Last weekend, Flower City Union shocked NISA with massive win over Chattanooga FC in the NISA semifinals. The match came down to penalties after a scrappy 120 minutes that saw CFC pumping shot after shot at goal, to no avail. Every time a shot was taken, a FCU defender pressured the shooter, blocked the shot, or watched goalkeeper Micheal Mejia make the stop. It was a masterclass of how an underdog can go against a better team and win.

Part of that team effort was forward Luke Ferreira. Luke played limited minutes last season for Chattanooga FC before signing this season with Flower City Union. Since joining the squad, he’s been a major contributor to FCU’s success this season, playing in 22 matches and putting up five goals and five assists. He spoke with Protagonist about last week’s match and looking forward to this weekend’s final.

Protagonist: Congrats on the semifinal win, what does this mean for your club?

Ferreira: I think every team in NISA wants to make it to the final of the playoffs. So just winning that game itself is already important, but of course, beating the team that pretty much controlled the table the entire season was definitely a better feeling. On top of it, it also gives us an extra boost in confidence to get into that final as well, because taking them down is a huge accomplishment.

Protagonist: One thing that stood out about the win was the team defense, was that a focus going on?

Ferreira: We're going against the best offense in the league, statistically they're the best offense in the league. So we knew that we were definitely gonna have a difficult game on our hands defensively. We knew that we were going to need every single person - the 11, the guys on the bench - we're gonna need every single person that we had to defend that team. They're a great team, they attack with a lot of players, they keep a lot of possession. So it's a lot of hard work. We knew at the end of the day that it was going be a unit, it was gonna be a group effort, and that's exactly what it was.

And then Mike, he had an amazing game and he's had, if you've been following the league, he's had definitely a bunch of good games where he's made crazy save…It almost got to the point where, you know, we were just like, nothing is really gonna go in because we have Mike. At the end of the day, he was having such a good game. We knew that if we did our part to keep them out, if they ever did get through, he was gonna do his part. So just that confidence and that energy, it started to ooze into the rest of the team and it definitely worked out for us.

Protagonist: One low point of the match for you personally, was the blocked PK at the end.

Ferreira: It's not the best feeling. Obviously, you want to convert for your team and for yourself. In that moment, I would have put us up 1-0. But it's such a quick turnaround that you can't really think about it too much. In that moment I felt like, ‘oh damn, I missed,’ but I knew at the end of the day we had Mike. We've been training penalties all week for the last three weeks. So, I missed it on Sunday, but the next time I take it, I make it. That's just how it goes.

You can't really hold that stuff too much to heart because you only miss penalties if you take them. So, I'm glad that the team, trust me in taking penalties along with the other guys, the coach as well. So, I stepped up with confidence. I thought I was gonna make it, it didn't go my way. He made a great save and it is what it is at this point. I'm happy we went through. I don't really think about it too much, because now at the end of the day, we have a final to play in a couple of days. So I'm focusing on that.

Protagonist: Thoughts on Michigan Stars?

Ferreira: It’s gonna be a tough match up. I think any team you find right now in the playoffs is gonna be a difficult game. These guys, Michigan, it’s always gonna be a tough game, especially playing them at home. Super physical, very fit team. So I think it would be a good match up. Every game we've had with them has been pretty good, to be honest. We've been there fighting with them the entire game for most matches. You know, there's just been a couple of calls that have gone against us. I'm excited for it. I think the rest of the team is as well. We're pretty confident, but they're a good side for sure. So it's gonna be a good match up. I think I'm really excited for this game and I hope it turns out to be a good one.

Protagonist: How does a win over CFC set you up mentally for this match with Michigan?

Ferreira: We're feeling good, the energy is great. We're not underestimating anybody. I don't think anybody is underestimating us anymore. So it's just going out there and playing our game. We've been playing a good brand of football for the last couple of weeks now. I feel like everything's starting to fall into place. And if we're playing at the best that we can, with a group playing united and fighting for every ball and just fighting for each other, we can compete with anybody in this league. So, we're going in pretty confident.

At the end of the day, we made it to the final. So we have to be confident, if we got it this far. We've been doing something right. We had a great game against LA Force, a pretty good game against Chattanooga away, in a tough environment. So going into Michigan's match up now, it's just doing what we've been doing and hope that the cards fall in our favor.

The NISA Championship match will take place tomorrow, November 11th.

- Dan Vaughn