March 28, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – FC Cincinnati News Release
“Hopefully, I can score another two.”
That, FCC fans, is about as brash and boastful as it gets from Brandon Vazquez. The Orange and Blue striker is a genuinely humble sort, particularly for an MLS Best XI selection and All-Star. Humble enough to sometimes make club publicists and media wish he’d be just a bit more of a loudmouth.
But we take what we can get from No. 19, and Vazquez’s thoughts of “scoring two” against Inter Miami FC this Saturday at TQL Stadium are by no means an idle boast. Coming off his stellar goal last Saturday at Nashville — a surgically sharp right-footed blast for a 1-nil win – Vazquez will face a Miami team that has seen him score twice in each of the last two meetings.
The earlier of those braces, on March 19 of last season, is perhaps the more significant. But the full story requires a little extra backtracking, to the night of still another two-score effort by Vazquez:
As day dawned on March 12, 2022, FC Cincinnati was not the vibrant and strongly contending outfit one sees on the pitch today. On the outside, the club seemed on their way to yet another tough campaign in MLS, having opened with 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Austin FC and a 1-0 home loss to lightly regarded D.C. United.
The assignment the evening of March 12 was to battle on the road against Orlando City – a 1-0-1 club with two clean sheets – and the match was barely on the radar of the larger MLS world. It would be three points for City, most everyone seemed to know, and back to the shadows for Cincy.
Enter, however, Vazquez. In the 13th minute at Exploria Stadium, he scored with his right foot for a 1-0 FCC lead. And in the 57th, he broke a 1-all tie with a header. Done. FCC win, 2-1. Rate that larger MLS world as quite puzzled.
And the next week at TQL — against Miami — Vazquez continued his one-man rampage against Florida MLS interests. After assisting on Ronald Matarrita’s goal for a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute, he put in a header for a 2-0 edge in the 24th and sealed a 3-1 win with another header in the 82nd.
From there, under first-year head coach Pat Noonan, the Orange and Blue quickly solidified for the long run, posting a winning season record (12-9-13) good for fifth place in the Eastern Conference and logging a playoff victory at the Red Bulls.
And through five matches this season, the run continues at full tilt. FCC are the lone team in the East without a loss. Their 3-0-2…
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