2018 FC Cincinnati season

The 2018 FC Cincinnati season was the club's third season of existence, and their third in the United Soccer League (USL). It was FC Cincinnati's second season as a second-tier team in the U.S. soccer pyramid, as the United States Soccer Federation provisionally promoted the USL from Division III to Division II for the 2017 season. FC Cincinnati played in the Eastern Conference of the USL.

FC Cincinnati
2018 season
General managerJeff Berding
Head coachAlan Koch
StadiumNippert Stadium
USL1st (Eastern Conference)
USL PlayoffsConference Semifinals
U.S. Open Cup4th round
Top goalscorerEmmanuel Ledesma (16)
Highest home attendance31,478
(September 29 vs. Indy)
Lowest home attendance22,532
(May 5 vs. Atlanta 2)
Average home league attendance25,717

This was the final season of the club's USL incarnation. On May 29, 2018, Major League Soccer awarded the FCC ownership group an expansion franchise, which began play in MLS under the FC Cincinnati name in 2019.[1]

On September 26, 2018, the club clinched their first USL Regular Season Championship with a 4–1 victory over the Richmond Kickers.[2]

Club

Coaching staff
Alan Koch started as head coach in 2017.
Position Staff
Head Coach Alan Koch
Assistant Coach Yoann Damet
Goalkeeper Coach Jack Stern
Technical Director Luke Sassano
Athletic Trainer Aaron Powell
Strength & Conditioning Austin Berry
UC Health Dr. Angelo Colosimo
Dr. Brian Grawe

Roster
The players and staff celebrate winning the USL 2018 regular season trophy.

On October 25, 2017, general manager Jeff Berding held a press conference to make the first announcements about the 2018 roster. The return of nine players from 2017 was confirmed at this press conference: Matt Bahner, Kenney Walker, Danni König, Corben Bone, Jimmy McLaughlin, Garrett Halfhill, Justin Hoyte, Sem de Wit, and Josu. Six additional players from the 2017 roster—Austin Berry, Mitch Hildebrandt, Djiby Fall, Harrison Delbridge, Andrew Wiedeman, and Paul Nicholson—were mentioned as still under consideration for 2018, pending contract discussions and future announcements. Berding also confirmed they would not renew contracts or exercise options for any other former players.[3] In the following weeks, Djiby Fall implied he would not be returning via Twitter,[4] and Paul Nicholson announced his retirement from professional soccer.[5]

The club began announcing new signings in November 2017. The team signed Israeli defender Dekel Keinan on November 10,[6] as well as Canadian forward Daniel Haber on November 15.[7]

On April 16, 2018, the club announced they had mutually agreed to part ways with defender Josu.[8]

On April 17, 2018, the club announced they had reach an agreement for the free release of defender Garrett Halfhill. Halfhill subsequently join the New York Cosmos B of the NPSL.[9]

On July 9, 2018, the club announced the free transfer of forward Daniel Haber to Ottawa Fury FC.

On July 30, 2018, forward Fanendo Adi was acquired from the Portland Timbers as the first MLS designated player for FC Cincinnati.[10] The club also announced the acquisition of midfielder Fatai Alashe from the San Jose Earthquakes.[11]

On August 1, 2018, the club announced the acquisition of defender Pa Konate from Serie A S.P.A.L.[12]

Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth.

No. Position Player Nation
1 GK Evan Newton  United States
2 DF Matt Bahner  United States
3 DF Forrest Lasso  United States
4 MF Tyler Gibson  United States
5 MF Nazmi Albadawi  United States
6 MF Kenney Walker  United States
7 FW Russell Cicerone  United States
9 FW Fanendo Adi  Nigeria
10 FW Emery Welshman  Guyana
11 FW Danni König  Denmark
12 DF Pa Konate (on loan from SPAL)  Sweden
13 MF Michael Lahoud  Sierra Leone
16 MF Richie Ryan  Ireland
17 GK Mark Village  Canada
18 GK Spencer Richey (on loan from Vancouver Whitecaps)  United States
19 MF Corben Bone  United States
20 MF Jimmy McLaughlin  United States
21 DF Dekel Keinan  Israel
23 DF Blake Smith  United States
24 FW Tomi Ameobi  England
27 MF Fatai Alashe (on loan from San Jose Earthquakes)  United States
29 DF Paddy Barrett  Ireland
32 DF Justin Hoyte  Trinidad and Tobago
45 MF Emmanuel Ledesma  Argentina
51 DF Sem de Wit  Netherlands

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss

USL
Main article: 2018 USL season

Results Table
Matchday12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334
GroundAAHAHAAHAHHAAHHAHAHHHHHHAAHAHAAHAA
ResultWWLDDWWWLWLWWDWDWDWWWDWWWWWWWWWWDD
Source: MLS
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

|text_H=Home|text_A=Away

1
Charleston Battery0–1FC Cincinnati
Guerra  51'
van Schiak  80'
Griffith  90+2'		 CIN Report
CHS Report		 Smith 18'
Laing  63'
Lasso  85'
König  90+2'
Ryan  90+7'
Attendance: 0
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
2
Indy Eleven0–1FC Cincinnati
Ferreira  41'
McInerney  45+4'		 CIN Report
IND Report		 Welshman 26'
Keinan  54'
Lasso  74'
Attendance: 17,535
Referee: Malik Badawi
3
FC Cincinnati0–1Louisville City FC
Ledesma  35'
Keinan  61'
Laing  76'		 CIN Report
LOU Report
Box Score		 Lancaster 13'  47'
Ilić  90+4'
Attendance: 25,667 (USL record for home opener)
Referee: Joseph Dickerson
4
Bethlehem Steel FC1–1FC Cincinnati
Burke 15'  83'
Chiluya  66'		 BTH Report Albadawi 72'
Attendance: 0
Referee: Amber O'Connor
5
FC Cincinnati2–2Pittsburgh Riverhounds
König 59'
Ledesma  68'
Walker 78'
Keinan  88'
Laing  90+2'		 CIN Report
PIT Report
Box Score		 Dover 6'  36'
Vancaeyezeele 73'
Attendance: 24,505
Referee: Greg Dopka
6
Ottawa Fury FC0–3FC Cincinnati
Reid  63' CIN Report
OTT Report
Box Score		 Lasso  50'
Smith  57'
Walker 68'
Bone 69'
Ledesma  56' 77'
Attendance: 2,785
7
Indy Eleven2–3FC Cincinnati
Jack McInerney 24'
Ayoze 30' (pen.)  88'		 CIN report
IND report
Box score		 Kenney Walker 7' (pen.)  75'
Jimmy McLaughlin 41'
Corben Bone 54'
Forrest Lasso  60'
Emery Welshman  72'
Attendance: 8,079
Referee: Marco de Oliveira
8
FC Cincinnati4–2Atlanta United 2
König 26'
Ledesma 28' 48'
Keinan  30'
Bone 39'		 CIN Report
ATL Report
Box Score		 Gallagher 31'
Kissiedou  37' 41'
Carleton  87'
Attendance: 22,532
Referee: Guido Gonzalez Jr.
9
Charlotte Independence4–1FC Cincinnati
Cato 38'
Ekra 45+2'
Voser 57'
Martínez  68'
Zayed 87'		 CIN Report
CLT Report
Box Score		 Ledesma  45+1'
König 51'
Ryan  71'
Lasso  75'
Keinan  85'
Attendance: 2,314
Referee: Kevin Broadley
10
FC Cincinnati4–1North Carolina FC
Smith  29'
Albadawi 11', 45'
Ledesma 62' (pen.)
König 69'  75'		 CIN Report
NCFC Report		 Bekker  65'
Lomis 86'
Attendance: 22,884
Referee: Victor Rivas
11
FC Cincinnati0–2Louisville City FC
Barrett  28'
Ryan  33'
Keinan  81'		 CIN Report
LOU Report		 Lancaster 15'
Craig  55'
Davis IV 73'
Williams  85'
Attendance: 26,495
12
New York Red Bulls II1–2FC Cincinnati
Moreno 7'
Stauffer  69'		 CIN Report
NYRB Report
Box Score		 Welshman  52'
Barrett  61'
Ledsema 65'
Ryan  71'
König 77'
Attendance: 613
Referee: Ismir Pekmic
13
North Carolina FC0–2FC Cincinnati
CIN Report
NCFC Report		 Ledesma  36'
König 37'  52'
Hoyte  72'
McLaughlin 87'
Attendance: 4,039
Referee: Mark Allatin
14
FC Cincinnati2–2Bethlehem Steel FC
Albadawi 66'
Cicerone 68'		 CIN Report
BTH Report		 Jones 29'
Mbaizo
Herbers 69'  86'
Attendance: 22,407
Referee: Marcos de Oliveira
15
FC Cincinnati4–0Richmond Kickers
Ledesma 8', 67'
Albadawi 36'
König 60'
Welshman 82'
Keinan 90+1'		 CIN Report
RIC Report		 Cordovés 33'
Williams 90'
Attendance: 28,026
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
16
Toronto FC II3–3FC Cincinnati
Akinola 28'
Bjornethun  45'
Boskovic 70'
Hamilton 75'
Campbell  88'		 CIN Report
TOR Report		 Albadawi 8'
Welshman 38'
Ledesma 40'
Attendance: 288
Referee: Fabrizio Stasolla
17
FC Cincinnati2–0Ottawa Fury FC
König 16'
Smith  86'
Albadawi 90+2'		 CIN Report
OTT Report
Box score		 Oliveira  71'
Attendance: 27,107
Referee: Daniel Gutierrez
18
Nashville SC0–0FC Cincinnati
Moloto  15' CIN Report
NSH Report		 Keinan  17'
Attendance: 18,228
Referee: Lorant Varga
19
FC Cincinnati2–0Tampa Bay Rowdies
Ledesma 54',  63'
König 84'		 CIN Report
TBR Report		 Flemmings  23'
Attendance: 25,416
Referee: Malik Badawi
20
FC Cincinnati2–0Charlotte Independence
Keinan 7'
Lasso 20'
Ledesma  67'
Welshman  87'		 CIN Report
CLT Report		 Duckett  28'
Zayed  65'
Voser  87'
Attendance: 25,251
Referee: Jon Freemon
21
FC Cincinnati2–1New York Red Bulls II
Lasso 17'
Barrett  22', 35'
Smith  60'		 CIN Report
NYRB Report		 Tinari  14'
König 25' (o.g.)
Barlow  53'
Stauffer  80'
Attendance: 23,602
Referee: Michael Radchuk
22
FC Cincinnati1–1Nashville SC
König 1',  71'
Lasso  30'
Walker  60'		 CIN Report
NSH Report		 Hume 85'
Mensah  90+1'
Davis  90+3'
Attendance: 27,426
Referee: Ismir Pekmic
23
FC Cincinnati1–0Penn FC
Ledesma 80' CIN Report
PENN Report		 Baffoe  43'
Tribbett  79'
Mkosana  83'
Attendance: 24,249
Referee: Mark Allatin
24
FC Cincinnati3–0Charleston Battery
Ledesma  13', 21'
Bone 45+1'
Barrett  53'
Thomas 90+5' (o.g.)		 CIN Report Anunga  30'
Svantesson  87'
Attendance: 27,142
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
25
Atlanta United 21–5FC Cincinnati
Bello  16'
Nicklaw 65'
Gallagher  90+1'		 CIN Report
ATL Report		 Bone 18'
Albadawi 25', 55'
Konate  36'
Alashe  45+1', 53'
Welshman 87'
Attendance: 1,638
Referee: JJ Bilinsk
26
Tampa Bay Rowdies1–2FC Cincinnati
Taku  1'
Cole  15'
Poku  43', 75'
Portillos  68'
Oduro  80'
Diakité  82'  85'		 Report Ledesma 2' (pen.), 86' (pen.)
Smith  50'  62'
Barrett  88'
Newton  90+2'
Attendance: 5,963
Referee: Kevin Broadley
27
FC Cincinnati2–1Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Lasso  38'
Keinan 80'
Adi 88',  88'		 USL Report
CIN Report		 Parkes 57'
Attendance: 25,735
Referee: Joseph Dickerson
28
Louisville City FC0–1FC Cincinnati
DelPiccolo  90+3' USL Report
CIN Report		 Bone 23'
Richey  90+2'
Attendance: 10,009
Referee: Joshua Brooks
29
FC Cincinnati4–3Toronto FC II
Lasso 31'
Adi 45+2'
Bone 78', 88'		 Report
CIN Report		 Endoh 24', 45+4', 73'
Johnson  29'
Hundal  63'
Attendance: 27,275
Referee: Lorant Varga
30
Penn FC1–2FC Cincinnati
Calvano  7'
Paulo 33'
Osae  45+1'		 CIN Report
PENN Report		 König  7'
Ledesma  32', 68'
Bone 84'
Attendance: 3,117
Referee: Thomas Snyder
31
Richmond Kickers1–4FC Cincinnati
Eaton  14'
Cordovés 32'
Luiz Fernando  50'
Sekyere  72'
Shanosky  85'		 CIN Report
RIC Report
Report		 Albadawi 16'
Ledesma 40', 44',  45+3'
Alashe  45+5'
Welshman 63'
Attendance: 1,519
Referee: Nickrod Fateh
32
FC Cincinnati3–0Indy Eleven
König  31', 65'
Adi 34'
Mitchell 74' (og)		 CIN Report
IND Report
Report		 Matern  31'
Attendance: 31,478 (USL record)
Referee: Timothy Ford
33
Pittsburgh Riverhounds0–0FC Cincinnati
CIN Report
PIT Report
Report		 Lasso  35'
Attendance: 3,205
Referee: Eric Tattersall
34
Nashville SC3–3FC Cincinnati
Hume 5'
LaGrassa  40'
Allen 80'
Akinyode 90'		 CIN Report Albadawi  39', 63'
Bone 52', 81'
Attendance: 9,083
Referee: Marcos DeOliveira

Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 FC Cincinnati (X) 34 23 8 3 72 34 +38 77 Conference Playoffs
2 Louisville City FC (C) 34 19 9 6 71 38 +33 66
3 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 34 15 14 5 47 26 +21 59
4 Charleston Battery 34 14 14 6 47 34 +13 56
5 New York Red Bulls II 34 13 13 8 71 59 +12 52
6 Bethlehem Steel FC 34 14 8 12 56 41 +15 50
7 Indy Eleven 34 13 10 11 45 42 +3 49
8 Nashville SC 34 12 13 9 42 31 +11 49
9 North Carolina FC 34 13 8 13 60 50 +10 47
10 Ottawa Fury 34 13 6 15 31 43 −12 45
11 Charlotte Independence 34 10 12 12 44 57 −13 42
12 Tampa Bay Rowdies 34 11 8 15 44 44 0 41
13 Penn FC 34 9 10 15 38 47 −9 37
14 Atlanta United 2 34 7 10 17 37 72 −35 31
15 Richmond Kickers 34 6 4 24 30 80 −50 22
16 Toronto FC II 34 4 6 24 42 77 −35 18
Source: 2018 USL standings
Rules for classification: 1) total wins; 2) total goal differential; 3) total goals scored; 4) points earned against top four Conference finishers; 5) disciplinary points; 6) coin toss or drawing of lots
(C) Champion; (X) Regular Season League Champion

References
  1. "Cincinnati awarded MLS expansion club, will start play in 2019". MLSSoccer.com.
  2. "USL REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPIONS". FCCincinnati.com. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  3. Kimura, Fumi (October 25, 2017). "Nine Return for 2018". FC Cincinnati. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  4. Fall, Djiby [@baye_djiby] (October 31, 2017). "Thank Mr carld Jeff. Alan and all the staff my teammates people in the administration and the fantastic fans wish the klub all the best 🙏🙏🙏" (Tweet). Retrieved November 7, 2017 – via Twitter.
  5. Kimura, Fumi (November 6, 2017). "Paul Nicholson Announces Retirement". FC Cincinnati. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  6. Kimura, Fumi (November 10, 2017). "FCC Inks Maccabi Haifa Captain Dekel Keinan". FC Cincinnati. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  7. Kimura, Fumi (November 15, 2017). "FCC Signs Forward Daniel Haber". FC Cincinnati. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  8. Kimura, Fumi. "FCC JOSU AGREE TO PART WAYS". FCCincinnati.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  9. Switzer, D.J. "FC CINCINNATI RELEASE HALFHILL, JOINS NEW YORK COSMOS". FCCincinnati.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  10. "FCC ANNOUNCES ADI AS FIRST MLS DESIGNATED PLAYER". FCCincinnati.com. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  11. "FC CINCINNATI ADDS FATAI ALASHE FROM SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES". FCCincinnati.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  12. "FC CINCINNATI TAKES PA KONATE ON LOAN FROM SERIE A'S S.P.A.L". FCCincinnati.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
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