NASL Ottawa Fury FC

Match Preview: Spring Champs and Fall Leaders Meet in Potential Soccer Bowl Preview

Published on September 21, 2015 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
Ottawa Fury FC News Release


OTTAWA, ON (September 21, 2015) - Rewind twelve months and the match-up between Fury FC and the Cosmos would be touted as David versus Goliath. Today, it is billed as a 'Battle of the Titans' and a potential Soccer Bowl preview as the Fall Season leaders meet the Spring Season Champions Tuesday night in New York.

"When you only have seven matches remaining and still four or five teams still fighting to be in the postseason, every game become a final," said head coach Marc Dos Santos. "Our mentality is to play one 'final' at a time New York will be another incredible challenge in our run towards finishing in the top four. We definitely need to be at our best"

Tuesday night will be Ottawa's biggest and toughest "final' yet squaring off against a team that has not only been equally as dominant as Fury FC, but a club looking to extend their home unbeaten streak to 19 which would set a Modern Era NASL record. New York's last home loss came August 2, 2014.

While New York has been dominant at home, Ottawa has been on a roll on the road notching four straight wins extending their unbeaten streak away from home to seven games with their last road loss coming back on May 2 ... in New York.

With both Ottawa and New York facing tough opposition last Saturday, Tuesday night's pivotal match on Long Island could be determined by mental toughness and depth on the bench. It was a second half surge that helped lift Ottawa past the red-hot Strikers in Fort Lauderdale, while the Cosmos and Minnesota United watched their goalkeepers shine in a 0-0 draw in Minnesota.

In their last meeting, a 0-0 draw at TD Place, marked the first point Ottawa has ever recorded against New York losing the previous four meetings by one-goal each time. Expect another tightly contest affair Tuesday night and not just because history suggests it will go this way, but because these two clubs boasts the league's top to goalkeepers, have recorded the most shots in the league and also boasts the league's best defensive record.

For the Cosmos a win will pad their lead over Minnesota and Ottawa in the Combined Standings and inch them close to the Fall Season leaders who they trail by five points. For Fury FC a win builds their first place lead in the Fall Season to five-points and would pull them to within a single point of top spot in the combined table.

Where depth is concerned, Ottawa has returned to full health with Beckie, Albayarak and De Guzman available to Dos Santos who will lose midfielder Mauro Eustaquio following the Cosmos match as he joins to the Canadian National Team for their upcoming CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers.

The first goal in a match is vital to any team's success, but when it comes to Ottawa and New York it might very well be the deciding factor. Fury FC are 10W-2D-0L when they produce the game's first goal while New York are 8W-2D-0L. And when they are leading or tied at halftime Fury FC are 10W-8D-0L and the Cosmos are 9W-5D-1L.

Ottawa's three-match road trip concludes Saturday night in Carolina against the RailHawks. Fury FC will return home October 4 for another chapter in the All-Canadian derby facing FC Edmonton at 3pm. Tickets to this match and the final home match of the regular season (October 18) are available at OttawaFuryFC.com.

MATCH OFFICIALS:

Referee: Tyler Ploeger

Assistants: Joseph Zawistowski and TBD

Fourth Official: Ernie Constantine



North American Soccer League Stories from September 21, 2015


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