FC Tucson finally showed some fireworks on offense to earn a draw against the first-place Greenville Triumph SC and snap its five-match home losing streak.
On Sunday night at Kino North Stadium, FC Tucson (3-7-3) tied the Triumph 1-1.
“I’m just so proud of the team persevering, about the staff, us coming together deciding to switch to a 3-5-2 to add the second striker and then it’s the will of the players,” said FC Tucson head coach Jon Pearlman. “(Defender) Tyler Allen has proven in the last three games that there’s not a right back in this league playing better than him, either side of the ball.”
In the 84th minute FC Tucson forward/defender Donny Toia scored his first USL League One goal off an assist by Allen.
It was Toia’s second match since he re-signed with FC Tucson after a long MLS career. Both appearances have been as a substitute.
“Donny’s the biggest moment guy in this stadium that there’s ever been,” Pearlman said.
FC Tucson is 1-1-1 since they added Toia and forward Fernando Garcia.
Allen said Toia and Garcia have brought a lot of versatile to the front three.
“Donny brings a lot of experience to the table and he makes a lot of great runs that come with a lot of time in the game,” Allen said.
Garcia, who scored in his FC Tucson and profession debut on June 25 at Chattanooga, almost headed in a cross in the 68th minute.
FC Tucson had 57.8% of the possession and outshot Greenville 12-10.
Greenville forward Lucas Coutinho opened the scoring in the 43rd minute. The Triumph (7-4-3) had won three matches in a row and five of their last six.
Attendance was 1,785 for the Salute the Troops Night with a fireworks show after the match.
“The crowd tonight helped us through, they stayed with us the whole time,” Pearlman said. “To see the stadium filled like this and to give us that energy was tremendous.”
FC Tucson still has a seven-match winless streak at home and hasn't won at Kino in league play yet this season.
“I’m happy to get a point obviously, but not really happy,” Pearlman said. “We’re definitely trending in the right direction.”
Pearlman said Triumph defender Noah Franke, who played for FC Tucson last season, would be hard to replace. But Allen has been up to the task, shutting down the league’s top offensive threats and being a headache for opposing defenses.
“Since he came back and played in the last five games I think he’s been the best player on the team, nobody would dispute that,” Pearlman said. “It was a big shoes to fill with Noah Franke, I believed he was the type of guy that can do it on both sides of the ball and I think he’s proven that in droves, he probably should have more assists, but again I’m so proud of him.”
FC Tucson, sitting in 11th place, returns to action on Saturday when they host 10th-place Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC (4-4-4).
