FC Tucson hosting USL 2 playoffs Friday after finishing 2nd in league's Southwest Division race

The Men in Black entered this past Sunday’s matches with the chance to clinch a playoff spot: An FC Tucson win or draw would have them in. But since their game started much later than matchups involving the division’s second and third-place sides, FCT’s postseason bid was secured during the first half of the team’s 1-1 draw at home against Coachella FC (1-9-4).

Getting back into playoffs for the first time since 2021 was “a proud moment for the club,” FC Tucson head coach Sebastian Pineda said.

“I think I told the guys a couple games ago that we could be part of the history of the club,” Pineda said. “Teams that don’t make it are forgotten and we had to fight hard going on the road to get big points away and then we took care of the big guys at here home, which is great.”

In 2021, the Men in Black reached the League One semifinals. In their nine seasons at the Premier Development League or League Two level, they have reached the playoffs seven times.

The PDL was League Two’s previous name before it was rebranded in 2019. That’s the year the USL added League One, and also when FC Tucson joined at that level.

Last season, FC Tucson self-relegated to the pre-professional League Two after the organization’s ownership changed.

“It feels good. A big part of the last week was ‘be a part of history,’” FC Tucson defender D’Andre Pickett said. “That’s what coach Seba was saying and we all want to do that and I think we just did it.”

Over the years, FC Tucson reached the PDL conference final four times and the conference semifinal twice.

The League Two tournament consists of 35 teams, starting with three qualifying round matches on Tuesday. Divisions like FC Tucson’s get two sides in the big dance.

The Round of 32 starts on Friday and consists of eight four-team regional pods, of which FC Tucson is one of the hosts.

Joining FC Tucson at Kino will be Flatirons FC (8-1-3), from Golden, Colorado. Flatirons earned 27 points from 12 matches to win the Mountain Division. Also in Tucson: Albion SC Colorado (6-2-4, 22 points) from Boulder, Colorado (second to Flatirons in the Mountain Division) and FCT rival Ventura County Fusion (11-1-2). Ventura County has 35 points from 14 matches while winning the Southwest Division championship.

FCT remains the only side to beat Ventura County and also tied the Fusion on the road.

FC Tucson (7-2-5) closed out the regular season with an unbeaten streak of eight matches after its second draw against last-place Coachella.

“Our potential is beyond,” said FC Tucson goalkeeper Nils Roth, who played at Pima College. “We just gotta get it now consistently because we have too many ups and downs. We know that against teams that didn’t look as great in the table that we didn’t bring it all the way so we have to work on that. But the good thing is now there’s only big teams so we expect only great performances from now on.”

Last season, FC Tucson went 7-1-4 and ended the season even hotter than this year’s side, winning five in a row with a nine-game unbeaten streak. But FCT, which was in a position to host in 2023, too, missed out on the postseason due to goal differential compared to the Fusion, who reached the Western Conference finals.

“It feels a lot better. It feels a lot better,” said Pickett, who plays for Pima. “Because we knew we deserved it last year.”

Had Ventura not beaten third-place AMSG FC 3-2 on Sunday, FC Tucson still would have made the postseason after Pickett headed in a goal in the 58th minute off a corner kick from defender Duvan Canchila.

“It felt great. It was a good pass form Duvan and I just had to finish it, it felt great,” said Pickett, who went to Tucson High.

While FCT’s matchup was slated to start an hour after the VC game, it ended up delayed an extra hour and 17 minutes — a pause that coincided to some degree with weather wreaking havoc across Southern Arizona on Sunday night.

During the delay, FC Tucson watched the Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia on television.

“We were watching, getting some ideas from the pros and just resting our bodies getting ready for kick off,” Pickett said.

Down 1-0 at the break, FC Tucson rallied in the second half.

“I told them ‘take the pressure away now. Just go out there do the simple things that we work on that you’re good at and just enjoy. Have some joy playing it and I think it showed in the game,” Pineda said. “We started just taking better decisions on the field.”