FC Tucson posts another win

Juan Sebastian de Rada set up two first half goals for FC Tucson on Saturday night at Kino North Stadium against the Southern California Seahorses. They were the beginning of a 4–0 rout of the visiting squad.

“Today we played with a lot of confidence, moving the ball really well and quick,” said Connor Brandt, who extended FC Tucson’s lead with a goal in the 90th minute. “It helped us to put four goals in the back of the net.”

The match started with Vance Rookwood and Christian Volesky up top. Odaine Sinclair, star of FC Tucson’s likely only appearance on SportsCenter this decade, started on the bench along with usual starters Ricardo Velazco and Michael DeGraffenreidt.

FC Tucson’s early aggression earned them a corner kick in the 11th minute. De Rada sent the ball to Trevor Morely, who found the back of the net for FC Tucson’s first goal. De Rada set up Rookwood for a second goal late in the half to give Tucson a strong lead going into the break.

The second half saw a still aggressive FC Tucson, but little to show in the way of goals. The Seahorses had trouble finding any sustained possession in FC Tucson’s half for the first 25 minutes of the half. Starting in minute 77, give aways from FC Tucson allowed SoCal to get into the box. Trevor Taillole, the substitute keeper who earned his first minutes for FC Tucson coming on as a second half sub, came off his line three times to break up SoCal plays in the box. Because of his efforts, SoCal only recorded one shot on goal in the half.

Despite the burst of effort from the Seahorses, it was Brandt who logged a goal late in the half, followed by a stoppage time penalty kick taken by Ricardo Velazco.

The win makes five in a row for the team in league play, six in all competitions. Brandt is confident the team can continue.

“I think that’s five or six on the trot now. We just need to keep going and get first or second and make the playoffs,” he said. “With the way we are playing right now, I don’t see any team stopping us.”

The team will see if they can continue their winning ways with a road trip and a pair of games in Albuquerque on Friday and Saturday.

Three Three Four?

FC Tucson plays their matches with a modified 4–4–2, meaning four in the back, four midfielders and two forwards. Instead of a line of four midfielders, however, coach Rick Schantz prefers to play the in a diamond shape: two out wide with one supporting the attackers and one supporting the defense.

There were moments, however, where the team seemed to have four forwards, all in a line marked up with SoCal’s back four.

“It was still our normal 4–4–2 with a diamond, but what SoCal was doing was having their outside mids stay with our outside backs,” he said. “We had to push our wide players high and inside. The goal was to pin them back as far as we could so when they lost the ball, they had to go a long way to get it back. It worked perfectly.”

“They played a high line and we were able to keep on top of them,” said Connor Brandt, who usually plays as out wide as part of the diamond. “It looked like we were playing with four forwards. Guys were trying to get high and get into the attack and get goals in the back of the net.”

In addition to his goal, Brandt had three shots. Fellow midfielder Ivan Gutierrez also ended with three, and forward Vance Rookwood had four. SoCal had three shots all match.

Who's in first?

BYU Cougars also had a win on Saturday night, beating Las Vegas 3–2. The win leaves BYU and FC Tucson with 15 points apiece on top of the Mountain Division table. Since they are tied on points, league rules (see sidebar) say that the tie is broken by head-to-head record between the two teams. Since this year’s series between the two teams ended in a win for each, we go to the next tie breaker, which is goal differential.

Goal differential is the number of goals scored by a team minus those scored against the team. FC Tucson piled on a 7–0 win a couple of weeks ago, whereas BYU’s wins, like Saturday’s, have been with more terrestrial margins. FC Tucson’s goal differential is +15, and BYU’s is +4.

BYU’s next match is against Fresno Fuego. Fresno has had a tough season so far (only one win), so BYU should continue their streak. It’s still unlikely that they’ll post 11 goals so FC Tucson, should they keep winning, will stay in first place for a while.