Ottawa Citizen

Fury FC’s Mr. Zero approachin­g USL records

- DON CAMPBELL

Maxime Crépeau is two clean sheets and 206 minutes away from having his name written into the United Soccer League record book.

Oddly, should the red-hot Ottawa Fury FC keeper accomplish either or both of those two feats, one of the first to congratula­te him will likely be his backup, Callum Irving, who owns a share of the existing records.

Irving, who lost his No. 1 job to Crépeau after just two games this season, was the main man in net when the Rio Grande FC recorded eight consecutiv­e shutouts and 759 minutes between goals allowed during the 2016 season.

Crepeau has six consecutiv­e clean sheets and a 553-minute shutout streak as Fury FC heads onto the pitch at TD Place stadium for Saturday night’s matchup with the fast-rising Charlotte Independen­ce.

This contest will be Fury FC’s toughest test in weeks. The Independen­ce (5-3-2) posted three consecutiv­e wins after producing just two victories in the first seven games.

That run of nine points has shot the Independen­ce up the Eastern Conference standings to fifth place, but teams are still so tightly packed that a win on Saturday would vault 10th-place Fury FC (4-4-3) a point ahead of Charlotte.

“Charlotte Independen­ce is a really good team,” said Nana Attakora, part of a Fury FC defence that has smothered opponents lately. “Just looking at the table and the results. We know it’s going to a very difficult 90 minutes.

“We’re doing our best to recover and go again, but we know it’s going to be the toughest game so far. We’re fully focused on that.”

As for personal statistics, Crépeau’s run of success has moved him into a three-way tie for the most clean sheets in USL with Nashville’s Matt Pickens and Orange County SC’s Andrew Rawls.

Portland and Pittsburgh share top spot for overall shutouts this season with seven each, while Fury FC is among three teams with six.

After allowing nine goals in its first two games and 10 in the first three, Fury FC has surrendere­d just four in seven matches since, including three in an April 28 loss against FC Cincinnati. Those kind of numbers have moved Ottawa into the middle of the pack defensivel­y, with Orange County and Louisville stingiest of all with just seven goals allowed.

As for the Fury FC record book, Romuald Peiser’s single-season standard of 14 clean sheets during an incredible 2015 season seems safe. However, Crépeau is creeping up on the total of seven by Peiser in 2016 and Irving last season.

Odisnel Cooper is the USL career leader with 34 clean sheets over five seasons with the Charleston Battery, but he has only one this season.

Cooper’s best season was in 2017, when he had 11 clean sheets in USL and one more in U.S. Open Cup competitio­n.

Saturday’s contest kicks off at 7 p.m. It will mark the last opportunit­y for fans to see Fury FC in action at home until June 27.

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