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USL FC Cincinnati

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

October 24, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
FC Cincinnati News Release


USL Cup Playoffs | Eastern Conference Semifinal

FC Cincinnati vs. New York Red Bulls II

Saturday, October 27, 2018 | 4 p.m.

Nippert Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio

TV: WSTR 64 | Radio: The Project 100.7/106.3 | Stream: ESPN+

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

Team Records

FC Cincinnati: 23-3-8, 77 pts. | First in USL East

New York Red Bulls II: 13-8-13, 52 pts. | Fifth in USL East

FC CINCINNATI TO HOST EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINAL PRESENTED BY MTN DEW KICKSTART

As FC Cincinnati prepares for its Eastern Conference Semifinal match against New York Red Bulls II on Saturday, the Orange and Blue will be energized by presenting sponsor Mtn Dew Kickstart

FC Cincinnati played Red Bulls II on two occasions during the USL regular season, recording wins in each match

Cincinnati won the first match 2-1 at Red Bull Arena on June 2, with goals from two of FCC's double-digit scorers - Emmanuel Ledesma and Danni König- powering the Orange and Blue to victory ... in the two sides' second meeting, FCC received goals from two of its center backs - Forrest Lasso and Paddy Barrett - to propel Cincinnati to a 2-1 victory at Nippert Stadium on July 21

FCC ADVANCES TO EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINAL FOR FIRST TIME

In its third season of USL play, FC Cincinnati advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinal round for the first time ... The Orange and Blue played Nashville SC to a 1-1 draw when the two sides remained tied after extra time ... FCC advanced on penalties, 6-5

FC Cincinnati has qualified for the USL Cup Playoffs in each of its three USL seasons ... in 2016, FCC fell to the Charleston Battery, 2-1, at Nippert Stadium ... in 2017, FC Cincinnati lost to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, 3-0, at Al Lang Stadium

Corben Bone recorded FC Cincinnati's second-ever goal scored in the USL Cup Playoffs when he scored in the 105th minute ... Eric Stevenson tallied for the Orange and Blue in the club's 2016 USL Cup Playoffs match against Charleston

In addition, Kenney Walker registered FC Cincinnati's second-ever assist recorded in the USL Cup Playoffs when he provided the helper on Bone's goal ... Sean Okoli notched the assist on Stevenson's goal in 2016

ORANGE AND BLUE GO TO PENALTIES FOR THIRD TIME IN CLUB HISTORY

For the third time in club history across all competitions, FC Cincinnati went to penalties in a single-elimination knockout tournament

FC Cincinnati previously went to penalties on two separate occasions during the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup ... Cincinnati advanced on penalties in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup in its fifth-round match against Chicago on June 28, 2017 ... in addition, FCC fell on penalties in the 2018 U.S. Open Cup in its fourth-round match against Minnesota United FC on June 6, 2018

Jimmy McLaughlin and Kenney Walker are the only two players to take a penalty in two of the three matches

Spencer Richey was in net for penalties for a second time with FC Cincinnati ... the Seattle native was also in net for FCC's U.S. Open Cup match against Minnesota United

Saturday's match was the sixth match to require extra time following 90 minutes ... The Orange and Blue are now 2-1-3 in matches requiring extra time

In addition to the three matches that remained deadlocked after 120 minutes, FCC played 120 minutes in three additional U.S. Open Cup matches ... Cincinnati played 120 minutes in its second-round match against AFC Cleveland on May 17, 2017, its semifinal-round match against New York Red Bulls on Aug. 15, 2017 and its second-round match against Detroit City FC on May 16, 2018

RICHEY STANDS TALL IN MAN OF THE MATCH PERFORMANCE

Goalkeeper Spencer Richey recorded five saves in FC Cincinnati's Eastern Conference Quarterfinal against Nashville SC ... with five saves, Richey tied his FC Cincinnati single-match high in saves, which he recorded on two other occasions ... the FCC goalkeeper previously made five saves at North Carolina FC on May 19 and at Louisville City FC on Sept. 11

Richey has posted a combined 11-1-3 record in USL regular-season and USL Cup Playoffs appearances ... During FC Cincinnati's 23-match unbeaten run to close the USL regular season, Richey registered an 8-0-2 record, recorded five shutouts, posted a 1.00 goals against average and saved 73 percent of the shots he faced

BONE BECOMES SECOND PLAYER TO REACH 100 APPEARANCES

Corben Bone reached 100 career appearances with FC Cincinnati across all competitions when he started and played 90 minutes against Nashville SC in the regular-season finale on Saturday, Oct. 13

Bone has made 101 appearances, including 93 starts, and has scored 16 goals and has added eight assists across all competitions ... Bone has made 90 USL regular-season appearances, three USL Cup Playoffs appearances, and eight U.S. Open Cup appearances for FCC

Jimmy McLaughlin made his 100th FCC appearance across all competitions when he started and played 90 minutes against Indy Eleven on Saturday, Sept. 29 ... McLaughlin has made 103 appearances, including 72 starts, and has scored 13 goals and has added 11 assists across all competitions ... McLaughlin has made 91 USL regular-season appearances, three USL Cup Playoffs appearances and nine U.S. Open Cup appearances for FC Cincinnati

FC CINCINNATI SETS USL'S UNBEATEN RECORD

FCC concluded the USL regular season with a 23-game unbeaten run during which time FCC was 17-0-6 in USL play ... with its draw against Nashville SC, the Orange and Blue set the longest single-season unbeaten streak in USL history

With the scoreless draw against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Oct. 6, the Orange and Blue tied the Richmond Kickers' mark of 22 consecutive unbeaten matches, the longest single-season unbeaten mark in USL history

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 went 10-0-2 at home and 7-0-4 on the road

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

Across all competitions, the Orange and Blue are unbeaten in their last 25 matches ... FC Cincinnati recorded a draw against Minnesota United FC on June 6 in the U.S. Open Cup ... in addition, Cincinnati registered a draw against Nashville SC in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal on Oct. 20

PREVIEW QUOTES

FC Cincinnati Head Coach Alan Koch

On if the team is working on different things or if training is lighter during the postseason...

"Two things, we're definitely working on different things this week than we worked on last week, because we're playing a very different team. Nashville and the Red Bulls are different teams and play in different ways. We're definitely monitoring the workload of the group and then the individual players. To go through a long season, but then also go through 120 minutes, we've got to be very, very careful in terms of making sure the guys are set up for success on Saturday."

On ways that training may be different in preparing for New York compared to Nashville...

"Just the way you train, just the different activities. The different amount of time that you have on the ball. We control variables like that in training as coaches. We can control that through the number of players that are on the pitch for an activity, you can control it through the size, you can control it through the time that you allow certain things to happen in that activity. So, there's a lot of different variables that we control to really try to simulate exactly what the game is going to be like on Saturday."

On the current health of the team...

"Everybody that is here is good, not 100 percent, but we wouldn't expect them to be 100 percent right now, particularly the guys that played a lot. We're going to give them [Wednesday] off and then come back [on] Thursday and Friday and really, really push the group to make sure everybody has heightened senses and is good to go for Saturday."

FC Cincinnati Defender Paddy Barrett

On how he is feeling physically after playing over 120 minutes against Nashville SC...

"I'm fine. [I] went to the chiropractor yesterday and that was nice to just go and recover. [We] had a recovery day yesterday, and obviously back at it today looking forward to Saturday. It was tough playing the 120 minutes because we haven't done it yet this year. Physically, I feel fine and I think all the lads feel fine as well, so we're looking forward to Saturday."

On New York Red Bulls II...

"We know how they play, they play a high press. They are a lot of young lads that are full of energy, they're a tough team to play against because of the way they play. They high press and in numbers as well, but once we play through that and stay calm under pressure, we can kind of play our own game from there, but we do know from the last two times that they gave us difficult games. Especially away [at New York], they were 1-0 up and they missed a penalty as well, so if they had scored that, it could've been different. But, obviously, the game turned and we came back and won, 2-1. But, it was the same here. It was two goals from two set pieces here that won us the game. We know what to expect Saturday and hopefully we can put on a performance like we did on Saturday night and get the win that we need."

On playing against a pressing team as a center back...

"Me as a player, I don't mind it because I like to play out from the back. But, obviously, it's a lot easier when teams sit off us for us defenders to play out from the back. I need to be quicker at the things I do, because I know there are players that are close by me. When teams do sit off, obviously the game is a bit [of a slower] tempo, we need to try to get in behind them because they sit off deep. [New York] is going to high press us and hopefully we can play through that and create more chances than we did on Saturday night and get on the end of one of them."

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