WHO: North Carolina FC, 0-0-0, 0 pts, 12th place Eastern Conference based solely on alphabetical order. ATLUTD2, welcome to the only time you’ll ever find yourselves on the top of the standings.
WHAT: A USL Championship regular season league match
WHEN: Saturday, March 7, 2020, 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, 201 Soccer Park Drive, Cary, NC 27511
WATCH: It’ll be on one of WBNA or WBKI over the air, and streamed on ESPN+. It does not appear that LouCity will have a radio broadcast for 2020. There will be an official club watch party at World of Beers out by Norton Commons.
WHO, AGAIN? There has been very little in the way of preseason news about NCFC. Dave Sarachan is still their coach. The former interim USMNT gaffer did a pretty decent job with his side in 2019, going 16-8-10 for 56 points and 7th place in the East. North Carolina finished the regular season with 57 goals for, 37 against, led by Robert Kristo and Steven Miller (no, not that Steven Miller) with nine tallies apiece. The Dead Whales also hilariously crashed out of the playoffs in the play-in round on their own home field to a no good, very bad Birmingham Legion.
Since that ignominious exit, North Carolina really hasn’t done much. They brought back Kristo and Miller, plus Dre Fortune and Ben Speas. They added midfielder Manny Perez on loan from Celtic, forward Hadji Barry and Brazilian central mid Pecka. These are mostly quiet additions to an already solid squad.
Last year under Sarachan, North Carolina could score goals in bunches, or not score enough. They were held scoreless in nine matches in all competitions, but put up at least three goals in ten matches. NCFC really stay in a lower defensive block and score in transition. It wasn’t the prettiest soccer, but it wasn’t quite Bob Lilley-era Rochester Rhinos, either.
Their 2020 hasn’t started out very hot. They drew in a friendly against Charlotte and lost to League One’s Greenville Triumph in the two preseason matches we know about. The only other preseason buzz surrounding the team is the fact that they finally got a shirt sponsor, a music festival owned by J.Cole that will have been over for more than half of the 2020 season. Beats nothing, I guess.
It’s the first match of the season. We don’t really know what to expect. John Hackworth did a lot of experimentation with different personnel groups in preseason, and used several different tactics both in possession and defense in the games I was able to actually see. I have no idea who will even start, other than probably Cameron Lancaster and Oscar Jimenez. This year’s team has some serious depth, the kind that we can rely on if and when the injury bug starts hitting down the line.
City can and probably will be potent in attack, but the true test will be how they deal with Carolina in transition. Let’s just hope it’s not like last year’s opener in Cary.
LOU CITY SOCCER IS BACK, Y’ALL! AM SO EXCITE. VAMOS MORADOS!
