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USL FC Cincinnati

Game Preview: FC Cincinnati vs. New York Red Bulls II

July 19, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Cincinnati News Release


USL Regular Season | Match #21

FC Cincinnati vs. New York Red Bulls II

Saturday, July 21, 2018 | 7:30 p.m.

Nippert Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio

TV: WSTR 64 | Stream: ESPN+ | Radio: ESPN 1530 AM

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

Team Records

FC Cincinnati: 12-3-5, 38 pts. | First in USL East

New York Red Bulls II: 8-5-7, 31 pts. | Fourth in USL East

MID-SEASON LEAGUE HONORS FOR ORANGE AND BLUE

The USL conducted fan polling for its midseason awards and a pair of FC Cincinnati talents were honored

Emmanuel Ledesma was voted the league's midseason Most Valuable Player, earning 55 percent of the fan vote among five players ... Phoenix Rising FC's Solomon Asante finished second in voting with 21 percent

Head coach Alan Koch was voted the midseason Coach of the Year ... Koch recorded 49 percent of the vote, besting Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC skipper Bob Lilley (19 percent)

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Wednesday's win over Charlotte featured defensive dominance from the Orange and Blue

Both of FCC's goals were scored by central defenders ... Dekel Keinan notched Cincinnati's first goal in the seventh minute, and Forrest Lasso doubled the lead in the 20th minute ... both were first-time goal-scorers this season

Additionally, the Cincinnati defense posted its ninth shutout of the season -and its fourth straight and sixth in the last eight games

Postgame, Lasso noted: "Scoring is a great feeling. Obviously, as a defender it's a little rare. I'd rather get a clean sheet every day of the week than score. So, I guess I got a little selfish tonight."

KEEPING IT CLEAN

Goalkeeper Even Newton has now gone 375 minutes without allowing a goal and 381 minutes without allowing a goal at Nippert Stadium

The home stretch is now the longest home shutout streak in club history

FC Cincinnati's current 375-minute shutout stretch across all competitions is the second longest in club history: 1) 405 minutes (includes playoff match) - Sept. 5-Oct.1, 2016 ... 2) 375 minutes - June 27-present, 2018 ... 3) 343 minutes - May 7-June 4, 2016

CLEANING UP IN THEIR OWN END

FC Cincinnati comes into the weekend - against the USL's most prolific offense - riding a four-game shutout streak ... FCC has also yet to allow a goal in July

The last goal FCC allowed came in the 75th minute at Toronto on June 27 ... Cincinnati now has a 375-minute shutout streak intact entering Saturday's game against New York, who leads the USL in goals (43) and goals per game (2.15 gpg)

With nine clean sheets through 20 games, FC Cincinnati has already eclipsed its 2017 mark of seven shutouts and is now one back of the club's single-season record of 10, which it set in 2016

Wednesday's shutout was the club's fourth straight, marking the second time in club history that FCC has shut out opponents in four straight games ... the last time it happened was Sept. 11- 24 2016, when the team closed the 2016 regular season with four straight shutouts

A shutout on Saturday would push the streak to five games, and would mark the longest time and game shutout streaks in club history

RECORD-SETTING CROWD ON HAND WEDNESDAY

A record-setting 25,251 fans attended Wednesday's game against Charlotte, setting the USL attendance record for a midweek game

The old record was set earlier this year - by FC Cincinnati - when the Orange and Blue welcomed 22,407 fans to Nippert Stadium on June 13 for the Bethlehem Steel FC game

It was the sixth crowd of 25,000 or more this season at Nippert Stadium ... ... the team's season high so far was 28,026 for the Richmond Kickers game on June 16

Cincinnati is averaging 25,029 fans per game - an 18 percent increase over the team's 21,199 per game average in 2017

FCC already had to stop selling season-ticket packages early as the team exhausted its full-season inventory at 18,000 season tickets

UNDEFEATED RUN CONTUNUES

FCC enters Saturday's riding a nine-game unbeaten run during which time FCC is 6-0-3

During the run, FCC is 4-0-1 at home and 2-0-2 on the road

This is the second-longest undefeated run in club history ... the club's longest undefeated run was 12 games in the first half of the 2016 season (7-0-5)

Check out the FC Cincinnati Statistics

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from July 19, 2018


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