orange and Blue became the third USL club to ever record the feat, joining LA Galaxy II (2018) and New York Red Bulls II (2017)

Should Bone score another goal this season, it will mark the first time in USL history that a team has had four 10-goal scorers in a single season

2018: Emmanuel Ledesma (14), Danni Konig (11), Nazmi Albadawi (10), Corben Bone (9)

2017: Djiby (12), Danni Konig (11), Jimmy McLaughlin (5), Harrison Delbridge (3)

2016: Sean Okoli (16), Andrew Wiedeman (7), Jimmy McLaughlin (4), Three Players (3)

PREVIEW QUOTES

FC Cincinnati Head Coach Alan Koch

On how the team feels after a few days off...

"We start a new season today. We wrote a beautiful story together, that story is finished. Now we want to go build and write another story too. We have the next two weeks to prepare ourselves for the postseason and when you get there, you go one game at a time. We're not thinking about the final or anything like that. We've got two games to get ourselves ready for the first game, and that first game is all that matters right now."

On if there's a challenge in balancing amount of playing time while remaining sharp...

"It's not a challenge, to be honest. [With] this group, the guys have shown up since the first day of preseason and have come in and push each other every single day. You could see it again today, we did some exercises, we mixed the groups up and every player embraced the opportunity they had with whichever group they were put into. It's not going to be a challenge from that perspective. Healthy competition is what is going to bring the best out of us for the last few weeks."

On if anyone needs additional rest...

"Yeah, everybody needed rest, players and staff. That's why we gave them the three days off. It's pretty rare toward the end of the season to be able to give your team three days off, but by virtue of the work that the group did by winning the league a few weeks before the end of the regular-season, it was the time to give the guys the three days off, so everybody that needed rest, got rest. Everybody is healthy, other than Richie Ryan, who is not 100 percent yet, but he's come a long, long way. Richie was with the group again today, he wasn't close to finishing the training session, but he has made a lot of progress, so hopefully we'll be able to get him up to speed pretty quickly."

On how he thinks Pittsburgh will approach this game...

"It's obviously a big game for them to finish as high in the league as possible from a playoff standings perspective. So, it's a big game for them. But, it's a big game for us too. It's a really nice situation as far as I'm concerned, to play Pittsburgh and play Nashville, [who] are both competing for things still. [The games are] going to be very, very meaningful games for them, but also meaningful games for us in terms of preparation, preparing ourselves for the postseason. I'm glad we're playing two quality teams in the last two weeks, because you don't want to let off and you don't want to slow down, you want to be ramping up to get yourself ready for the postseason."

FC Cincinnati Midfielder Jimmy McLaughlin

On how he feels after a few days off...

"It's always good to get back on the field after a few days off, it was nice to have the rest, it was much needed. By the last day of the break, you're itching to get back on the field, so it's good to see everybody in the locker room and get a good session in today."

On if he has additional confidence following his two-assist performance against Indy...

"Yeah, absolutely. It's huge for me. Whenever you can put together a strong game like that, I think you try to carry the momentum and use it to keep building on it and replicate those performances throughout the rest of the season. It was really important for me and I'm excited to go out there and use that momentum and continue on with this good form through the final part of the season."

On the importance to maintaining focus through the final two matches before the USL Cup Playoffs...

"It's massive. You don't want to take any weeks off. Every game needs to be treated as a playoff game at this point. We need to do whatever we can to prepare for it. You can't go into the playoffs with a bit of a lull. Once you get into the playoffs, it's do-or-die. The margin for error is very small, so we need to make sure we're firing on all cylinders."

On if the final 10 days of the regular-season feel different than they did in previous years...

"Yeah, it's been different. Obviously, last year we were fighting for a spot at the end of the season. The first year, we were locking in our home game at the end of the season. Obviously, this is the best way to do it. At the same time, we see that there is the risk that if you take a couple games off, then you go into the playoffs not sharp. That's not what we're going to do, we're going to make sure that we're treating all these games like a playoff game, and kind of use it as two test runs to get ready for the playoff game."

On if it's beneficial to play against teams that still have something to play for in terms of regular-season finish...

"I think both of these games are going to be a playoff-type game. Both of these [teams] are fighting for positions, Nashville is fighting to get in and Pittsburgh is locking in their [first round home match]. They're both going to be coming out flying and they're both top teams, so it's a good test for us. I definitely think there's an added benefit to that."

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 4, 2018


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