FC Cincinnati finish their cross-country road trip Saturday night when the Orange and Blue play at the San Jose Earthquakes. The match is Cincinnati’s third in eight days.
For the visitors, it’s an opportunity to end the trip on a high note – and put an end to the club’s drought.
FCC continue to sit on eight points, through 10 games. San Jose has the same total through nine games, but are unbeaten in their last three and have one loss in their last five matches.
“Because we keep losing, guys are getting really angry and we’re getting frustrated and that can turn into a positive, aggressive game,” midfielder Caleb Stanko said. “That’s what we’re shooting for.
“We have one more game on the road in San Jose. I’m really hoping and believing we’re going to focus our energy and all this anger we may have – this disappointment – in pushing for three points.”
FC Cincinnati play Saturday’s match following a 1-0 and 2-0 defeats at New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union, respectively.
Goalkeeper Spencer Richey, who played against the Union and recorded a career-high six saves, said he believes in his teammates to push for a positive result against the Earthquakes and then a nice run of form immediately following that.
“(This) really is, top to bottom, one of the best changing rooms that I have ever been a part of,” Richey said. “They always say, when you get kicked down that is when you find out most about guys. Our guys are disappointed and down at the moment, certainly, but we got to find a way to crawl ourselves out of this hole that we are in. There are certainly a lot of guys in the locker room with good character, so I know we will able to do that sooner than later.”
Match Info
FC Cincinnati at San Jose Earthquakes
Kickoff: 10 p.m.
Where: Avaya Stadium
Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy, 64 degrees
TV: WSTR Star64
In-Region Stream: FloFC
Out-of-Region Steam: ESPN+
Local Radio: WDJO (99.5 FM | 107.9 FM | 1480 AM)
Audio Stream: TuneIn App, fccincinnati.com
Player to Watch and his Health Carousel Player Resume
Opponent’s Player to Watch: winger Shea Salinas
In seven appearances, Salinas already has four goals and an assist. For context, the goal count is already a career-high for the winger, who’s in his 12th MLS season.
He doesn’t shoot often, however. Salinas’ goals have come from nine shots – and five on target.
Club Connections:
- Fatai Alashe was drafted by the Earthquakes in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. He made 85 appearances for the club between 2015-2018 before being loaned to FCC’s USL team and then ultimately traded to the MLS club
- Leo Bertone and François Jacques Affulter were at BSC Young Boys together in 2014.
- When Technical Director Luke Sassano was the assistant sporting director for New York Cosmos, Jimmy Ockford (2014-16) and Eric Calvillo (2016-17) played for the club.
- Eric Alexander and Chris Wondolowski both played for the U.S. Men’s National Team against Chile on Jan. 11, 2011. Wondolowski was an unused sub when Stanko played for the USMNT on Sept. 6, 2016, against Trinidad and Tebogo.
