2015 Fury FC Friendly – Ottawa Fury FC vs. Rochester Rhinos Preview

When: Friday, March 13, 2015 @ 10:45am EDT

Where: Complexe Branchaud-Briere, Gatineau, QC (Follow on Twitter at @OttawaFuryFC)

Ottawa Injuries and Absences: CB Omar Jarun (absent), DM Richie Ryan, DM Mauro Eustaquio (injured)

Previous Meeting: Rochester Rhinos vs. Ottawa Fury FC – 1-1 D (http://www.nasl.com/article/uuid/b35cliwnpste117pqo0mszszo/preseason-recap-ottawa-fury-fc-1-rochester-rhinos-1#.VQGeJ-GNm3M)

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The Fury FC play their first preseason game of 2015 in the National Capital Region on Friday versus Rochester Rhinos, of USL, in the Complexe Branchaud-Briere in Gatineau on Friday.

Interestingly, Ottawa’s 2nd opponent in the 2014 preseason was Rochester as well, as the Fury FC traveled to the state of New York for their first ever away match in its NASL history. That match ended in 1-1, as Oliver won and converted a penalty in the 1st half before the Fury conceded a goal from a goalmouth scramble later in the half.

Ottawa won their 1st preseason game last Friday against TFC II, also of USL, 2-3 away in Toronto, with all three goals scored by players not on the roster in 2014, including Paulo Jr., Patryk Misik and non-roster trainee Matthew Foschini.

Update on Jarun

The latest news from Ottawa is that Omar Jarun will see a mutual termination of his contract today or tomorrow, as he has been absent from training camp while resting in his home state of Georgia. Jarun, one of the vice-captains of the 2014 team, was one of three players who was signed on 2-year contracts in the 2014 offseason, alongside Nicki Paterson and Tom Heinemann.

With the number of signings to the back 4 during the 2015 offseason, there were rumblings that Jarun may be relegated from the starting XI. What is interesting from this situation is that Jarun did not attend preseason camp at all to prove his worth as a starter, which may have been mutually or unilaterally agreed by either the coaching staff and/or Jarun. In any case, we will keep an eye peeled out later today for confirmation of the news, in which we will further delve into the issue.

Latest Injuries and Lineup News

As for injury news, Chris Hofley of the Ottawa Sun, who also first reported the Jarun news yesterday, disclosed that Richie Ryan and Mauro Eustaquio both have minor injuries they’ve picked up from the TFC II game and training. As they are the #1 and #2 DM’s in the roster depth chart, it will be interesting to see who lines up as the DM in the starting lineup for tomorrow.

The most likely candidate is Nicki Paterson, with Ubiparipovic and Misik (or Davies) lining up alongside Nicki in the midfield. However, Misik or even Mason Trafford are other candidates that come to mind for the DM position for tomorrow, or for any other situations where both Ryan and Eustaquio may be unavailable.

The competition for the spots in the starting lineup is fierce across all 11 positions, and I will be respectful of these matchups and not predict a starting XI for the match tomorrow.

The supporters are in full singing and chanting mode and are eagerly anticipating the first Fury FC match of the 2015 season in Ottawa-Gatineau!

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Ottawa Sun: http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/03/10/furys-haworth-looking-to-build-off-rookie-success

OFFC Review: https://offcreview.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/2015-fury-fc-friendly-ottawa-vs-rochester-preview