When the idea of FC Cincinnati came to fruition and the club started accruing players, nobody within the organization quite knew the level of support the city would offer. There were expectations, and a desire to draw significant crowds to prove that the area can support a professional team, but after the club drew nearly 15,000 fans to its first home game at Nippert Stadium, and a USL regular-season record attendance of 20,497 this past Saturday against rival Louisville City FC, everyone involved with FC Cincinnati has been delighted with the support the club has garnered thus far.

Promising young forward, and leading scorer, Sean Okoli is among those at the club who are thrilled with how quickly fans have taken to the expansion club.

“To be honest, we did not expect it, but the fact that they are out there to support us shows that they really believe in us and they want to see some good football,” Okoli said this week. “We try not to get too nervous, take a deep breath and remember they are out to watch us.

“Having all the fans supporting us and cheering us on the whole game is just something that motivates us, pushes us throughout the game. The fact that we even got up to 15,000 and 20,000 last week, it is something unheard of. We are very grateful, and we just want to keep getting results. It is all about getting results and entertaining the crowd at the same time.”

Okoli certainly provided great entertainment early in the club’s first game at Nippert Stadium. In just the fifth minute against the Charlotte Independence, Corben Bone took advantage of a short defensive clearance and set up Okoli for an impressive side-volleyed finish that resulted in a highlight-reel goal.

The goal drew attention from around the globe, as it landed at No. 4 on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10, and earned a place in The Guardian’s best goals of the week.

As impressive at his audacious attempt was to fans, Okoli is modest about the feat.

“It is just instinct to me,” said Okoli. “I thought that I could pop it up and give it a clean strike and it could hit the target. I just saw an opportunity and I seized it. It was all instinct really.”