2013 Fourside Eagles FC season
The 2013 Fourside Eagles FC season was the fourth in the Fourside Eagles FC's existence and the first under the Eagles name.
Name change
Before the season started, the team underwent a name change, alongside a change in uniforms, per a request from the Ottawa Senators to literally 'cease and desist' in their use of the name. The owner, Tom Delano, admitted that the NHL team was 'highly influential' in the naming of the team back in 2009, but due to the 2012-13 NHL lockout, popularity of the league tanked and many of the fans wanted a name change, even without a letter from the Ottawa Senators. So, the ownership team decided on the Fourside Eagles FC (perhaps a reference to the fictitious Greenwich Eagles FC club), alongside new red uniforms to go alongside the logo change.
Off-season moves
The Eagles then made some off-season movements when the European transfer season opened - they released Brandon Swartzendruber, who made himself notorious in the team for missing an open penalty shot in the playoff round which would have brought Fourside to victory over Kansas City in the semifinals. They also released midfielder Geoff Cameron as well in regular contract attrition. Then they had to let go of their assistance managers - namely Claudio Ranieri, who got the job at Monaco, Mark Robins, and Ben Olsen.
Regular Season
The season got off to the best start in the team's history, as the team went 2-3-0 in the first five games. Despite this, Fourside found themselves on the lower end of the tables. By the end of April, however, the team was 3-3-2, just outside the brink for the playoff spot for the MLS Cup. During late April and early May, the Eagles managed to win the Micronesian Championship, going undefeated. This is when then unknown talents Fabian Castillo and Eddie Johnson started to shine on the team. Defenders Andrew Jean-Baptiste and midfielder Joe Anderson would also impress, although Anderson was sidelined by an injury shortly after the Micronesian Championship.
In May, rumours kept swirling that Sebastien Le Toux was going to be traded from Fourside. This is probably due to his poor performances in the last two seasons - he had been sidelined with a knee injury early on in the 2012 season and missed the majority of the season due to this, and when he returned, around the MLS Cup Playoffs, he stayed on the bench since Le Toux felt he wanted to keep the teams' momentum up by not having to introduce a new player on the team. When he did finally get the start in 2013, his performance has faltered, leaving him only scoring one goal so far this season. Adding the fact that Fourside already had Eddie Johnson and Danny Koevermans in the forward position, and that Miguel Senna was capable of holding a forward position, being an attacking midfielder, and Le Toux became obsolete. Despite these rumours, Richie Williams released a statement saying that Le Toux was going nowhere. Then all trade focus turned to Danny Mwanga, who has not scored at all this season so far.
On May 12, Danny Mwanga, Danny Califf and Roger Torres were traded to Colorado for Dillon Powers, Diego Calderon and Drew Moor. At the same day, the team lent Stefani Miglioranzi to São Caetano, a club in the second division of Brazil. Although Powers scored early in his debut, the team lost their first game with the new pickups to Los Angeles. Following a win over Chivas USA and a blowout over Montreal, the team went undefeated in the month of June, no doubt aided by the two week international gap during the month. This included Miguel Senna who was selected at the last minute to be on Brazil's Confederations Cup squad. Despite his absence, the team won all their games in June, resulting in their longest winning streak in the teams' history, MLS Regular season and in all-time. The team was chasing their club record of the longest undefeated streak in the MLS of six games (held between July 21-August 24, 2012). They easily surpassed that mark, despite having to play in the Nunavut region due to a powerful storm a few days prior taking out the downtown core of Fourside a few days before. When the streak ended on August 17, the team was undefeated for eleven straight games, racking up 8 wins and 3 ties during the streak.
The team started out their CONCACAF run with two games in the group stage at home, but it did not start well losing out to C.S. Herediano 1-0 and then losing to Cruz Azul 3-1. Fourside were not likely to beat them though, as both teams were one of the best in their respective countries. Their slide continued when they tied to Montreal and then lost to New York. They beat CS Herediano on the road, thanks to a goal from Miguel Senna, bringing Fourside back into contention in the CONCACAF Group Stage. A victory by three goals or more would have put them in the quarterfinal knockout stage. However, the team ended up drawing against Cruz Azul, knocking them out of the competition.
The team quickly turned their focus on against the fight towards the Supporters' Shield, which the team had been in contention since the start of the season. The team had fallen behind in their title hunt, as they went on their four game slide in the regular season. A pivotal match against Kansas City would help settle the title - a win would seal the Supporters' Shield, and a draw would put them in front going into the last game of the regular season, as the New York Red Bulls still had to play against Chicago, which they were heavily favoured. The team got to an early one goal start but lost the game 2-1, putting them out of the hunt for the title. A win by New York put them in third place, the furthest behind they were in the Eastern Division since March. Still, the Fourside Eagles still made the playoffs with plenty of room to spare, but they were eliminated in the first round by not scoring a single goal against Kansas City.
Regular Season Games
Date | Team | Location | Final Score | W-L-T Record |
---|---|---|---|---|
March 2, 2013 | Sporting Kansas City | Virgin Stadium | 1-3 | 0-1-0 |
March 10, 2013 | @ Colorado Rapids | Dick's Sporting Goods Park | 1-0 | 1-1-0 |
March 16, 2013 | New England Revolution | Virgin Stadium | 2-0 | 2-1-0 |
March 30, 2013 | @ New York Red Bulls | Red Bull Arena | 1-3 | 2-2-0 |
April 6, 2013 | @ Columbus Crew | Columbus Crew Stadium | 0-1 | 2-3-0 |
April 13, 2013 | Toronto FC | Virgin Stadium | 4-4 | 2-3-1 |
April 21, 2013 | @ D.C. United | RFK Stadium | 1-0 | 3-3-1 |
April 27, 2013 | @ New England Revolution | Gillette Stadium | 0-0 | 3-3-2 |
May 4, 2013 | Seattle Sounders FC | Virgin Stadium | 2-1 | 4-3-2 |
May 11, 2013 | @ Chicago Fire SC | Toyota Park | 1-1 | 4-3-3 |
May 15, 2013 | Los Angeles Galaxy | Virgin Stadium | 0-2 | 4-4-3 |
May 18, 2013 | Chicago Fire SC | Virgin Stadium | 2-0 | 5-4-3 |
May 25, 2013 | @ Montreal Impact | Stade Saputo | 2-5 | 5-5-3 |
June 1, 2013 | @ Toronto FC | BMO Field | 2-1 | 6-5-3 |
June 5, 2013 | Columbus Crew | Virgin Stadium | 1-0 | 7-5-3 |
June 23, 2013 | New York Red Bulls | Virgin Stadium | 3-1 | 8-5-3 |
June 29, 2013 | FC Dallas | Virgin Stadium | 3-2 | 9-5-3 |
July 3, 2013 | @ Real Salt Lake | Rio Tinto Stadium | 2-2 | 9-5-4 |
July 6, 2013 | @ Houston Dynamo | BBVA Compass Stadium | 1-1 | 9-5-5 |
July 12, 2013 | Chivas USA | Carpenters' Park[1] | 3-1 | 10-5-5 |
July 20, 2013 | Portland Timbers | Virgin Stadium | 0-0 | 10-5-6 |
July 27, 2013 | @ Vancouver Whitecaps | BC Place | 1-0 | 11-5-6 |
August 3, 2013 | Chicago Fire SC | Virgin Stadium | 2-1 | 12-5-6 |
August 10, 2013 | D.C. United | Virgin Stadium | 2-0 | 13-5-6 |
August 17, 2013 | @ New York Red Bulls | Red Bull Arena | 0-1 | 13-6-6 |
August 25, 2013 | @ New England Revolution | Gillette Stadium | 0-0 | 13-6-7 |
August 31, 2013 | Montreal Impact | Virgin Stadium | 0-0 | 13-6-8 |
September 8, 2013 | @ San Jose Earthquakes | Buck Shaw Stadium | 0-1 | 13-7-8 |
September 14, 2013 | Houston Dynamo | Virgin Stadium | 2-1 | 14-7-8 |
September 27, 2013 | @ Sporting Kansas City | Sporting Park | 1-1 | 14-7-9 |
October 5, 2013 | Toronto FC | Virgin Stadium | 3-0 | 15-7-9 |
October 12, 2013 | @ D.C. United | RFK Stadium | 2-1 | 16-7-9 |
October 19, 2013 | @ Montreal Impact | Stade Saputo | 4-0 | 17-7-9 |
October 26, 2013 | Sporting Kansas City | Virgin Stadium | 1-2 | 17-8-9 |
- ↑ Originally planned for Virgin Stadium, the July 2013 floods prevented this, causing the match to be moved to the Nunavut area in the northern part of the country.
Other Games
Goal Scorers
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