The 2017

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

season was the club's second season of existence, and their second in the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

(USL). It was FC Cincinnati's first season as a second-tier team in the U.S. soccer pyramid, as the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

provisionally promoted the USL from Division III to Division II for the 2017 season. FC Cincinnati plays in the Eastern Division of USL. The season is best remembered for FC Cincinnati's championship run in the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

. They won matches against five teams, including

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

and Chicago Fire of

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

(the highest division of U.S. soccer), to advance to the semifinals, a feat not achieved by a lower-division team since 2009. Their run was also noted for setting many attendance records; their matches against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

and Chicago Fire were respectively the 2nd and 3rd highest-attended U.S. Open Cup matches ever, beaten only by the 2011 Final. Their match against Chicago Fire aired on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, marking the first time a match from the Round of 16 received a national television broadcast.

Club

Coaching staff

The club announced on October 21, 2016 that assistant coach Ryan Martin would not be returning for the 2017 season. On December 14, 2016, the club announced that Alan Koch, former head coach of the

Whitecaps FC 2 Whitecaps FC 2 is a professional association football, soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that serves as the reserve team of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer. History Prior to the MLS Next Pro iteratio ...

, would be taking Martin's place as an assistant coach, in addition to acting as the director of scouting and analytics. On February 17, 2017, the club announced that head coach

John Harkes John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an American Association football, soccer coach and former professional player who last coached Greenville Triumph SC. A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes was the first American to pla ...

was relieved of his coaching duties and replaced with Alan Koch. On March 28, 2017,

Yoann Damet Yoann Damet is a French association football coach who is currently a first-team coach with Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer. He served twice as interim head coach of FC Cincinnati at ages 29 and 30, making him the youngest head or assistant ...

was added to the staff as assistant coach.

Roster

As of December 15, 2016, FC Cincinnati has confirmed the return of seventeen players from the 2016 roster, as well as the signing of one new player. Fifteen of these players were announced on November 14, and goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt was announced three days later. On December 15, the return of Eric Stevenson and the new signing of

Kadeem Dacres Kadeem Dacres (born August 25, 1991) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a winger. Dacres was a Division 1 All American at UMBC. He turned professional in 2014 when he was drafted to the Chicago Fire during the 2014 S ...

were announced. The club held a public tryout with over eighty participants on December 18, 2016. On January 6, 2017, the club announced the signings of

Andy Craven Andrew Murray Craven (born January 21, 1992) is an American soccer player. Career College and amateur Craven began his college career at the College of Charleston. During his freshman year he lived in the McAlister dorm. In his first season with ...

Marco Dominguez Marco may refer to: People Given name * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor Surname * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Jindřich Marco (1921–2000), Czechoslovak photographer and numismat ...

, and Aaron Walker (who was selected from the public tryout). On February 6, 2017, the club announced they acquired striker, Victor Mansaray, on loan from Seattle Sounders FC. On March 29, 2017, the club signed Justin Hoyte, a former defender for Premier League club Arsenal F.C., Arsenal. On May 10, 2017, the club traded forward

to the OKC Energy FC for forward Danni König. On May 15, 2017, the club announced the signing of defender Josu. Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth.

Competitions

USL

Results Table

Standings

Statistics

Appearances

* Updated to matches played on August 1, 2017.

Goals

* Updated to matches played on August 17, 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cincinnati 2017 USL season American soccer clubs 2017 season 2017 in sports in Ohio, FC Cincinnati FC Cincinnati seasons, 2017