Fury season ends in heartbreak, with loss to Charleston on penalty kicks
Nothing came easy to the Ottawa Fury FC in 2019.
They spent the off-season not even knowing what league they could play in, be it the upstart Canadian League or the United Soccer League. Time and time again, management said the uncertainty cost them several difference-making players.
So why would anything be any different in the post-season?
The Fury had all kinds of chances and just couldn’t finish the deal before losing their United Soccer League play-in game 5-4 on penalty kicks and 2-1 overall to the Charleston Battery on Wednesday before a chilly crowd of just 2,487 at TD Place in a matchup pitting the eighth-place Fury versus ninth for the right to go against one of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference on Saturday.
The Fury sure looked like they were headed to Music City. They had 17 shots on net compared to just eight back their way.
They just couldn’t get the goal they needed, which was the story of their entire season.
The lack of a difference-maker or two offensively cost them on this night just as it did most every game.
So Charleston will head to Nashville to play the secondseeded club while Birmingham pulled off an upset in the other play-in game, besting North Carolina FC 3-2 in a battle of 10th versus seventh.
Birmingham finished with four fewer wins and 13 fewer points in the table, but they live to see another day while North Carolina’s season is over.
“The game started very confusing,” Fury head coach Nikola Popovic said. “(Charleston) goes with the long balls. They like to keep the ball in the air.
“Finally, after about 30 minutes we found a way to get the ball on the floor and I think we dominated from that point.
“But I think it’s the story of our season. The 17-to-8 in shots shows just how dominant we were. But the ball just didn’t want to go in for us. The boys really tried. We had our chances.
“I think Charleston really wanted to get to penalty kicks, where their chances are 50-50. I think we had a 70-to-30 advantage in the game. But once you get to kicks, it’s 50-50 either way.”
Charleston was five-for-five on their penalties while the Fury went just four-of-five with Mour Samb rattling the Fury’s fourth kick off the crossbar.
“Penalties are about luck and lucky wasn’t on my side tonight,” said a dejected Samb.
The Fury didn’t get the kind of start they hoped for as Charleston appeared to have an extra step and cashed in on the game’s first goal when Kotaro Higashi found a clear route to the net and put one off his right foot to the far corner in the 27th minute.
But instead of rolling over, the goal brought the Fury to life and Samb found himself all alone in front of the Charleston goal and tied it in the 40th minute.
And the Fury kept up the pace and Samb almost had his second two minutes later, just missing.
Four minutes later, the Fury’s Hadji Barry found himself all alone on a break and just missed as well.
From that point on, the Fury dominated and the contest should never have got to two 15-minute overtime halves.
The Fury outshot the opposition 8-1 in the second half and 12-6 overall in regulation time.
The Fury’s Wal Fall had the best chance of all in the second half, ringing one off the crossbar in the 62nd minute.
The Fury had better chances in the overtime and just couldn’t get the goal they needed.