As 901 FC competes for home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the club carries the momentum with a three-game unbeaten streak heading in the final three matches of the regular season.
Memphis took down the Tampa Bay Rowdies on the road to clinch their third consecutive playoff appearance last Saturday and launch themselves back into the top four in the table.
The Beale Street Boys and Louisville City FC remain in a lockstep battle for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs at 49 points each. Memphis holds the tiebreaker over Louisville with a draw and a victory in two meetings this season.
“I think we’re very weary of big talk, but we’ve gone to big places where people think it’s a bit brighter and shinier and won,” Head Coach Stephen Glass said. “So I think that’s important for Memphis. We’ve got a group of players that want to represent Memphis. We want to win our home games coming up and hopefully have more in the postseason.”
Guiding 901 FC on their strong run of form has been Rodrigo Da Costa, Samuel Careaga and Aiden McFadden. Da Costa is coming off of a career night with his first hat trick while Careaga scored his second goal in four appearances. McFadden notched another assist in the last match as he’s contributed to four goals in his last three appearances.
“The boys are delighted that we’ve clinched the playoffs but we need to keep pushing and grinding to make sure that’s not the end,” Glass said. “It’s just the start of what we can achieve.”
Birmingham and Memphis played to a 1-1 draw in the two club’s last meeting as 901 FC tallied 17 shots and forced six saves while limiting Legion FC to two shots.
“It’s the same as every time. We go in with the intention to win the game” Glass said. “We don’t go places looking to get beat. We’ve gone to tough spots and won. We’d like to improve our home record and it’d be great to get a little backing as well. The players respond to the noisy crowd. The Bluff City Mafia have been great for us.”
Kickoff for the third edition of the Southern Harm Derby in 2023 is set for a 7 p.m. CT kickoff. Fans can purchase tickets now on the club’s official website.
