March 10, 2023 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Memphis 901 FC News Release
Memphis, Tenn. – Memphis 901 FC Head Coach Stephen Glass arrived in the Bluff City after being named the new boss with the two tasks of maintaining the momentum from 2022 and making the necessary tweaks surpass that success.
After spending the offseason meeting with supporters, it was apparent that after the club’s best season in franchise history, the community is eager to get behind a winner.
Saturday’s matinee battle with Loudoun United marks the start of 2023 regular season with 901 FC looking to go beyond that highmark from 2022 by retaining much of the talent that led to a Conference Semifinal appearance.
2022 USLC All-League players like Phillip Goodrum, Aaron Molloy and Graham Smith are back along with key pieces like Jeremy Kelly, Leston Paul, Luiz Fernando, Laurent Kissiedou, Lucas Turci and Rece Buckmaster. Exciting young additions in Nighte Pickering and Dylan Borczak also return to add to the attack.
That attack was further bolstered by a few blockbuster signings in Bruno Lapa and Sebastian Velasquez while the back four was revamped with veteran newcomers Carson Vom Steeg, Akeem Ward and Jelani Peters.
While the retooled club looks on at the 34-game season hoping to make setting franchise records a habit, the only focus will be raising a trophy in November.
Memphis opens the season with an afternoon matchup against Loudoun United FC on March 11 at 4 p.m. CT at AutoZone Park. The two clubs split the series in the 2022 season with the away team winning in both meetings. Memphis won the first matchup 3-0 with goals from Kissiedou, Kelly and Goodrum.
QUOTABLES
“It’s been a good preparation. We were very good attacking last year. That needs to continue. We could probably shore up a little in the back, and we’ve added some new defenders. It was a good season last year, we can’t forget that. So there’s not a huge overload required but I think if you let in less goals and score more, it’s always a good recipe for success.” – Stephen Glass
“We want to do better than we did last year. We want to entertain the fans as well as they did last year. Hopefully the fans will come out in number because I know the players are excited to go out and win games in front of them again.” – Stephen Glass
“This team has been very successful, so for me, it’s all about being able to join the team and add as much as I can offensively, create chances and help guys score goals. Obviously,…