Preview: Kickers Desperate for a Win Face Fuego on Wednesday

Opponent:  Central Valley Feugo FC (5-15-3)
Date/Time: Wednesday, Aug. 29th, 7:00 PM
Last Result: Kickers 0 – Lexington 1

Weather Forecast From WeatherBug.com

Three Things to Kick About

1. Now or Never – The Feugo are the worst team in USL1 by a decent margin. Kicker sit in 10th out of 12 teams. Technically the Kickers still have a chance to make the playoffs, it’s a small percentage but it’s there. Winning this game is crucial to the slim playoff possibility and perhaps more importantly the win is crucial to the morale of the club and supporters. July 3rd was the last win. A win is needed by everyone.
2. Good News – Attendance has remained impressive. In the last home game, the Kickers had over 5,000 in attendance. This puts their average attendance for the years just shy of 5,000 at 4,966 which is nearly a 1,500 improvement over last year. In a league where financial margins are razor-thin that 1,500 per game makes a big difference. I’d expect attendance to be low for this game due to being a weeknight on the first week of school for lots of families, weather forecast being iffy, and recent form. My recent form comment is on thin ice because fans have been showing up in the second half of the season despite declining performance on the field.
3. Good News II – Goalkeeper/goalkeeper coach Akira Fitzgerald announced yesterday that he has signed a 2 year contract extension with the Kickers. This is great news. He is a proven excellent goalkeeper and the continuity he’ll provde in the net and directing the goalkeeper force as a coach is reassuring. It does appear that he is limiting his time on the field a bit because backup keeper Wil Palmquist has had six starts this season including the most recent 1-0 loss in Lexington. It should be noted that the one goal doesn’t fall on Palmquist. It was a penalty kick and the save percentage on those is small. Fitzgerald in his own words on staying on with the Kickers.
   

Prediction

If not now, when? I’ve got back the Kickers in this one. They looked good for brief moments in the last game but once again doomed all the positive with a defensive mistake by Dakota. That mistake, a second yellow and pk, means that we won’t have Dakota on the field. For a team that doesn’t have much depth this is a fairly big blow. Despite that the Kickers should run away with this one. Kicker get a big, much needed win.

Kickers 3
Fuego 0