FC Wichita beats Joplin 3-0

FC Wichita kept its hopes alive for the second seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs on Friday night in a 3-0 win over the Joplin Demize to close out the regular-season home schedule at Stryker Soccer Complex.

The victory improved FC Wichita to 8-1-2 in the South Central Conference, one point behind Dutch Lions FC heading into the final fixture of the regular season. Dutch Lions FC plays Shreveport Rafters FC, another playoff team, on Saturday, and can lock up the second seed with a win. A loss or tie for the Dutch Lions means FC Wichita can vault into second place with a win in its finale Sunday at Joplin.

While its playoff seeding remains unknown, FC Wichita rolled out numerous changes in the victory over Joplin in response to its 2-0 defeat last Saturday to Tulsa Athletics, the second loss this season to the conference’s top team.

The biggest change manager Johnny Markey made was in FC Wichita’s formation. He changed to a 4-4-2, employing a second forward to support Richard Osterloh and a second attacking midfielder for the first time this season.

“I think it’s going to make us harder to score on and it’s going to allow us to create a little more up top,” Markey said. “You build your system around your personnel and we have a lot of great forwards, so we’re going to start playing with that. Is it the final answer? I don’t know, but it is an answer.”

Another answer was the introduction of Jiro Birriga on the wing and forward Max Touloute, who had played in FC Wichita’s U.S. Open Cup game but had missed the first 10 conference games in preparation for his own wedding in August.

Both made their season debuts to start the second half after Luca Anelli’s third goal of the season in the 27th minute gave FC Wichita its first goal. They each proved their quality immediately with Touloute registering four attempts and Birriga creating the second goal (an own goal off his cross) and the third (on an assist to Carlos Contreras).

“Those guys are going to add a lot of talent,” Osterloh said. “But we just got to practice with them this week. We don’t know their technique yet and where they want to play the ball. We’re still getting to know them, but I feel like they’re going to add a lot of things for us in the playoffs.”

Not much can be gained from easily defeating a side on an eight-game losing streak and has long been eliminated from the playoffs.

But finding a smooth transition for Touloute and Birriga was crucial to Markey. Chemistry is a delicate commodity entering the playoffs, something that Touloute was aware of after his standout performance.

“I think me and Jiro both showed we can definitely help right away, but we have to find our roles,” Touloute said. “We came late in the season and we don’t want to disrupt the team’s chemistry. So we have to find our roles and we are going to do whatever it takes to make the team better and whatever it takes to win.”

Their arrivals creates a logjam at the midfield and forward positions. Markey now has the difficult decision to choose from a pool of 11 or 12 players who have proven themselves capable throughout the season.

“It’s a rough part of the job, but it’s a great problem to have,” Markey said. “I don’t think we’ve got too many personnel decisions wrong this season because of how good my staff is and how good the guys behind me are.”

While FC Wichita is focused on the looming playoffs, no one is pretending like a third and final meeting with Tulsa, which would potentially come in the championship game, isn’t the main motivation right now.

“We lost to them once and then twice, so we can’t lose a third time,” Osterloh said. “We know what our flaws were and we know what their weaknesses are. That’s what we’ve been practicing for and we’re working to seeing them one more time because there’s no way we’re losing to them again.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2016 at 10:37 PM with the headline "FC Wichita beats Joplin 3-0."