FC Wichita heads into the unknown for first playoff game

On Sunday, after FC Wichita had won the NPSL South Central Conference to advance to the playoffs, FC Wichita coach Larry Inlow said he didn’t know what to expect from his team’s next opponent, the Myrtle Beach Mutiny. He still doesn’t know.

Myrtle Beach’s conference opponents — as well as FC Wichita’s — have stayed tight-lipped on scouting reports, film, and other content. Without anything to adjust to, Inlow will stick with what he knows in the club’s first playoff game during its inaugural season.

“They’re still kind of an unknown,” Inlow said. “We’ve got a philosophy that we shouldn’t fix anything if it isn’t broken. We’re just going to keep it at what we’ve got, and go out there and battle for 90 minutes.”

Myrtle Beach finished 10-1-1 in the South Atlantic Conference and outscored opponents 28-16. FC Wichita was 11-3 during the regular season.

The beginning of Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. game is sure to be aggressive, but Inlow expects the hot, humid weather to slow things down as the game progresses. He said the weather took a toll on players during Friday’s practice in South Carolina, and Inlow expects it to be the same on Saturday.

“Emotions are going to run high, adrenaline will be running heavy from both teams, so I expect it to be a really fast-paced game for the first 20 minutes,” Inlow said. “Then things will start to settle down, and skill-set and smart decision-making will take over.”

Emotions have been high for FC Wichita before, and they’ve handled themselves well.

When they needed a win over Corinthians FC earlier in the season and nerves were running high, Inlow and his veterans helped calm the team. Then, in the conference-clinching match Sunday, the team came through again against Fort Worth with a decisive 4-0 victory.

Now they need to do it again to advance further in the playoffs.

“Today we had a little talk about the importance of the game, but not letting it weigh you down too much,” Inlow said. “You want to be the player who says, ‘I was not afraid to make a mistake, I went out and gave it everything I had.’”

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "FC Wichita heads into the unknown for first playoff game."