DC Power FC are back on the field tonight as they take on Fort Lauderdale United FC at Audi Field. The team is coming off a loss at Brooklyn FC over the weekend, but are hoping that two straight matches at home can help get them back on track.

DC Power head coach Omid Namazi thought the play against Brooklyn FC was fine, but he wanted the team to be more aggressive and have more intensity on the field. “You know, if you play a team that’s going to be that physical, you’ve got to match that physicality or they’re going to have the upper hand,” Namazi said in press availability this week. “Because no matter how good you play…physical teams, they’re going to put a body on us and we need to respond. And we didn’t do that.”

Against Fort Lauderdale United, who are currently second in the USL Super League standings with 16 points from 9 matches (DC Power is seventh with 10 points from 9 matches), DC Power is facing a team that has some dangerous strikers, including Jasmine Hamid, who broke out offensively last season. They’re a team that can score quickly and DC Power wants to limit their chances.

“I think they’re definitely a dangerous team,” midfielder Katie Duong said in press availability. “We’ve been watching them a little bit, but I think we’re mostly focused on what we’re going to do against them. I think we’re really focused on still playing our style of soccer, but then also being physical getting into those 50-50 balls. That’s something that we’ve really been focusing on and harping on a lot…still play our possession pretty style of soccer, but then also having that gritty side as well.”

“They’re a quality team, and the quality is in their, their speed and transition from defense to attack,” Namazi said. “They’re fast, they’re high pressing, they make it very difficult for you to build out of the back….They have gotten results and they’ve capitalized when they get their chances, and there’s been games where we haven’t capitalized on our chances.”

Still, DC Power has a couple of games in hand on teams ahead of them in the standings, which gives them a chance to get back into the swing of things despite only having one win in their last five matches.

“There’s no guarantees in this game that having those couple of games in hand is going to get you back up. You got to make it happen for yourself. And that was the talk this morning,” Namazi said. “And I feel we have a team that can, that can get into the playoffs this year. We just gotta be a little bit more resilient.”  

DC Power FC vs. Fort Lauderdale United FC

Location: Audi Field

Kickoff time: 7:00pm ET

Available streaming: Peacock