Matchday 10
Saint Louis FC (3-3-2) vs
AFC Cleveland Royals (2-0-0) vs.
Date: Wednesday, May 18th
Time: 7:00 PM CT
Venue: World Wide Technology Soccer Park, Fenton, Missouri
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LAST TIME OUT:
Saint Louis FC is coming off a hard fought loss against Louisville City FC this past Saturday.
Louisville City played heavy attack during the first half with Saint Louis fending them off. STLFC did well to keep the game scoreless at halftime.
The first goal came in the 77th minute when Louisville midfielder George Davis IV scored his first goal of the year after he received a through ball behind the defense and chipped the ball over goalkeeper Mark Pais.
In the 89th minute, Pais was carded for a foul inside the box, which led to Louisville’s Cameron Lancaster to score a penalty kick, sealing a 2-0 win for Louisville.
Saturday’s match against Louisville FC was the first leg of the King’s Cup. STLFC will play Louisville again on September 17th at home.
THE OPPONENT:
AFC Cleveland joined the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in 2011. The team initials AFC stand for “A Fans’ Club”, which is a nod to the club’s desire to create an organization for soccer fans by soccer fans. The Royals, as the team is known to fans, has won the Great Lakes Conference, the Rust Belt Derby, and the I-71 Cup since its maiden season.
AFC Cleveland’s head coach, Carter Poe, is in his second season with the team. Before joining Cleveland, he played at Duquesne University and was an assistant coach at the University of Mount Union.
The Royals clinched their spot in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup after defeating the GPS Portland Phoenix 1-0 last Wednesday, May 11. More recently, they defeated the Indy Eleven NPSL team 1-0 on Saturday. The game took place in the midst of a downpour, but that didn’t stop Cleveland’s Vinny Bell from scoring in the first half.
LAST YEAR’S U.S. OPEN CUP:
Saint Louis FC had an exciting run in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
A dramatic extra time finish gave Saint Louis FC a 2-1 victory over Des Moines Menace in the 2nd Round match. Keeping its streak for exciting game finishes alive, STLFC captured a win against Minnesota United FC during a penalty kick shootout in the 3rd round
After its second match in four days, Saint Louis FC fell to MLS side Sporting Kansas City 1-0. A late goal by Sporting KC’s Graham Zusi was enough to propel the hosts to a victory in front of a record crowd of 19,298, the largest ever for a 4th Round U.S. Open Cup match.
Sporting Kansas City went on win the U.S. Cup by defeating Philadelphia in the final.
INJURY REPORT:
Ryan Thompson – Questionable
Schillo Tshuma – Questionable
