After nearly a month on the road, FC Tucson returns home Friday night for the first of three consecutive home matches in June.
A win over the FC Boulder U23s would help FC Tucson grow its lead atop the Mountain Division standings. The Men in Black are 3-2-1 this season; their 10 points are six more than second-place Colorado Rapids U23, though Tucson has played three (and in some cases four) more matches than the rest of the division.
The Men in Black thumped Boulder 5-0 last week in Colorado. FC Tucson coach Jon Pearlman said depth is key when facing the same team twice in a short period.
“We’re going to feature probably three or four different players in this lineup so (Boulder) can’t get comfortable and put some guys in spots they haven’t seen before,” he said. “You always want to mix it up.”
Midfielder Moshe Perez led the charge in last week’s game, posting a hat trick. Forward Wedner Delmonte and defender Daniel Krutzen added goals as FC Tucson easily secured the road victory.
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Don’t expect a repeat Friday night, players and coaches said.
“To be fair to Boulder, the result was probably not indicative of the game,” Pearlman said. “They have a good side and a number of dangerous players.”
FC Tucson won three of the five road matches during the month of May, posting a 3-1-0 record against fellow PDL opponents.
For a team that hadn’t been together for more than a week or two before, the road trip proved to be a blessing in disguise. Perez said the team bonded in a way that might not have happened otherwise.
“Honestly we just got better as a team, bonding-wise and playing-wise,” he said. “We got to know everyone and how everyone likes to play. Obviously we’re tired and fatigued … but that month on the road really, really helped us because we were forced to be together and bonded.”
Even though the team was eager to hit the road and bond, being back in the friendly confines of Kino North Stadium provides a different routine. It gives a chance for Pearlman’s squad to practice four or five times a week and fine-tune the little things like player movement and communication that might not have been possible on the road.
“We have time to work on the training pitch and if something doesn’t go well on Monday, we have a couple days to figure it out,” he said. “When we were going on the road, we’d win or lose a game and we’d turn around on the van and have to play right away again.”
Having the whole week to practice before Friday’s game has already paid dividends.
“Hopefully now that there’s a lot of anticipation before the game, we’ll come out flying, well rested and ready to go,” Pearlman said.
