Match Preview | Ottawa Fury FC V New York Red Bulls II
May 10, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release
OTTAWA - After putting on a great performance in the mid-week School Day game against table-leading New York Red Bulls II, Ottawa Fury FC is back home this Sunday facing another top 5 opponent in North Carolina FC. With the weather calling for a warm sunny day and Mother's Day celebrations in full swing, TD Place will be the place to spend the afternoon (kick-off 2:00 p.m., OttawaFuryFC.com).
STORYLINES
Ottawa Fury FC enters the weekend following the mid-week 1-1 draw against New York Red Bulls II on Wednesday in the annual School Day Game.
Fury FC is undefeated in its last 3 home matches. North Carolina FC has 2W-1D-1L on the road so far this season.
Ottawa will look to continue on its healthy streak of creating scoring chances, having taken over 10 shots in 5 of its 7 games so far, and in its last 4 consecutive games. Fury FC will now look to convert more of those into goals, averaging 1 goal every 90 minutes for a 10.6% conversion rate.
Ottawa and North Carolina have faced each other twice in USL Championship in 2018, with Fury FC earning a 1-1 draw at home in April and conceding a 4-2 loss in Cary, NC, in June. Both teams have since made plenty of changes to their rosters.
Ottawa is 4W-3D-4L all-time against a North Carolina franchise, including NASL competition.
Only two Fury FC players have played every minute of every game so far, with Head Coach Popovic fully aware of the grind of a busy and lengthy USL Championship season. Forward Christiano François and defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère have played all 630 minutes, with captain Carl Haworth not too far being with 617 minutes.
Ottawa Fury FC celebrates Mother's Day this Sunday by welcoming all moms in for free (when accompanied by a regular ticket holder).
SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA FC
North Carolina FC came up short of a place in the USL Cup Playoffs in its inaugural season, with inconsistency proving the biggest issue as the side fell three times in its final five games to miss out on a postseason spot by two points. That resulted in a change on the club's sideline, and maybe the biggest coaching coup in the league's history, as former United States Men's National Team interim Manager Dave Sarachan takes the reins at Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park for the 2019 season.
Sarachan has some good returning pieces to work with, including veteran midfielder Austin da Luz, forward Marios Lomis and goalkeeper Alex Tambakis, who regularly produced spectacular saves for the side in his first year at the club. NCFC also made some intriguing additions, with 2014 All-America First Team selection Robbie Kristo returning to the United States after spending the past four years in Europe. The club also picked up Indiana University midfielder Austin Panchot and brought in former Academy product and U.S. U-20 international Manny Perez on loan from Scotland's Celtic FC. (via USL Championship)
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
Head Coach Nikola Popovic
"(North Carolina FC) is another very strong team in our conference. How we'll prepare? We have to do what we do. Our last performances were very good so we have to keep going and try to bring a strong performance."
"We have to be very dynamic, very aggressive, and try to create the chances that we have been creating. Now we just have to put the ball inside of the net."
Midfielder Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé
"I feel very confident about our team in general, not only the back four. I think we're in a good position now with our seven games played. The team is looking better every week."
"(Winning at home) is super important. We had a big week. We responded well against New York (on Wednesday) and this weekend again we'll have to be super focused and alert. We know we're facing a good team - they have good individuals and they are good as a group - so it's a massive game for us before we leave TD Place (to play on the road for a while). If we bring good energy and focus, we can take care of business."
HOW TO WATCH
LIVE STREAM: OttawaFuryFC.com
RADIO: TSN 1200 (EN) | 104,7 FM(FR)
TWITTER: Follow @OTTAWAFURYFC for LIVE updates #OTTvNC #ForTheFury
TICKETS: OttawaFuryFC.com/single-match-seats
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