HUNTSVILLE — You’re only as good as your last match.
And, for Huntsville City FC, that was just a couple days ago and the club was very good.
Now, Huntsville has to turn around and face a powerful Columbus Crew 2 today. It will be the third meeting of the season with “the best team in the league,” according to coach Jack Collison. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Wicks Family Field at Joe Davis Stadium.
HCFC blanked FC Cincinnati 2 on Sunday 1-0 for its third straight win – the last two by shutouts. With the win, Huntsville City FC (8W-8L-4D, 3SOW, 31 points) moved above the playoffs line to seventh place in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference.
“We’re on a great run,” said Collison. “Seven wins in our last 10 games, three wins in a row.”
Nebiyou Perry scored the lone goal in the game on a pass from Kemy Amiche in the 38th minute. It was Perry’s third goal of the season. For goalkeeper Ben Martino, it was his second straight clean sheet.
“A lot of it is staying mentally locked in,” he said. “It’s shown a lot of character and growth … for the back line.
“These back-to-back clean sheets are a testament to how we’re growing.”
But, there is no time for the players to rest on their laurels. Columbus comes to town with a 12-6-2-2 record good for second-place in the Eastern Conference.
“It’s going to be really hard work for 90 minutes,” Martino said of tonight’s match.
To add to the task, Huntsville City then hits the road to tackle first-place Crown Legacy FC at 10 a.m. Sunday – the club’s third match in seven days.
“It’ll be a good challenge to see if they can go back to back,” Collison said of his club.
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