'Things looked dark' earlier this season; now FC Tucson is hosting a playoff match

When Jon Pearlman took over as FC Tucson’s coach in late June, replacing John Galas, the Men in Black were near the bottom of the USL League One standings.

Now they’re hosting a playoff match.

Fourth-seeded FC Tucson hosts the fifth-seeded Richmond Kickers on Saturday night at 7 in a USL League One first-round game. In the span of four months, FC Tucson rose from 11th place (out of 12) in the USL League One standings to hosting its first postseason match since turning professional.

“Things looked dark earlier in the season,” said Pearlman, a longtime Tucsonan who was named the coach outright last month. “They looked dark last year at this time; we weren’t a part of any postseason, we were struggling through a pandemic.”

Now, things are brighter. FC Tucson (11-10-7) tied with Richmond on points at the end of the regular season. And the clubs both finished with 11 wins. The Men in Black earned home-field advantage with a better goal differential after beating the Kickers 4-2 last week.

FC Tucson had been surging for weeks before that, too. It beat top-seeded Union Omaha 1-0 on the road on Sept. 25, notching a seven-match unbeaten streak and rising to third place. After a couple 2-0 home losses in a row, however, the club slipped out of the top six.

“We came from our seven-game streak and then we went through a little up and down; we should have already been in the playoffs,” said FC Tucson defender Luca Mastrantonio. “But we came up when we had to came up and we secured our spot and just happy, man. It’s been a long season and we deserved it.”

FC Tucson was a fixture for years in the Premier Development League (now USL League Two) playoffs, qualifying six times in seven chances.

In its first season as a professional side, however, FC Tucson went 8-11-9 in 2019, finished eighth, and missed the postseason.

The club went 6-6-4 during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign, finishing sixth, but missed the playoffs. Because of the pandemic, USL League One took the top two teams and placed them in the championship match rather than play out the quarterfinals and semifinals. That title match, between Union Omaha FC and Greenville Triumph SC, was canceled after multiple people with Omaha contracted COVID-19. Greenville was named the champion based on its points-per-game average.

This year marks a return to relative normalcy — and a full playoff slate. The Men in Black roll into the playoffs having won twice and drawn once in their last three matches.

“We’re healthy, we have some confidence, three unbeaten to end the season I think is great,” Pearlman said.

Corner kicks

Four FC Tucson players — Mastrantonio, forward Shak Adams, defender Maxi Schenfeld and midfielder João Delgado — were named to the USL League One team of the week. Adams, Mastrantonio and Schenfeld each scored against the Kickers and Delgado had two assists. FC Tucson’s four selections were tops among any team. Toronto FC II had three.

Tickets for Saturday’s match start at $10 and are available to both season ticket holders and the general public. The club is pushing for a sellout at the 3,000-seat Kino North Stadium.