Match Preview: FC Motown (H)
Evan McMurtrie
Content/Communications/Social Media
MATCH DAY INFORMATION
FC Monmouth vs FC Motown
Competition: National Premier Soccer League (NPSL)
Kickoff Date/Time: Saturday, June 22nd, 2019 – 6:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Count Basie Park, Red Bank, NJ (Directions)
Live Updates: @WeAreMonmouth
Live Stream: bit.ly/2ZBGM6X
FC Monmouth will find themselves back at Count Basie Park on Saturday to battle reigning Keystone Conference champions and National Finalists FC Motown in what will be a pivotal match in the race for the 2019 playoffs.
Both clubs have had a full week to prepare for their meeting, with Motown last being in action on Saturday when they were defeated by Hershey FC, 1-0, in Pennsylvania. The loss snapped a three-match winning streak that FC Motown had been riding, and a five-match unbeaten streak that began after they fell to Philadelphia Lone Star FC in their season-opener on May 11th.
FC Motown is the only member of the Keystone Conference that FC Monmouth is yet to earn at least a point against since their inaugural season in 2018. In their first-ever meeting on May 19th, 2018, Motown were comfortable 3-0 victors. The two sides then went on to meet in the Keystone Conference playoffs at the semi-final stage, where FC Motown once again won by a margin of three with a 4-1 final at Drew University in Madison, NJ.
Saturday marks the first time that FC Monmouth and FC Motown will meet at Count Basie Park, a home venue where Monmouth is yet to be defeated in their history. FC Monmouth holds an all-time record of 6-0-2 at home.
PRE-MATCH QUOTES
“It’s a match that is obviously big for all of us, but it’s more the fact that it’s a big match in the standings. It’s a big match to get us to where we want to be, which is the playoffs and having a chance to possibly move on. As far as playing Motown, they’re one of the best teams — if not still the best team in our conference and we gotta show up to play.” - Head Coach Brian Woods
“The game Saturday is really going to define everything that we’ve put into the season.” - Defender Zach Pereira
“The spirit of the guys is really high… Everybody is fired up and ready to go.” - Goalkeeper Jake Leahy
ABOUT FC MOTOWN
Though they were founded in 2012, this summer is FC Motown’s third season in the NPSL’s Keystone Conference.
In 2017, under the alias Clarkstown SC Eagles, FC Motown played their first season in the NPSL. They finished the regular season with a record of 6-2-2 and went on to win the Keystone Conference with a 3-1 victory over New Jersey Copa FC in the playoff final. A 6-3 win against Kingston Stockade FC saw Motown qualify for the Regional Final, where they were eventually defeated 3-1 by the (later NPSL 2017 Champion) Elm City Express.
Last season, FC Motown topped the Keystone Conference table through the ten matches with a 9-1-0 record and won the conference playoffs with wins over FC Monmouth and West Chester United SC. Motown finished the 2018 campaign as the No. 2 ranked club in the NPSL after falling to Miami FC 2 in the National Final.