On Wednesday night, FC Tucson will host the Richmond Kickers — part of a stretch of three matches in a row at home and five of their next six in the friendly confines of Kino North Stadium.
But is that a good thing? FC Tucson is 0-3-1 at home this season. (The club went 1-1 at home in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, upsetting the Las Vegas Lights, but U.S. Open Cup matches don’t count in the standigns).
“Obviously, we need get home points,” FC Tucson coach Jon Pearlman said. “Because even if we were .500 at home, we’d be at the top of the table”
Things seem to be trending upwards for the hometown club. Saturday’s 2-1 win at Chattanooga improved FC Tucson to 3-6-2 this season and ended a stretch where it played five of six matches on the road.
Pearlman said the team played well, outside of the two goals it surrendered in a 2-1 home loss to Union Omaha on June 11. He said the additions of MLS veteran Donny Toia and forward Fernando Garcia, who scored in his FC Tucson and professional debut at Chattanooga, have helped the intensity of training a lot.
Wednesday’s match is a rescheduling of a May 20 match that was postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Kickers (5-4-3). The scheduled “520 Day” match was supposed to be a way to celebrate Tucson.
FC Tucson’s home grounds opened on Nov. 15, 2013, when FC Tucson beat Chivas USA of the MLS 1-0. Since then, Kino North has had everything from MLS preseason to graduations to Tucson High football. It host the 2022 NJCAA Division II national soccer tournaments.
Last season, FC Tucson went 7-6-2 at home, notching back-to-back wins over Richmond in the regular season finale and the playoffs. In the COVID-19 affected 2020 season, FC Tucson went 3-3-2 at home; in 2019, the club’s first year as a professional side, it was 5-4-5 at Kino North Stadium.
“To be fair, the fans have been awesome, the atmosphere has been great,” said defender FC Tucson defender Kaelon Fox. “I think now we get to into the summer and it starts to get a little bit hotter and teams aren’t used to that type of weather, that Arizona heat.
“For us, we’ve had injuries here and there and we’ve had players missing for various reasons.”
Pearlman said the stadium’s design is great, providing shade and making the supporters louder.
“It’s been amazing,” Pearlman said. “Obviously we have such a great training facility and such a great locker room, such a great setup, it allows us to do our work at our best level.”
Corner kicks
The club will still celebrate “520 Day” against the Kickers. Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz will present the match ball. All tickets originally purchased for May 20 will work for Wednesday’s match.
Pearlman said he expects Toia, listed on the roster as a forward/defender, to make his 2022 debut on Thursday — though he isn’t expected to start. FC Tucson signed the former Canyon del Oro High School and Pima College standout to a contract on June 16. Toia spent most of the last decade in Major League Soccer.
