What is Penn FC all about? I went local to find out. This week, Chris Bratton of The Brotherly Game fills us in on the former Harrisburg City Islanders.
For Club and Country: From an outsider’s perspective, it feels like there’s been some weirdness with the rebrand from City Islanders (with talk of “first-ever home game, etc.). How has the change gone over locally?
Chris Bratton: Yeah there were some social media posts about the “first home opener” that tended to gloss over the City Islanders history of the team. But having to tack on “first home opener since rebranding from the Harrisburg City Islanders” onto every post would have been pretty annoying too. I don’t hold it against them.
I think the change has gone over well myself. It feels like they’re pulling in some new fans with the Rush Soccer connection [a youth program that now officially feeds into the professional club] and there were still plenty of Harrisburg people who turned up in their City Islanders gear as well.
FCAC: Scoring hasn’t come easily this year, but things appear to be on the upward trajectory. How does Penn FC keep scoring? Is improvement as simple a matter as getting Tommy Heinemann more integrated with the squad after a late signing?
CB: There’s been a lot of scoring chances where it has felt like the players are just a step or two out of sync and the opportunity fizzles out. We don’t have many guys who can make a goal happen on their own, so its gotta be a team effort. But many of the guys, not just Tommy, only officially joined the team in March or later and they were playing all over the place last season. I think as they spend more time playing together, they’ll learn to read each other better and that’ll help with the scoring.
FCAC: On the other end of the pitch, the defense has been beyond solid to date. What’s behind the success in keeping opponents off the scoreboard?
CB: Well they’ve been playing in a favorable formation so that has helped keep them from giving up many opportunities so far this season. Also I’ve been very impressed with how Romu Peiser has played this season. He’s a very active keeper and he’s willing to come way off his line to shut down chances before they develop. Diving for headers outside the box and crazy stuff like that. It’s fun to watch.
FCAC: who are some of the standouts that Nashville fans should be looking out for (beyond the obvious in Heinemann)?
CB: I want to single out a few solid guys who might not have flashy stats, but they’ve played well so far. There’s Mauro Estaquio who plays as a holding midfielder. His distribution has been great and he just had a beautiful assist against Charleston. Dan Metzger has also been solid in the midfield, but he was out of the starting XI last weekend. And it has been exciting to have Ken Tribbett back in Harrisburg. He did a great job for the City Islanders in 2015 and he’s been playing solid at center back for Penn FC.
FCAC: What were the expectations coming into the season, and how have the first four games stacked up against that?
CB: Some people had Penn FC at the bottom of the league in their preseason predictions, but I didn’t think that was fair with all of the talent that they picked up during the offseason. I think expectations should be similar to previous years where they stick to the middle of the Eastern Conference and just try to get hot at the right time. The team is really hurting for that first win, but the early schedule has been tough. They can’t be too upset holding teams like Pittsburgh and ATL UTD 2 to a draw based on how they’re playing this season.
FCAC: Finally, what do you expect for a starting lineup? Any other specific predictions (including a final score)?
CB: I think there’ll be some surprises in the starting lineup Tuesday night. The team has a crowded schedule this week, so I think Raoul Voss might put in some new guys to try and keep other starters from getting too tired. So you might get to see guys like Freddie Opoku, Jerry Ortiz, and Kyle Venter starting for the first time this season
I really went back and forth on my prediction for this match because I felt like either team could get a 1-0 win. So I’m going to take the safe pick and say a 1-1 draw.
Many thanks to Chris for his time. For more on Penn FC, don’t forget to head over to The Brotherly Game!
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