Match Recap: OFC Barca Advance to UPSL National Quarterfinals Over Florida Soccer Soldiers
17.01.2022
On Saturday, OFC Barca passes Florida Soccer Soldiers in penalties in the UPSL national round of 16.
Pre-game
This match would be the second time both of these teams meet in competitive play, the last time they faced off was a 3-3 tie back in February 2021. This season, OFC Barca was the table leader of the Florida central conference with nine wins and one tie, essentially undefeated leading to the central conference playoffs. While the Soldiers were in 4th place of the Florida south conference, repping a 4-1-3 record. They fought hard in the Florida south playoffs, knocking out Juventus Acadamy (table leaders) in the semifinals and Miami Sun in the Florida south finals. They then outscored Arruzzi Storm 5-2 in the national round of 32 to reach the round of 16. They are coming into the match with a four-game winning streak. Meanwhile, OFC had a five-game winning streak and have not lost a single game the whole season, with only one tie to Oceanway on their 7th match.
Match recap
On a pleasant Saturday evening at Broward college in Miami, both FSS and OFC were set to kick off. Overall, both teams on paper and on the field were evenly matched. OFC, however, was the first to start their offensive attack and kept the pressure on the soldiers for the first 15 minutes of the match. Their usual plan of attack was having a mix of triangle passes, lob passes, and boot n chase plays. This strategy worked well with their players being taller and faster than the soldiers, often penetrating the wings. After the first 15 minutes, the game started going towards FSS way with a similar strategy of finding connections in the midfield with 1-2 pass plays, lob and chase, or driving the ball up the gut. They would have the most chances at goal in the first half, their closest effort being a header off a cross going over the bar in the 33'. For OFC Barca, they came close in the 41' with a low shot left of the box inches away from the right post. The first half ends 0-0.
The second half saw more of the same from both teams. However, FSS was more reactionary. OFC Barca takes space with their players gliding their strides as they dribble forward, beating the FSS midfield and defense on speed. OFC was also building plays out the back. FSS reacts to their game plan with patience, good ball control, and hitting the counter-attacks. The second half was also a lot more choppy with constant fouls on both sides, some more heated than others, yet no cards were shown for the whole game. Both teams had close chances to smash the ball into the net, but both were just close to the bar, and the goalkeepers did an excellent job keeping their clean sheets. Then the final whistle will blow, and the game ended in a 0-0 draw as both teams rested for penalties. Unfortunately, the stream did not provide video coverage of the penalty shoutout, but OFC Barca won 7-6 on penalties to advance to the next stage of the UPSL Playoffs.
| Stats | Florida Soccer Soldiers | OFC Barca |
| Shots | 7 | 7 |
| On Target | 3 | 4 |
| Corners | 8 | 5 |
| Fouls | 11 | 8 |
| Offside | 3 | 6 |
| % Possession | 42 | 58 |
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Post-match
For the Florida Soccer Soldiers, their fall campaign would end after last weekend. In contrast, OFC Barca would advance to the UPSL national round of 16 and travel to Georgia to take on Kalonji Pro-Profile. OFC is looking to continue their unbeaten streak against the peach state team, who defeated Moros FC 3-1 on the same day. This progress would be the furthest the central Florida team has made in the UPSL playoffs, while last spring Kalonji Pro-Profile made the quarterfinals and fell to the Florida Tropics.
Here is the stream to watch the match.
