One of the worst things in sports is the trap game or letdown. The way these games usually work is that right before or right after a highly-anticipated contest, a team takes their next opponent less seriously, resulting in a loss or a draw that should never happen.

If North Carolina FC had a full week between their big rivalry win last Saturday and Toronto FC II on Wednesday, I wouldn’t be too worried, but this quick turnaround is just not ideal. In all likelihood, the team will get little to no away support midweek in Canada, and NCFC will not find the natural energy around the game that they had against the Charlotte Independence.

Toronto is a bad, bad team, but NCFC still has to go out on the field and prove that Saturday wasn’t a fluke, that the Dead Whales can take care of business against lesser opponents.

What to watch for

A return of the NCFC possession game. Charlotte owned a lot of the ball against NCFC, but this midfield is extremely talented. As mentioned before, TFC II are bad. I know their senior team is in the CCL final, but their second team only had 25 points last year and has zero so far in 2018. A clean sheet. The Baby Reds have only scored one goal all year. NCFC has given up six goals in four games, but they are coming off an important clean sheet and should be able to continue that run against this opponent. A big game from Rios. Daniel Rios is quickly becoming our standout new signing, and I expect him to have a big game against a TFC II side that gives up 2.66 goals a game.

Key players for Toronto

Matthew Srbely has the team’s only goal this season, but honestly, unless Sebastian Giovinco is bored Wednesday and wants to suit up, there’s not a lot that TFC II is going to be able to do… if we take care of our business.

Form

North Carolina FC: L | L | W

Toronto FC II: L | L | L

Prediction

We’re simply the better team; we just have to show it. Charlotte has already beat Toronto, and based on Saturday night, we are better than Charlotte so we just need to do our work well. North Carolina FC 2, Toronto FC II 0.

Game info

North Carolina FC at Toronto FC II, 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, Ontario Soccer Centre, Toronto, Canada.

How to watch: Don’t forget —USL games have now moved to ESPN+, the sports network’s subscription plan. You can get a 30-day free trial now, then it’s $4.99 per month.