A downpour earlier in the day made the Kino North Stadium pitch a little sloppy and then Greenville Triumph SC rained on FC Tucson’s parade, pulling out a 1-0 win Saturday night on the City of Tucson’s 247th birthday.
FC Tucson grew into the game and had an excellent chance late in the first half as Donny Toia’s flying header went over the bar.
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Tucson finished with 63% of the possession and a 13-12 edge in shots against the USL League One leading Greenville (11-6-5, 38 points).
But in just the second minute of the second half, Greenville’s Aaron Walker fired a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that made its way through a crowd and into the back of the net.
FC Tucson then pushed forward and put pressure on the Greenville defense, including a free by Louis Perez that just grazed over the bar and a Franco Perez shot that did the same after he received an excellent through ball. In five minutes of stoppage time, FC Tucson didn’t quit. Toia had a header amazingly saved by keeper Paul Christensen and Gio Calixtro’s shot just seconds later was blocked.
Just … that … close.#fuerzatucson 🌵 | #TUCvGVL pic.twitter.com/Y5rILDRQrF
— FC Tucson (@FCTucson) August 21, 2022
Up next for FC Tucson (4-11-4, 16 points) will be North Carolina FC at WakeMed Park on Saturday, Aug. 27. Kick off is set for 4 p.m. in Cary, North Carolina, and the official Watch Party will be at Brother John’s BBQ.
