The wait is over. Tomorrow in South Carolina, FC Cincinnati will take to the pitch to an actual game of soccer that counts for the first time in 147 days when they travel to face the Charleston Battery in their 2018 USL opener.
The scene will unfold at the Battery's cozy 5,100-seat MUSC Health Stadium on Charleston's Daniel Island. Kickoff is slated for 7pm in perfect spring conditions -- mid-60's with partly cloudy skies -- and you can follow the action live on local television on Star 64 or streamed online here.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
The schedule makers at the league offices must be creatures of habit, as Saturday's match will make it three seasons in three that we're starting the regular season on the road at Charleston.
What the Orange & Blue will be looking to do, however, is to not continue with the habits we've fallen in those season debuts. FCC have lost both of the season-opening matches at Charleston thus far, losing the 2017 debut 1-2 and the 2016 opener 0-1. In fact, FC Cincinnati have yet to win a single match in any of our five previous meetings with our Southern hosts. We're 0-2-3 all-time against the Battery, including a loss in the first round of the 2016 playoffs.
But with a nearly entirely new team at head coach Alan Koch's disposal, we will have hopefully shaken any of the bad juju that has dogged us in the past against the Battery.
All signs indicate they're up for the challenge.
"It's always exciting time when you get to go play for three points," offered Koch before boarding the plane for Charleston on Friday. "Now we get to play for some real tangible things."
The Battery enter Saturday's match off the back of a solid preseason that saw them go 3-3-1 and get some excellent results against some serious competition. That included a 1-0 win over MLS' Minnesota United and a draw with Atlanta United. Most recently, the black and gold striped outfit drew 0-0 with USL-newcomers North Carolina FC last Saturday.
Meanwhile, FCC were last in action with a pair of matches last weekend. The Orange & Blue rebounded from a 1-2 loss to Sacramento on Saturday with a 5-0 drubbing of Wright State University in a closed-door scrimmage on Sunday, ending the preseason with a record of 5-2-1.
WHAT TO EXPECT
After eight preseason exercises in the books, Coach Alan Koch has had lots of time to assess the squad he has at his disposal. And ahead of Saturday's season-opener at Charleston, he was feeling confident about his team.
"We've got a good group and definitely have more than just eleven players that can start," explained Koch. "It's exciting now, trying to find the right partnerships and pairings to go out and give ourselves the best chance we can to win the game."
But with so much time to prepare for this one game, Koch also explained how easy to overthink it.
"First game of the season is always interesting: it's the one game where everybody has had months to think about it, months to prepare for it. We're excited to embrace that challenge. But once you get through that game, you literally have just a week to prepare for each game and you can get a more normal level of sanity."
Making that even harder will be a Charleston side that seems quite a bit of change since the end of 2017. While 13th-year head coach Mike Anhaeuser returned twelve players from last year's squad, there were some big-name departures.
Leading scorer each of the last two seasons, Jamaican international Romario Williams has returned to parent club Atlanta United after spending the last two season on loan in South Carolina. Replacing the 25 goals and physical presence up top that Williams offered will be no easy feat, but the Battery will be looking for the towering Niklas Svantesson to replace at least some of that. At 6'6", Svantesson bagged 11 goals last year for the Tulsa Roughnecks and is a serious threat on set pieces.
Diminutive wideman Justin Portillo left for Real Monarchs, and in his place is a familiar face to FCC fans -- Victor Mansaray. The Sierra Leone international spent the first part of 2017 on loan with the Orange & Blue, making eight appearances before returning to Seattle Sounders and then going out on loan again to Umeå FC.
The Battery will also be tasked with filling the large hole left by centerback Forrest Lasso, who switched sides this offseason. Considering he scored in both matches against his new club last year, here's hoping he repays the favor on Saturday.
All that said, the Battery are still a really talented team -- their preseason results show that well. Watch for them to play similarly to how they have in year's past: compact defensive containment, looking to hit on the break, capitalize on set pieces.
