FC Tucson News Release -- www.fctucson.com
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
HOUSTON — The FC Tucson staff can talk tactics and game plan and scouting reports but when the third round of the U.S. Open Cup kicks off tonight at 7:30 p.m. CT, FC Tucson’s chance at upsetting the Houston Dynamo may just come down to mentality.
“Unfortunately (the players) are college players and they’re young and they’re not quite pros yet where they understand that they have to play the same game every time they play,” FC Tucson Head Coach Rick Schantz said. “Going into this past weekend, it was perfect example of riding a high and not really understanding that the opponents in the league will be coming after us.”
With their U.S. Open Cup Cinderella run on the line tonight, Schantz said he’s confident that there won’t be a let down in the team’s mentality against the Dynamo. Still, with a group of young players, there’s always a worry that the emotions of the moment will overwhelm them.
“We saw that in San Antonio,” Schantz said. “In the first 20 minutes (the players) were just in awe of where they were and what they were doing. The most important part is that they don’t make any serious mistakes at that point. Once you get through the first 15-20 minutes of battle and you see the game and see the speed, then they’re just soccer players again.”
In last week’s second round match against San Antonio, FC Tucson really didn’t start looking comfortable until the second half of the match, when the club threw out their original game plan and decided to play an all-out attacking form of soccer. The players responded well by scoring two goals within the first 15 minutes of the half, taking a lead they wouldn’t relinquish until stoppage time.
They’d eventually win in penalty kicks.
“We’ve been playing well in the U.S. Open Cup,” said FC Tucson defender Edgar Reyna “So we just have to come out with the same intensity we’ve had in the last two games.”
With all the talk of emotion and mentality, there is still a game plan in place and the FC Tucson staff has used its coaching connections to draw up a solid scouting report on the Houston Dynamo. Even their reserve squad, who will likely make up most of the starting XI, has been scouted and broken down.
But Schantz said that this match will ultimately come down to FC Tucson having to play near-flawlessly aggressive soccer combined with the Dynamo having an off day. Not exactly a hopeful tone, but it’s the reality of reaching the third round of the U.S. Open Cup for a PDL team.
“I think we’ll be just fine,” said FC Tucson defender Greg Carter. “This team is very excited about the Open Cup and we’ve had two big wins already. We have a lot of confidence going into this game and even though we’re playing an MLS team we have a lot of confidence in what we can do and that we can get a result in this game. I think we’ll be just fine.”