Bethlehem Steel FC round out preseason with three more friendlies

Bethlehem Steel FC have announced the final three friendlies before their regular season kickoff against the Rochester Rhinos on April 1st. Coming off a huge 7-0 win over Junior Lone Star and ahead of matches this week against Villanova (March 1st at 4:00 PM) and Temple (March 4 at Power Training at Noon), Bethlehem has added a few pretty good tests for the following weeks.

First is a morning fixture against LIU Brooklyn on March 11. Last year Steel FC did this too, and really this is the easiest way to see the pipeline. Free and open to the public, this will be a really good chance to see Santi Moar, Matt Real and Josh Heard without having to move before seeing the Philadelphia Union take on Toronto FC later that day. LIU went 10-6-2 and made it to the Northeast Conference semifinal in their last campaign.

Shortly after that Steel FC take on I-76 Rivals Harrisburg City Islanders on the 15th of March on Millersville University’s campus. Playing all college teams seems like a bit of a disadvantage given the nature of professional vs. college clubs so the chance to gauge where Steel is at against a team they see three times this year is a great move. That one kicks off from Pucillo Field at 1:00 PM.

Your final chance to see Steel FC for free is when they play Notre Dame (yeah, that one) on Thursday the 16th. Power Training will be the site and the kickoff will be at Noon. Last year Notre Dame rode a 12 win regular season into the third round of the NCAA tournament. Also of note, Fighting Irish defender Patrick Berneski is an ex-Union Academy player so if you’re anything like my friend and colleague Matt Ralph, come down and see how he’s doing.

Thoughts on the preseason? Planning on coming down to see the games? Come say hi! I don’t bite. Just let us know in the comments or on twitter and I’ll be on the lookout.