CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati kicks off its 2017 home opener on Saturday with the visit of current USL Eastern Conference leader Saint Louis FC to Nippert Stadium, with a bumper crowd expected to be on hand. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

Matchcenter: http://bit.ly/2ozd2YQ | Tickets: http://bit.ly/2oz3nlc | Broadcast: WSTR (CIN), KPLR (STL)

FC Cincinnati news and notes

• Current record: 1-2-0, 3pts

• Cincinnati will look to rebound from a 2-0 loss to Bethlehem Steel FC last Sunday that concluded its three-game road trip to start the season.

• Goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt saved a penalty kick in the first half, but FCC was forced to play more than an hour down to 10 men after Paul Nicholson was sent off.  Nicholson will serve a one-match suspension on Saturday.

• Cincinnati is expecting another big crowd for its home opener. The club announced recently it had surpassed 12,000 season-ticket holders, almost doubling it total from a season ago when it set USL records for single-game and cumulative attendance.

• FCC went 9-2-4 at Nippert Stadium in the 2016 USL regular season on its way to earning a third-place finish in the Eastern Conference.

Saint Louis FC news and notes

• Current record: 3-0-1, 10pts

• Saint Louis moved to the top of the Eastern Conference standings with a 2-1 win on Wednesday night against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds to open its road trip.

• An early Riverhounds goal put the visitors behind at Highmark Stadium, but Jose Angulo equalized before halftime before Christian Volesky notched the game-winning goal in the second half.

• Wesley Charpie recorded two assists in the game against the Riverhounds, moving into a tie for second place in the league.

• Volesky has scored goals in each of the past three games, all Saint Louis victories, which has moved him past 20 regular-season goals in his USL career.

Series Notes

• Cincinnati took victory in both meetings between the clubs a season ago, winning 2-1 both at home and on the road.

Squads

• Cincinnati – GK: Mitch Hildebrandt, Dan Williams, Dallas Jaye; D: Matt Bahner, Tyler Polak, Harrison Delbridge, Pat McMahon, Austin Berry, Derek Luke, Mele Temguia, Justin Hoyte; M: Aodhan Quinn, Kenney Walker, Kadeem Dacres, Eric Stevenson, Aaron Walker, Corben Bone, Jimmy McLaughlin, Marco Dominguez; F: Djiby Fall, Omar Cummings, Daryl Fordyce, Andrew Wiedeman, Victor Mansaray, Andy Craven

• Saint Louis – GK: Devala Gorrick, Adam Grinwis, Jack Filla; D: Jack Maher, Austin Ledbetter, Wesley Charpie, A.J. Cochran, Ryan Howe, Konrad Plewa, Matt Sheldon, Aedan Stanley; M: Mats Bjurman, Sebastian Dalgaard, Octavio Guzman, Ivan Mirkovic, Dragan Stojkov, Matteo Kidd, Tyler David, Nick Radosavljevic, Nikiphoros Vlastos, Denis Ahmetovic; F: Seth Rudolph, Jose Angulo, Christian Volesky, Milan Petosevic, Max Alvarez

Discipline

• Cincinnati – Suspended: Paul Nicholson

• Saint Louis: None

Officials

• REF: BRANDON ARTIS

• AR1: James Duling

• AR2: Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein

• 4TH: Eric Tattersall

Game hashtag:

• #CINvSTL

Twitter social handles

• FC Cincinnati – @FCCincinnati

• Saint Louis FC – @SaintLouisFC