FC Tucson earned its first professional playoff berth and a postseason home match with a convincing win in the regular-season finale.
FC Tucson (11-10-7) beat the Richmond Kickers 4-2 on Saturday night at home before a crowd of 1,566 at Kino North Stadium.
The win continued FC Tucson’s rise from 11th place (out of 12) when Jon Pearlman took over as interim coach in late June.
“What a night for the community, what a night for our fans,” said FC Tucson coach Pearlman, who was named the permanent coach three weeks ago. “It’s certainly very emotional for me. I was given a task, I was given an opportunity and I’m just, again, continuing to be grateful. We continue to play for our fans and in front of our fans.”
FC Tucson is 9-6-4 since Pearlman took over.
The Men in Black will host the Kickers (11-10-7) again next Saturday in the first round of the playoffs. FC Tucson finished level with Richmond on points with 40 but earned the No. 4 seed in the playoffs due to a better goal differential. Richmond won the first meeting this year between the two teams, beating visiting FC Tucson 1-0 on July 31.
Saturday, Richmond struck first with a goal in the 21st minute by Kickers midfielder Jonathan Bolanos against the run of play. Then in the 24th minute FC Tucson defender Maxi Schenfeld responded with the equalizer.
FC Tucson forward Deri Corfe put the Men in Black ahead with a long-distance goal in the 42nd minute.
Mohamed Kone helped FC Tucson clinch a postseason bid with a 4-2 win Saturday at Kino North Stadium.
About a minute after Richmond scored a penalty kick, FC Tucson defender Luca Mastrantonio scored on a corner kick to give the Men in Black the lead back.
Then in the 58th minute FC Tucson forward Shak Adams scored to make it 4-2.
“I was lucky enough to able to be a part of the history of FC Tucson to make the playoffs,” Adams said.
The last time FC Tucson scored four goals was on Aug. 22.
The Kickers outshot FC Tucson 15-11 but the hosts had the edge in shots on target, 7-4.
The USL League One postseason includes the top six teams, with the first- and second-place sides getting first-round byes.
"It’s great not having to travel, most of the teams that we play are like really far from us, so we have a huge travel every time,” Mastrantonio said. “We need to take two flights, wake up really early in the morning, so the fact that we have a game against a team that we just played, I think that it’s the best situation that could ever happen for us.”
