On Sept. 11, 2001, FC Tucson interim coach Jon Pearlman had multiple concerns.
Pearlman, a New York native, spent his day trying to figure out if his friends were OK while explaining the terror attack to his fifth-grade students at Tucson's St. Ambrose Catholic School.
FC Tucson defender Dakota Barnathan, who is from Massapequa, New York, was 6 years old on 9/11 but remembers it like it was yesterday.
“My mom ran home from Manhattan that day from Queens, where I lived, so being a part of it I know plenty of people that have been affected by it,” Barnathan said. “So it’s always an honor and something special to play on a day that’s for heroes.”
FC Tucson (7-8-5) hosts Fort Lauderdale CF on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Kino North Stadium. It's First Reponders Night, fitting given that it's the 20-year anniversary of the terror attacks.
Before the match, FC Tucson will honor first responders like Cassandra Moreno, Danny Leon and Ben Goheen. Moreno was the partner of Jacob Dindinger, the EMT who was killed during a July shooting spree.
Leon is the Tucson police officer who ended the spree. Goheen, a paramedic, was TFD’s 2020 firefighter of the year.
“We’re just grateful to be doing something positive, hopefully, and celebrating all those who have contributed to our country and all these first responders and just honoring the people who were lost and the people who survived and are missing those loved ones," Pearlman said.
FC Tucson is riding a four-match unbeaten streak that has seen it shoot up to fifth place in the USL League One table.
“I think in training we picked up the level very, very high and I think we’ve shown it in games,” said FC Tucson midfielder Daniel Bedoya.
Fort Lauderdale CF (7-9-5), an affiliate of Inter Miami CF of Major League Soccer, sits in fourth place with 26 points, the same as FC Tucson. North Texas SC also has 26 points, while four teams have 25 and another has 24.
“It’s big,” Pearlman said of Saturday's game. “Taking care of business at home is really what the teams that have made the playoffs have done."
Three of the matches in FC Tucson’s streak were on the road, including a 4-0 win over Fort Lauderdale CF on Aug. 22. The road win avenged a 5-1 loss incurred during FC Tucson’s first trip to Fort Lauderdale in May.
Corner kicks
• Bedoya and defender Noah Franke were named to the USL League One Team of the Week.
• Romeo Beckham, the son of international soccer star David Beckham, has reportedly signed with Fort Lauderdale CF, though he hasn’t been added to the roster yet. David Beckham is one of the owners of Inter Miami.
