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Old Glory DC celebrate their home opener on Saturday afternoon when they roll out the red carpet for the Western Conference pace-setting San Diego Legion. The home side had their bye week to prepare for a team they haven’t beaten since 2021, while the visitors are fresh off a one-sided result over Anthem in Charlotte last Friday night.
| CURRENT STANDINGS |
1-0-0 (W1) East 3rd
2-0-0 (W2) West 1st
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 9 | Ethan McVeigh | Connor Buckley |
|
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Payton Telea-Ilalio | Djustice Sears-Duru |
| 2 | Hugh Roach | Shilo Klein |
| 5 | Brandon Harvey | Vili Helu |
| 7 | Brad Wilkin | Christian Poidevin |
| 8 | Jimmy Hokafonu | Tevita Tameilau |
| 12 | Tiaan Loots | Tavite Lopeti |
| 13 | Tomas Aoake | Marcel Brache |
| 14 | James Vaifale | Tomas Aoake |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(8) – Iscaro, Fa’anana-Schultz, Daniel, McVeigh (USA), Gattas (Uruguay), Martinez (Canada), Harley, Hoyland (Scotland)
(7) – Telea-Ilalio, Ryan, James, Klein, Helu (USA), Holloway (Australia), Sears-Duru (Canada)
| CLUB DEBUTS |
(0) – none
(1) – Maluia
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– none
– Tavite Lopeti (CE), Marcel Brache (CE)
| PREDICTION |
While neither side will be thrilled by the cold, it’s the blustery wind on the forecast that is set to play a big part in tactics. Both teams prefer to play with ball in hand but the kickers are sure to be busy. The lineout will be all-important and Vili Helu’s impact off the bench for the Legion might prove decisive. San Diego are slight favorites on the road.
| LINEUPS |
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Facundo Gattas, 3 Cali Martinez, 4 Rob Harley (capt.), 5 Tevita Naqali, 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Ethan McVeigh, 10 Jason Robertson, 11 Axel Müller, 12 Jason Emery, 13 Steff Hughes, 14 Perry Humphreys, 15 Damien Hoyland
Replacements: 16 KoiKoi Nelligan, 17 Joe Wrafter, 18 Sam Davies, 19 Bill Whiteside, 20 Collin Grosse, 21 Connor Buckley, 22 John Powers, 23 Owen Sheehy
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Payton Telea-Ilalio, 2 Hugh Roach, 3 Darcy Breen, 4 Jed Holloway, 5 Brandon Harvey, 6 Paddy Ryan, 7 Brad Wilkin (capt.), 8 Jimmy Hokafonu, 9 Richard Judd, 10 Lincoln McClutchie, 11 Ryan James, 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Tomas Aoake, 14 James Vaifale, 15 Ethan Grayson
Replacements: 16 Shilo Klein, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Oliver Kane, 19 Vili Helu, 20 Christian Poidevin, 21 Connor Tupai, 22 Cassh Maluia, 23 Harris Rutherford
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 1
Venue: Maryland SoccerPlex, Germantown
Kickoff: 16:00 local (13:00 Pacific)
Weather Forecast: cloudy, 43°F (6°C), wind NW 24-36mph (38-58km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+, KUSI, Monumental Sports, Sky Sports NZ, The Rugby Network
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Amelia Luciano (USA)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (Canada) & Aaron Davis (USA)
TMO: Cam Russell (Canada)
| HISTORY |
HEAD-TO-HEAD (4) – San Diego 3, DC 1
2024-03-23 – Old Glory DC 11, San Diego Legion 27 (Maryland SoccerPlex)
2023-04-02 – San Diego Legion 48, Old Glory DC 26 (Snapdragon Stadium)
2022-03-06 – San Diego Legion 24, Old Glory DC 12 (SDSU Sports Deck)
2021-07-10 – Old Glory DC 38, San Diego Legion 29 (Segra Field)
