 The Lower League eCup is back, and so is Lane United FC Head Coach Conner Cappelletti, who will look to prove himself yet again after a top-10 finish in last year’s tournament. “I’m really looking forward to having some fun again with this tournament!” said Cappelletti. “The Lower League eCup has been absolutely awesome doing all this from the start.” Conner will compete in Group E of the Xbox Premier Division, characterized by many, including the preview on the eCup website itself, as an especially difficult “Group of Death.” He will be up against Forward Madison’s 2020 All-Tournament Best XI player Evan Warwick, Hartford United supporter Arti Murtishi (a professional FIFA player), and Cameron Ocampo from Tallahassee SC. While this may appear to be an uphill battle for Coach Capp on paper, he certainly has experience overcoming adversity in this tournament. After picking up two early losses in last year’s group stage, the Lane United skipper made a surging run into the Round of 16, progressing through the group and winning his first two knockout stage matches. A third-place finish could be enough to lift Capp into the knockout rounds this year. Per official rules, “The thirty-six competitors in the Xbox Premier Division have been divided into nine groups of four. The top two clubs from each group, along with the top six third-place finishers will advance to a twenty-four club knockout stage.” Capp’s first challenge will come against Hartford Athletic on Friday, January 15th, at 5:30pm PT. All matches will be streamed on Twitch. Lane United’s full schedule of Group Stage matches can be viewed in the graphic below or on the website here -- all Group E matches are listed here.  After last year’s Twitter banter with SmallWorld Soccer, Capp has added some fuel to the fire this time around: “Going into this next tourney my hopes are to make it out of the so-called Group of Death and do whatever it takes to finish higher than Small World Soccer!” Unfortunately, a rematch won’t be in the cards as SmallWorld is only competing in the Playstation division this year.
Be sure to follow Lane United and the Lower League eCup on Twitter for Twitch livestream links, updates, and more! - Charlie Folkestad Comments are closed.
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