Fixture: Ventura County Fusion (4-1-2) vs. Project 51O (5-2-1))
Date & Time: Friday, July 1 |7 pm PST
Venue: Ventura College Stadium | Ventura, CA
Twitter and Instagram: @VCFusion
The Ventura County Fusion welcomes Project 51O to Ventura College Stadium Friday night at 7 pm for a USL League 2 clash featuring two teams in the top three of the Southwest Division.
With 14 points in eight games, Fusion sits tied for third, two points behind the second-place Project 51O. Both sides are chasing the SoCal Seahorses who top the division with 19 points.
Fusion is on a two-game win stream, coming off a tight 1-0 win over Central Valley Fuego 2 while Project 51O’s last fixture ended in a 2-1 victory over Marin FC Legends. This will be the first-ever meeting between Fusion and Project 51O. Project 510 joined USL League 2 ahead of the 2019 season, but the team’s debut was postponed two years when the USL League 2 Western Conference, Southwest Division season was canceled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based in Oakland, Project 51O is the community-based development team of USL Championship side @oaklandrootssc. The name 51O is partly inspired by Oakland’s 510 area code, although substituting the letter “O” in place of the number “0” to stand for “Oakland.”
‘This is a pinnacle game for both teams at this stage of the season,” said Fusion head coach Mike Elias. “With Seahorses dropping points its opened the door on the race at the top of the standings. We will be prepared for the game against Project 510 and anticipate a good game.”
Project 51O features players from Northern California clubs like the De Anza Force and universities including Santa Clara University, Holy Names University, Michigan, and UCLA. The team leader in scoring is Javier Ruiz Duran, who tallied 17 goals and 21 assists during five seasons at Santa Clara University. Ruiz Duran has two goals on the season. Javier Bedolla-Vera, a 15-year-old from Newark California who recently signed an academy contract with Oakland Roots, is second on the team in goals scored with one.
Striker Logan Farrington leads Fusion in scoring with 4 goals on the season. Nathaniel Opoku, who will be playing for Syracuse in the fall, is second on the team after a brace against Marin FC Legends two weeks ago.
For more information on the Ventura County Fusion, visit vcfusion.com