It’s good to have goals.
We all have them, whether we admit it or not. Big or small, teams or individuals, setting achievable — and occasionally audacious —goals is a good thing.
In just the first few weeks of just his second season coaching a brand-new team, FC Naples head coach Matt Poland is starting to learn he has to set new goals … because all the ones he wanted for his fledgling squad and a soccer-starved community are quickly coming true.
The latest goal checked off by Poland’s FC Naples squad was an audacious one: Qualifying to play a Major League Soccer team. That came true thanks to FC Naples’ 3-0 victory over FC America CFL Spurs in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on March 31.
That win vaulted FC Naples into the Round of 32 in the nationwide knockout tournament and earned the team a guaranteed game against an MLS team. For comparison’s sake, imagine the Florida Everblades advancing in a tournament and getting to take the ice against a National Hockey League squad, or the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels earning the right to take the diamond against a Major League Baseball team.
But the best part? FC Naples doesn’t need to pack up and hit the road to play its Round of 32 U.S. Open Cup match.
Instead, the MLS is coming to Collier County.