Moros FC waited 32 days since their 3-2 victory over FC Carolinas to find out who their opponent would be in the round of sixteen. Three additional days later, and the Champions of the Mid-Atlantic division are finally hosting their foe, Kalonji Pro Profile, this evening at the OrthoCarolina Sportsplex.

Kalonji Pro Profile won the regular season in the Georgia Division, earning a first round bye in their postseason campaign. They then made short work of Limeno Georgia in the second round, coasting to a 4-0 victory. The Georgia Division title match pitted them against Atlanta United’s academy side, a stern affair that Kalonji’s single goal in the match proved the difference in a 1-0 win. The Georgia Champions then traveled north to visit Expedition Division and Mid-South Conference victors, Iturbide FC of Nashville, Tennessee

On a cold evening outside Chattanooga, the respective champs met. Kalonji Pro Profile struck first in the 4th minute on a free kick from just outside the corner of the eighteen. The low curling service was met with a commanding header, on a diving effort, at near-center of the penalty area for the initial score. Iturbide wasn’t cowed by the early deficit, growing into the match and sustaining some play in the Kalonji half that earned a penalty attempt in the 20th minute. Upon converting, Iturbide continued to enjoy some advantage in play, but halftime found the teams knotted at one goal apiece.

Iturbide increased their intensity in the second half, harrying the Kalonji players at every turn and pressuring high up the pitch. Their efforts were rewarded in a tackle along their attacking left side in the 51st minute, and Iturbide found itself with eight attackers up the pitch against just four defenders. The scrambling defense left Iturbide wide open on the right, and with a precise pass into the penalty area, their final man made sure of his slotted effort across goal.

Kalonji began to turn the tide of possession from that point, but the tying goal eluded them despite their efforts. Until the 82nd minute that is, when the Iturbid keeper parried away an initial shot directly towards four Kalonji players in the box and the second chance tied up the match once again. A flurry of opportunities for both sides through the final eight minutes of regulation didn’t result in scores, and the teams now turned their attentions to extra time.

The thirty extra minutes of play couldn’t break the deadlock, as the sides settled into more calculated play. The teams took greater care to prevent a losing goal than they did to achieve a winning result, and the stalemate took the battling champions to penalties. Iturbide’s 3rd attempt while clear of the keeper, pinged off the crossbar. The Tennessee side’s 5th attempt was easily gathers by the Kalonji Pro Profile goalkeeper and the Georgia champs survived to earn their visit to the Carolinas.

In a league season set up where opponents from differing divisions often only meet in the postseason, tonight’s matchup to determine a berth in the final eight will be a curious study of a side with a month’s worth of rest hosting a visitor coming off a thrilling, 120-minute, match just three days before.

Writer’s Prediction: The long rest period proves more hurt than help for the hosts. Kalonji Pro Profile 2-1 Moros FC

In a more perfect world, this matchup would play out in a national semifinal, if not the championship match itself. Instead, these two (relative to lower league US soccer) historic heavyweights will have to settle for deciding the league crown of Florida in addition to a Southeast Conference championship berth on Saturday night.

Neither team is stranger to matches this deep in the postseason. The Florida Soccer Soldiers may have earned esteem nationwide for their 2019 Open Cup heroics against professional sides, but the club has been competing at a consistently high level for several years now. The FSS have featured in nearly every UPSL postseason, including a Spring 2018 campaign that saw them defeat fellow league power Inocentes FC (TX) before falling in the semifinals to eventual national champion Milwaukee Bavarians.

In the years since, the competition level in the Florida South division has grown exponentially. This was all the more evident this year as FSS struggled through the slog of the regular season, finishing fourth in their division standings. Their lower-than-typical finish awarded them one of the longer postseason campaigns, but FSS saved their best soccer for the winter months. They proved a monster defensively, keeping three straight clean sheets while dispatching 5th ranked FC Florida, knocking off top seed Juventus Academy FC, and winning the Florida South division crown over 3rd ranked Miami Sun FC. Florida West Champion Azzurri Storm may have finally broken through for a couple goals against the Soldiers, but it hardly mattered as FSS poured five scores on the Storm in response to claim their spot in the national league round of 16.

Their visitor at Broward College is no slouch either. Orlando FC Barca is a perennial contender in the later rounds of the national playoffs, and their Fall 2021 saw them finish in a familiar place in the Florida Central standings: at the top. The top finish didn’t come without effort though, as expansion side Orlando City SC Academy u23 paced them through the regular season, ceding the 1st seed by only a single point. That top seed has afforded OFCB an amount of comfort so far in their postseason though, as they’ve tucked away both Nona Soccer Academy, and OCSC Academy u23 in a rematch, by 2-0 scores.

They’ll face a sterner test tonight in South Florida against fellow seasoned postseason competition. But whichever side emerges victorious tonight will be the favorite to win, and represent in the semifinals, the Southeast Conference.

Writer’s Prediction: The more difficult path to this match will prove beneficial to Florida Soccer Soldiers, with a late goal pulling off a come from behind, 4-3, victory over Orlando FC Barca.
- Ryan Stallings