MLR 2024: Old Glory DC vs Anthem Carolina

Old Glory return home from a close loss to Seattle to host Anthem at Maryland SoccerPlex on Saturday evening. The expansion side from Carolina are yet to win a game but have the chance to play spoilers as DC suddenly find themselves in a tight playoff race with the Miami Sharks.

CURRENT STANDINGS

4-5-2 (L1) East 4th

0-11-0 (L11) East 6th

STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

1 Jack Iscaro replaces Quentin Newcomer
4 Rob Harley replaces Tevita Naqali (suspension)
7 Cory Daniel replaces Brady Daniel
8 Lautaro Bavaro replaces Collin Grosse (No6 vs Seattle)
12 Tommaso Boni replaces John Powers (No13 vs Seattle)
14 Ishmail Shabazz replaces John Rizzo

4 James Rivers replaces Reagan Leslie
6 Joe Basser replaces Michael Ma’afu (No8 vs LA)
9 Sean Yacoubian replaces Siaosi Nai
10 Oscar Koller replaces Tomasi Alosio (No15 vs LA)
13 Sebastien Zaridze replaces Mateo Gadsden

CAPPED INTERNATIONALS

(8) – Iscaro, Fa’anana-Schultz, Daniel, Boni (USA), Harley (Scotland), Gattas, Dotti (Uruguay), Bowd (Canada)

(3) – Turnbull (USA), Apikotoa (Tonga), Loubser (Namibia)

CLUB DEBUTS

(1) – Steffan Crimp*

* – MLR debut

NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Tevita Naqali (LO), Damien Hoyland (FB)

– Declan Moore (HO), Reagan Leslie (LO), Conor McManus (SH)

NOTES

after resting several leading players against the Seawolves, Simon Cross has recalled all of his big guns with the exception of fullback Damien Hoyland who is nursing a minor knock
second row Tevita Naqali sits out one game after being red-carded for repeat infringements against the Seawolves… but Uruguayan international Ignacio Dotti makes his return to the match day 23 after missing the last five games with injury
Bill Whiteside is rewarded for his strong game against Seattle, he’ll start back-to-back games for the first time in his pro career… Ishmail Shabazz starts for the first time since Week 2
Anthem have five players unavailable while on USA u20 duty in Canada right now… Dylan Fortune is the most significant with 7 starts at No8 on his resume this year
Sean Yacoubian gets his first start in an Anthem shirt… he is the 4th player to wear the No9 shirt for the club this season following Chase Suznevich, Siaosi Nai, and Conor McManus
Oscar Koller returns after a three-game absence to start at flyhalf… Sebastien Zaridze makes his first MLR start at outside center after debuting off the bench against LA
Steffan Crimp is set to debut for Anthem from the bench… a flyhalf or fullback, he was a standout with the USA u20s last year and was named in the senior Eagles long-list earlier this year… he is Welsh-born but qualifies for the Eagles through his American mother

PREDICTION

The shorthanded Old Glory gave the Seawolves a run for their money in Seattle last Friday and field a significantly stronger lineup this week. With perfect weather conditions on the forecast they will accept nothing less than a bonus-point win. Anthem can score points but to have any hope of an upset need to be accurate on restarts and focused in defense. DC are clear favorites at home.

LINEUPS

OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Martín Vaca, 3 Steven Longwell, 4 Rob Harley, 5 Bill Whiteside, 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (capt.), 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley, 10 Jason Robertson, 11 Axel Müller, 12 Tommaso Boni, 13 William Talataina, 14 Ishmail Shabazz, 15 Perry Humphreys

Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Quentin Newcomer, 18 Cali Martinez, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Collin Grosse, 21 Ethan McVeigh, 22 Gradyn Bowd, 23 John Powers

ANTHEM CAROLINA
1 Jake Turnbull (capt.), 2 Connor Robinson, 3 Joe Apikotoa, 4 James Rivers, 5 Lucas Gramlick, 6 Joe Basser, 7 Alby O’Shannessey, 8 Shneil Singh, 9 Sean Yacoubian, 10 Oscar Koller, 11 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 12 Junior Gafa, 13 Sebastien Zaridze, 14 Cael Hodgson, 15 Cliven Loubser

Replacements: 16 Jack Manzo, 17 Dan Hanson, 18 Stephan Bernal-Wendt, 19 Logan Weidner, 20 Sione Latu, 21 Siaosi Nai, 22 Mateo Gadsden, 23 Steffan Crimp

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, June 1
Venue: Maryland SoccerPlex, Germantown
Kickoff: 19:00 local (16:00 Pacific)
Weather Forecast: partly cloudy, 73°F (23°C), wind S 4-6mph (6-10km/h)
Broadcasts: Monumental Sports, The Rugby Network