18 Jul West Region Final Preview: ASC vs. FC Arizona – July 20, 2019
This Saturday, ASC San Diego will head 362 miles east to Mesa, Arizona where they will take on NPSL powerhouses FC Arizona for a chance to be crowned West Region champions. The match will be played at 7:30 PM at Mesa High School. Unlike in last week’s matchup against Crossfire Redmond, ASC San Diego will be all too familiar with their Southwest Conference opponents. After a 0-0 draw and 0-2 defeat to FCAZ earlier in the regular season, ASC will be looking for a much better result to win the club’s first ever West Region championship.
The journey so far has been nothing short of incredible for Coach Ziggy Korytoski’s side. After a tremendous back half of the regular season to sneak into the third and final playoff spot, ASC have played on the edge of brilliance to achieve two dramatic penalty shootout victories on the road to earn their 2nd West Region Final appearance in 4 years. It will be key for ASC San Diego to continue to be locked in defensively on Saturday as they will face one of the best attacking sides in the league. FC Arizona’s lineup will feature 2018 and 2019 NPSL Golden Boot winners Omar Nuno and Cesar Mexia who have caused NPSL defenses all sorts of problems in the last two seasons. However, FCAZ will be facing arguably the best defensive side in the NPSL who saw 10 clean sheets in just 18 regular season matches. With ASC veteran goalkeeper Jean Antoine between the posts, an 11th clean sheet on the year is not out of the question for this weekend. Stopping 4 out of his opponents’ last 8 penalty attempts, Antoine has been immense for ASC San Diego in their storybook playoff run.
With an opportunity to move on to the National Semifinal while claiming victory over a conference rival, Saturday is shaping up for a NPSL classic. After the hours and hours of pure maximum effort given on and off the field leading up to this point, a midplayoff end would not seem fair to Coach Ziggy Korytoski and his players who have given nothing but their all for the past 6 months. For the ASC faithful who will not be able to make 5-hour journey east, please stay tuned and follow us on our social media and website as we will keep you up to date with the latest information regarding San Diego’s team. 2 down, 3 to go…
—– MATCH PREVIEW PRESENTED BY SOCCER AMERICA —–
