FC Buffalo wins 4th division title and advances to national championship

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The weekend of July 19-20 could be another New York sports team’s chance to hoist a trophy. Although they are Pro-Am, News Spectrum 1 Take a look at one of FC Buffalo’s final training sessions ahead of National Championship weekend.

“We obviously don’t want to disappoint,” said FC Buffalo center back Tess Ford.

This is a football club that has been around for four years, has four division titles under its belt and has a date with the playoffs next week.

“You have to have a little bit of nerves, so it’s cool to see them be like, OK, we have to play,” she added, as a role model for youth soccer in Western New York. “Especially now that we have kids watching us.”

As the final week of practice approaches before National Championship weekend, FC Buffalo takes a look at the field and the roster that has changed from year to year, but remained dominant.

“So that’s a really unique aspect of the United Women’s Soccer League. It’s a pro-am competition, so we have players who are looking to turn pro and just looking to stay and play competitively. College players,” noted one of the team’s most experienced players, forward Carrisma Cutrona. “We even had girls that were fresh out of high school this season. So it’s a pretty crazy mix of ages.”

I’m still chasing the top prize in the USL UWS class, but the motivation and dedication has kind of increased over the last four years.

“I think it’s just about keeping our goal in mind. And before the season, our goal was to reach the national championship and we achieved that,” she added. “It hasn’t always been easy along the way, but you just have to be able to keep people engaged, keep people showing up to practice every week.”

Whether it’s players who had the opportunity to play overseas and excel in DI college football or some of the younger faces who are still making history on the field…

“I think it’s really a privilege and an honour to wear this jersey every time,” left-back Erin Weir said. “I didn’t know from the start if I was going to play in this team or anything else, or what my role was going to be. The cherry on top would be to win this title. So I think to keep pushing and progressing is the best thing we can ask of this club.”

A group of award-winning collaborators at the helm — and a chance to do something special next week.

“The foundation has been laid,” said head coach Nicole Bartholomew. “For the last four years, we’ve talked about ‘national championship’ for four years now, but what better opportunity than to bring it to Buffalo and have a national championship here?”

While FC Buffalo could bring a second piece of hardware to Western New York this year, these next two games could be even more important to the game itself.

“Globally or even in the United States, Buffalo is just a small part of it,” Cutrona said. “But to be able to be a part of it and contribute to the growth of women’s soccer here in Buffalo has been great.”

A few more practices and it’ll be time to head here to Buffalo at All-High Stadium.

“It’s just exciting to see, like, OK, we’re here now. Let’s actually do this,” Ford said.

“We absolutely have to win this weekend, don’t we?” Weir said. “…wins.”

FC Buffalo will know who they will face in the national semifinals by early next week and will have a few days to prepare. A stellar campaign and dominance over the last four years means the road to the USW Championship runs through Buffalo and All-High Stadium.