USL Ottawa Fury FC

Match Preview | Ottawa Fury FC v. Louisville City FC

Published on September 21, 2018 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release


OTTAWA - The final countdown is here and Ottawa Fury FC are facing the most important four games of their season. With each point potentially making the difference between extending their run into post-season or closing out the year mid-October, Fury FC will be visiting the 2017 USL Champions Louisville City FC on Saturday night looking to collect more points and continue their pursuit.

Ottawa will also be coming off significant back-to-back wins against Toronto FC II and Richmond Kickers. For one thing, the win against Richmond marked the club's 12th victory of the season, making Head Coach Nikola Popovic the winningest Fury FC coach in their first year with the club. In front of net, Canadian Maxime Crépeau was as stellar as ever, leading his side to a 13th clean sheet, tying the USL single-season record held by Brandon Miller in the process. And on the attacking front, Captain Carl Haworth netted his 16th goal with Fury FC, tying Steevan Dos Santos as all-time, all-competitions goal-scoring leaders. With management, defence and offence clicking in the nick of time, Fury FC could very well be on their way to their second post-season appearance in the club's history.

Louisville City FC, however, is standing in their way. Heading into the week, Louisville was looking to break a four-game winless streak and move ahead of Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC into second place in the conference standings, which they did on Wednesday as they capture an emphatic 3-0 win over Penn FC. Earlier this summer, Louisville scraped a 3-0 win over Ottawa at TD Place, and they are also featuring current USL Golden Boot leader in Cameron Lancaster, who has netted 19 goals already this season.

Fury FC will play three games in eight days before enjoying their final bye-week, which hopefully they will be entering in strong contention for the playoffs. After travelling to Louisville this weekend, they will face Toronto FC II once more at Lamport Stadium on Wednesday night (Sept. 26, 6 p.m.) before returning home to TD Place to host their final two matches of the season.

Ultimately, it all starts again this weekend with the match at Louisville Slugger Field, where Ottawa will look for a result to maintain the positive momentum on their side. Fans can follow the match live on social media or watch on OttawaFuryFC.com/Fury-Live.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

Head Coach Nikola Popovic

On the matchup against Louisville... "It's a very important game for us. We know they are the [reigning] champions. They have a fantastic team, very good players. It's a very difficult place to play so we have to be very focused. There is no room for mistakes. Louisville is a team that if you make a mistake they will take it [the chance]. We have to be very focused on our performance and try to be as compact as possible, and then with the ball, we have to be aggressive and we have to finish the chances we create."

On the team's preparation..."Since the beginning we've had our model, our idea of how we want to play, so nothing is going to change. Perhaps some pieces will change since we have again three games in eight days so we have to be prepared for all of them. They are all important for us at this time but we have first to be ready for Louisville."

Midfielder Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé

On the team's preparation..."It's been going well, we're on a good sequence with the two wins in the last games. We're just preparing every game on its own. The spirit's been good with the team and we just want to get this game done and execute what the coach is asking us."

On his own performance..."I'm just trying to adapt to the different tasks the coach is asking of myself and the team. I'm really happy with the playing that's for sure, now I just want to show my true self and what I can bring to this team."

Defender Eddie Edward

On the team's mindset..."I think everyone's pretty confident. We've got two positive results [of late] and obviously, we know that every game matters at this time of the year. You try not to watch the table too much but you see how the teams are doing around you and you realize how crucial each point is. We know it's going to be a difficult task but we're going there with a lot of confidence and hoping for a good result."

On the back four unit's work..."Obviously anytime we can get goals, assists, it's fantastic. But a few weeks ago, when things weren't going our way offensively, we said that we were doing the right things and the goals are going to come. I don't think we changed too much, I think we sometimes just need some luck and we're getting some bounces now."

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Matt FRANZ

Assistants: Jeffrey SWARTZEL & Chris SCHURFRANZ

Fourth Official: TBD

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from September 21, 2018


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