Match report: FC Cincinnati downs NKU in preseason action, Nashville SC up next

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Kentucky – Futbol Club Cincinnati's preparations for the 2018 United Soccer League season continued Tuesday with a 3-0 victory against the Northern Kentucky University Norse men's soccer team.

Before a standing-room-only crowd of 1,497 at the NKU Soccer Complex, the Norse enjoyed a spring season exercise against the region's strongest professional team while FC Cincinnati improved to 3-1-0 in its ongoing preseason campaign.

"Good exercise... It's definitely part of a process for us at this time. If this were the first game of the season, I wouldn't be happy, but it's not the first game of the season. It's an opportunity for us to give guys a chance to play," FC Cincinnati head coach Alan Koch said afterward.

More: Takeaways from FC Cincinnati's 3-0 win at Northern Kentucky University

THE GOALS

Cincinnati forward Daniel Haber, previously of the USL's Real Monarchs, served as the architect for two first-half FC Cincinnati goals and several more chances.

Tomi Ameobi, who made his club debut in the match, headed home off a looping, left-footed Haber cross in the 12th minute.

FC Cincinnati star offseason signing, Dekel Keinan, also scored a headed-goal off a Haber service in the 35th minute. Keinan met an inviting, lofted corner kick and left no doubt from close range for 2-0.

Forrest Lasso, the FC Cincinnati newcomer signed this offseason from the Charleston Battery, made it a trio of headed scores for the visitors when he knocked home a corner in the 74th minute. Third-year FC Cincinnati midfielder Kenney Walker delivered the ball that resulted in the final tally of the night.

THE GOOD FOR FC CINCINNATI

Tuesday marked 17 days out from the USL regular season opener for FC Cincinnati, so it's time for the team to start coming together in all facets. They don't have to be perfect, but regular-season match fitness, and general cohesiveness in particular, will soon be required of the team. In these regards, they appear to be on schedule.

FC Cincinnati dominated possession against Tuesday's NCAA Division I opponent. There was also evidence of chemistry forming that could translate to the regular season, Koch said of his team's performance.

"You can see it. Without giving too much away, I think the natural partnerships (are) our center backs," Koch said of Keinan and Lasso. "You can see players that become more comfortable with each other in training and in these games that we go through.

"The other (natural partnerships) are the center midfielders, too, and then you look at the players out wide – your left back and your left wing. You expect them to have a relationship, and the same goes for the right hand side."

THE SO-SO

• While maintaining a preponderance of possession, FC Cincinnati didn't do as much with the ball in the final third as it would have liked. Just eight of the team's 25 shots found the target (five of those were saved, one cleared off the line by a defender).

FC Cincinnati's ability to finish hasn't caught up to its proficiency in possession and dictating the tempo, but that's not to say it won't. Koch indicated he had confidence in things coming together over the next two-and-a-half weeks.

"How do you actually utilize that ball when you have it? I don't think we were – we didn't have the killer instinct enough in the final third tonight," Koch said, "but that's something that comes. That's almost the final piece when you're trying to build something, is having that clinical instinct in front of the net, individually and collectively."

NKU's SIDE OF THE STORY

For NKU, a Horizon League program coming off a 7-6-4 fall campaign, the game served as a profitable, high-profile spring season opener with plenty of positive takeaways.

The Norse ably defended their goal while being outmanned and outgunned by virtue of not having last season's graduating seniors, just one newcomer for spring semester and four field players off the bench.

The Norse were on the back foot and forced to bunker down for long stretches, but that was to be expected against one of the most monied sides in American soccer's lower leagues.

"The first 15 minutes of the second half was probably our best patch of the game," NKU head coach Stu Riddle said. "We challenged the guys at halftime to show a little more character and fight, and I think we got that. We're a young team. Two years ago this team won one game. We've had a decent start last season with a winning record but games like tonight will give us some experience to draw back on and make sure that we're going to be a better team moving forward."

Goalkeeper Jim Barkei, the Horizon League's defending goalkeeper of the year, made four of the team's five saves in the match.

Barkei was subbed off to warm applause in the closing moments of the match.

The Norse will play the second of its 10 spring exercises Saturday against defending USL Cup champion Louisville City FC.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR FC Cincinnati: The Queen City club will make its official home debut against Nashville SC, a one-time competitor in the Major League Soccer expansion race and now a USL foe for at least the next season. The match is scheduled to take place Saturday at 4 p.m. at the University of Cincinnati's Gettler Stadium (ticketed event).

MATCH NOTES

•Starting lineup for FC Cincinnati: GK Spencer Richey, Matt Bahner, Nazmi Albadawi, Russell Ciccerone, Tomi Ameobi, Ryan Richie, Dekel Keinan, Blake Smith, Garrett Halfhill, Sem de Wit, Daniel Haber.

SCORING SUMMARY (assist in parenthesis)

• Ameobi, 12th minute (Haber);

• Keinan, 35th (Haber);

• Lasso, 74th (Walker).