April 21, 2017 USL Toronto FC II--Ottawa Fury FC vs Toronto FC II Match Preview (from OttawaFuryFC.com)

Match Preview Fury FC -v- Toronto FC II
By OttawaFuryFC.com, 04/21/17, 9:30AM EDT 

Fury FC confident ahead of their first chapter of the battle of Ontario

Match Day Info
Ottawa Fury FC vs Toronto FC II
Kickoff : Saturday April 22, 2017 – 2:00 p.m. (TD Place - Ottawa, ON)
 Live In-Game Stats : Click Here
 Fury FC 2017 Media Guide : Click Here

Match-Notes-OTTvTOR-4.22.17 

Broadcast Info
TV: ROGERS TV | Channel: 22 (HD); 182 (HD)
LIVE STREAM: USL Match Center
ENGLISH RADIO: TSN 1200
FRENCH RADIO: http://www.fm1047.ca/webradio/
TWITTER: Follow @OTTAWAFURYFC for LIVE updates

The Matchup

After a three-game road trip to open the 2017 USL season, Ottawa Fury FC return home to TD Place 
for their much anticipated Home Opener against Toronto FC II Saturday afternoon as chapter 
one of the ‘Battle of Ontario’ is set to be written.

Head coach Paul Dalglish and his players hope that the return home will give them an added boost 
as they look to collect a second straight win and continue to climb the USL standings.

It's been six months since Ottawa played at TD Place. The club’s attendance averaged around 
the 5500 mark in 2016, as the average attendance for Fury FC continued to increase for another 
season. An anticipated crowd of 6000 energetic fans is expected for Saturday’s All-Canadian 
home opener.

Saturday afternoon against TFC II, Paul Dalglish and his squad will be looking to feed off of the 
energy of the crowd to display a strong performance. Fury FC will be coming into their home opener 
with a lot of confidence after securing their first USL win last weekend when they defeated 
the Richmond Kickers 1-0 with Steevan Dos Santos scoring a spectacular goal from the halfway line.

Even though Saturday’s fixture marks the first of three USL meetings this year between Ottawa 
and Toronto, Fury FC will also be looking to avenge the 2-1 loss that they suffered at the hands 
of TFC II in preseason action.

Toronto comes into Saturday’s game after enjoying a bye week last weekend. TFC II are currently 
on a three-game winless streak (0W-1D-2L). After winning their season opener 1-0 against 
Phoenix Rising FC, they lost two in a row – against the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Orlando City B 
– before splitting up the points in a scoreless draw against the Rochester Rhinos two weeks ago.

Following their home opener on Saturday, Fury FC will hit the road again next weekend with 
a fixture against the Charleston Battery scheduled for next Saturday, April 29th.

Season tickets for the 2017 USL season are now on-sale at OttawaFuryFC.com, by calling 
613.232.6767 X1 or in person at The Box Office at TD Place.

What are they saying?
Fury FC GM and Head Coach, Paul Dalglish:
“We’ve got wonderful fans. They showed up in numbers last year when we had our rebuilding 
year and we want to repay them this year with quality performances. There’s no point 
in complaining about how hard it is to start the season on the road if you don’t make 
a statement on home games. We definitely want to make a statement.”

Fury FC Goalkeeper, Callum Irving:
“I’m super excited. Before I came here I was watching all the highlights videos from the 
games last year and just looking at all the fans in the stadium and thinking I can’t wait 
to play on that pitch. We have to keep the same work rate that we’ve had in the previous 
weeks. We can’t get complaisant after winning our first game. We need to keep improving 
and hopefully, we can get another good result Saturday.”

Fury FC forward, Steevan Dos Santos:
“We have to focus on Toronto now, the Richmond game is over. We need to move on and do our 
best to get another win. When I got here I heard about the rivalry between Ottawa and Toronto 
so I think we can use that as an extra motivation to get three points in front of our fans. 
We’re very excited. “

Players to watch:
Steevan Dos Santos: He scored a spectacular goal from the halfway line last Saturday against 
Richmond – the goal was in the running for the USL Goal of the week – to give Fury FC their 
first USL win. On top of that, he has been one of Ottawa’s most dangerous player after 
three games this season, firing seven shots on goal. With the energy of the home crowd 
Saturday afternoon, you can expect a strong performance from the big man.

Malik Johnson (Toronto): Malik Johnson is a talented young player who has been part of the 
Canadian National Team program (U17 and U20). He spent time training with Toronto FC’s First 
Team in the MLS. The 19-year-old forward has all the tools to become a dangerous striker 
in the USL. With the first team watching him closely, Johnson will want to impress Saturday 
against Fury FC.

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