Regular Season Rewind
- Cleveland SC
- 19 hours ago
- 3 min read
Cleveland SC reflects on 2026 regular season before postseason begins
With the 2026 regular season complete and the playoffs beginning Wednesday night, Cleveland SC now turns its attention to the postseason after securing a spot in the Great Lakes Conference playoffs for the first time since 2023.
Before Cleveland SC looks ahead to its matchup with Ambassadors FC Ohio, it is only right to rewind through a successful regular season that saw the club finish with seven wins, one draw, and four losses.
In mid-May, seeds were planted in the first game as Cleveland welcomed the Buffalo Stallions to George Finnie Stadium for the season and home opener, a game that saw Cleveland set the tone for the season with a 3-0 win.
The first two goalscorers of the season for Cleveland happened to be their two highest scorers at the end of the season, with Abdou Faye finding the back of the net in the first minute of the game for his first of seven goals on the year.
Hakim Musabbah also scored in the opening game, his first of four goals on the season.
The club dropped points the next week in a 0-0 draw against Rochester NY FC before picking up another win over Buffalo, this time on the road by a score of 2-1.
That match brought Cleveland back home for a two-game homestand that saw another two wins, with the first coming over Niagara 1812 by a score of 3-1 and the second being a huge game against Ambassadors when both teams were undefeated.
Cleveland was phenomenal in that game, earning a 3-0 win in the biggest game of the year up to that point.
The next game saw maybe Cleveland’s most electric finish to a game as Nico Romero came on a sub against Flower City FC and delivered the winning goal late in stoppage time, stunning the opponent from Rochester en route to securing another three big points.
The first loss of the season followed, however, as the most anticipated game of the season against the at the time No. 1 team in the NPSL, Erie Commodores, ended in a 2-0 loss for Cleveland after a three-hour rain delay. It was also Cleveland’s second game in which the club failed to score a goal.
They were able to bounce back the next match against Ambassadors with a 2-0 win after a pair of early goals were enough to earn the regular season sweep of Ambassadors, but things would unfortunately begin to falter as the season went on.
Following the Ambassadors' win, things went downhill as the squad lost three straight matches to end the season, the first one coming at home against Flower City in a 2-0 loss that saw two terrible mistakes cost the team, as a penalty and a brutal own goal were how Flower City got on the board.
The next match was an electric shootout of a contest against Rochester, with the team from upstate New York winning by a final of 5-4. Cleveland’s once rock-solid defense was starting to slip, and it slipped even more in the final game of the regular season, a 4-3 loss on the road against Erie.
It was a huge chance to make a statement heading into the playoffs for Cleveland, and they almost pulled it off as the club led 3-2 before Erie came back with two late goals to seal the win.
As the club prepares for the postseason, time will tell if the three-game skid was an anomaly, as Cleveland will look to get things back on track this Wednesday night against Ambassadors, a tough opponent that Cleveland has fared well against this season.
Match Information - Ambassadors FC Ohio vs Cleveland SC
📍 Malone University King Field at Pioneer Park - 2600 Cleveland Ave NW, Canton, OH 44709
🗓️ Wednesday, July 8, 2026
⏰ Kickoff at 7:00 PM EDT
🎟️ Tickets are available online and at the gate.
Follow the Match Live
Can’t make it to the match? Watch live on Ambassadors FC Ohio's Hudl channel. Fans can also follow live updates on Cleveland SC’s X account. [WATCH LIVE]
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