Port City FC preparing for crucial contest

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - In their first season under their new moniker, Port City FC took the Gulf Coast Premiere League by storm. The Sounders dominated much of the regular season, clinch a 2-seed in the playoffs, before eventually taking home the 2018 GCPL Championship.

Unfortunately, their title defense hasn’t gone quite as well.

At 3-1-4, the Sounders find themselves in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings with just two regular season games left to play.

“It was an incredible experience to win last year, win everything. Coming into this season, kind of have a target on your back and the schedule was pretty difficult here at the beginning," Port City FC assistant coach Patrick Wadsworth said. "They put us on the road for four games in a row, so (we were) kind of struggling to find some form there in the early games and now I think we’ve kind of hit our stride and we’re going to stroll through the next two games.”

With some help, a return trip to the playoffs for Port City FC is still within reach. According to a tweet by fellow GCPL club AFC Mobile, the Sounders can’t clinch a playoff berth this week, but a win Saturday against the Gulf Coast Rangers and a Mobile loss keeps them in the hunt.

“The GCPL is wide open as far as who can make it in the playoffs at this point, and who might have an opportunity to win everything,” Wadsworth said. “We definitely need to improve our record by winning this weekend and by winning the following weekend.”

Port City FC takes on the Gulf Coast Rangers Saturday (July 6) at 7 p.m. at Herbert Wilson Stadium in Gulfport. They close out the regular season with another home game on Saturday, July 13 against Tallahassee SC.

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