Charlie Hatch

chatch@enquirer.com

Five matches unbeaten, Futbol Club Cincinnati is actively campaigning for a spot in the United Soccer League Playoffs. And for the moment, that could mean a top-four Eastern Conference finish and a home playoff match, or missing the postseason altogether. Both scenarios have a low probability.

With three regular season matches remaining, FC Cincinnati sits seventh in the league standings, with the top eight clubs advancing. Meaning, the club has a high probability to advance but play a road match.

Friday night's match with second-place Charlotte Independence – a club that's lost three in its last five – is a chance to further secure playoff position. But it's also another opportunity to put Cincinnati's poor road record to test.

Through 13 road matches this season, Cincinnati has only two wins. One was the second week against Pittsburgh Riverhounds; The other was against now league-leading Louisville City in July.

"Being at home, in general, you're more comfortable in you're own setting," right-back Matt Bahner said after training Wednesday morning. "You're able to be in your own routine. ...A routine is a big deal for professional athletes, so being at home, that helps.

"When you're on the road, you kind of get out of that routine. You're not sleeping in your own bed and things like that. Ultimately, those are real excuses."

Bahner also mentioned the importance of playing in front of the home supporters at Nippert Stadium – which would actually be logical reasoning to suggest the road results.

Both head coach Alan Koch and former coach John Harkes have said opponents treated matches at Nippert as the biggest games of their seasons, simply because the crowd size and atmosphere. For clubs that are also Major League Soccer affiliates, that's additionally meant deploying reserves from the MLS team into the USL matchup – a chance to get minutes in a first-tier environment.

FC Cincinnati's road environments have been drastically different.

Cincinnati averaged 21,199 fans per match across home USL matches this season. On the road, the opponent's average attendance has been 4,661 – almost a fifth of the usual Nippert attendance. That's a drastic drop that doesn't justify poor road performances, but it does provide clarity. (It should be noted the USL average attendance is 4,360 per game.)

Throughout the season, the club's developed a trait of growing into a match, meaning Cincinnati's attack grows in strength throughout the 90 minutes. In the last two away matches – both draws with stoppage-time equalizers – Cincinnati played well but eventually find success later on.

"People say, 'Why don't you play with that intensity from the start?' " Koch said. "You come out with intensity but the ebbs and flows of the game determine how you manage the intensity of the game.

"Any team losing by a goal or two in the last 20 minutes, they're going to throw everything at you. And we've been up and everything has been thrown at us. You have to figure out a way to hang on."

And that's what FC Cincinnati has done. Now with three-consecutive road matches remaining, it'll either be a scrap to hold on or a chance to earn a crucial three points in a playoff push.

For the record, fourth-place Tampa Bay Rowdies only have two road wins this season.