FC Tucson defender Luca Mastrantonio has remained a constant this season.
The Italian is in his second season playing for FC Tucson after starring at UC Irvine. While other Men in Black have been injured this year, most notably his fellow center back Kaelon Fox, Mastrantonio has been a fixture on the club’s back line.
FC Tucson (2-4-1) will play Saturday at Forward Madison FC (1-3-4) with hopes of logging its first two-game winning streak of the USL League One season. FC Tucson topped South Georgia Tormenta FC 1-0 in Statesboro.
“His durability has been critical, him and (defender) Jake (Cull) have played virtually every minute and we’ve needed them to,” said FC Tucson coach Jon Pearlman. “Luca takes incredible care of himself, he’s fit as can be, he’s durable and those are some of the qualities that make him so important to have on our roster.”
Mastrantonio received USL League One Team of the Week honors for his efforts in FC Tucson’s win at South Georgia last week. The Men in Black played most of the contest one man down, but still managed to snap their three-match losing streak.
FC Tucson and Forward Madison played to a 1-1 draw on April 16 in Tucson.
“There’s a reason he’s made team of the week, he’s so dangerous on set pieces going forward,” Pearlman said. “He’s so good in his duels overall.
“In that game you just saw his ability to block, his ability to read shots, to get in the way and to be brave and his complete commitment to his team and to throwing his body into harm’s way and is a big part of a center back when you go to defend in that low block.”
Mastrantonio said he hopes to improve on his communication on the pitch.
“So far I’m OK, I feel like I can do better overall, I feel like the team can do better, like obviously we’re never satisfied, we always want to do better,” Mastrantonio said. “The season is long so I’m sure we can do better by the end of the season.”
Corner kick
FC Tucson will host a watch party Saturday at Brother John’s Beer, Bourbon and BBQ, 1801 N. Stone Ave. The party starts at 5 p.m.
