Saint Louis FC Hosts The Oklahoma City Energy Wednesday Night As Home Schedule Winds Down

Saint Louis FC is on the road this holiday weekend as they take on FC Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium on Monday afternoon. Kickoff on September 5 is set for 3:30 pm CST.

The match has been selected to be featured and streamed live on ESPN3.

The USL West

With four games left in the USL regular season, things are unfortunately not looking for for Saint Louis FC. They currently sit in 13th place in the 15-team Western Conference. Orange County Blues FC currently hold the final West playoff spot with 34 points in 8th place, holding the tie-breaker over San Antonio FC.

A late-season winning streak would certainly make things interesting for St. Louis fans, but unfortunately even that might not be enough to get the club into the playoffs.

Last Time Out For Saint Louis FC

The 4,209 fans who turned out to World Wide Technology Soccer Park on Wednesday saw Saint Louis FC go up early on Oklahoma City Energy FC when Schillo Tshuma knocked in the game’s first goal in the 19th minute. Unfortunately, Oklahoma City scored a goal of its own in the second half to leave town with a point in the 1-1 draw.

Who Is FC Cincinnati?

While first-year USL club FC Cincinnati (12-6-7) is running away with the league’s attendance award, they sit in fourth place in the USL East. The team hasn’t won a game since the 3rd of August with 2 losses and 2 draws in its last four games.

Sean Okoli leads Cincinnati with 12 goals and 3 assists on the season.

The club will be without Omar Cummings as a result of a knee injury he suffered in their August 24. match.

Goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt has been in goal for every minute of every USL match this season for Cincinnati, with the exception of 79 minutes against New York Red Bulls II. Hildebrandt was given a red card and sent off 11 minutes into the contest. That card was overturned and he returned to play 90 minutes in the club’s last match against Charlotte.

Cincinnati Soccer Talk sees Monday’s match as a chance for the team to get back on track heading into the USL playoffs. (SHHH!, no one tell them that Irvin Herrera will miss the match.)

What To Expect From Saint Louis FC

Things are getting a little hard to predict for STLFC this late in the season. We for sure now Parker Maher will not be seeing the field against Cincinnati. The club announced today that he will miss the rest of the season with an injury.

We also know that Irvin Herrera and Ryan Thompson are both still away on International duty for this match.

AJ Cochran, who missed his first USL action of the season Wednesday, is expected to play on Monday. Sam Fink, who missed Wednesday’s game on yellow card accumulation, will also be eligible to play on Monday. The return of those two, added with the assumed starting role of Patrick Doody, will make for some interesting backfield choices.

Tim Leonard’s lineup for Monday is anyone’s guess. While I had predicted Vince Cicciarelli would fill Herrera’s void on Wednesday, Schillo Tshuma started the game and scored the first goal. Will he get another start? Maybe?

Jordan Roberts saw an increased role against Oklahoma City, starting and playing the full 90 minutes. Fans voted him the Pleats Man of the Match after the game.

16-year old Aedan Stanley made the bench for Wednesday’s game. No word on if he will travel with the team to Cincinnati. Stanley was signed back in May as one of the first two St. Louis Scott Gallagher Academy players signed by general manager Jeremy Alumbaugh.

Backup goalkeeper Eduardo Cortes and Jake Bond were two more players that were on the STLFC substitute list that aren’t normally listed.

Eight players missed Wednesday’s home match. Fink and Cochran, as well as Jason Plumhoff, Alex Morrell and Brandon Barklage, could be back in action on Monday.

Get ready for Monday’s match by listening to the latest episode of the This Is Silly! podcast from the St. Louligans.

Catch The Action Live

While Cincinnati is a bit farther from St. Louis than Kansas City, there likely will be some dedicated St. Louligans and other Saint Louis FC fans making the trip to Cincinnati this holiday weekend. Great weather is expected in Cincinnati on Monday.

Tickets can be purchased for the match at Nippert Stadium from FCCincinnati.com for $10-$25. Youth/club tickets are available for $12 and students can purchase tickets for $5 with a valid student ID.

Watch the Action On ESPN3

Most USL matches are streamed live on YouTube. The exceptions are games that are picked up by ESPN3. Monday’s match has been picked up as one of those games.

FC Cincinnati games are also broadcast live on CW Cincinnati and can be heard on the radio on ESPN 1530 in the Cincinnati area. Television ratings for games have been strong for the games and have event topped English Premier League ratings for some broadcasts.

 

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