PSP is pleased to welcome Paul Konneh, president of Junior Lone Star FC. Paul will be providing match previews, match recaps, and other newss about the Philadelphia-based National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) club. In his first post, Paul previews Friday’s season opener away against the Lehigh Valley’s FC Sonic. Earlier this week, FC Sonic was defeated by PDL club Long Island Rough Riders in the first round of the US Open Cup.

Coverage of the Junior Lone Star’s first league game of their inaugural season in the NPSL starts just before the 7pm kick-off on the team’s CoveritLive channel. As the game unfolds, you can post your comments in the CoveritLive thread or on our Twitter feed. In-depth coverage after the game includes a match report, player stats, and a gallery of photos. If you are in the Lehigh Valley area, you can watch the match live on the Service Electric Channel 50.

Match Highlights of the game are available from midnight on match day while Full Match video will be available on Monday after match day by subscribing to Junior Lone Star’s YouTube Channel.

Match Preview

Junior Lone Star FC will enter tomorrow’s contest hoping to bounce back after a disappointing pre-season. Following an entertaining 2-2 draw away to PDL’s Boston Victory SC in their first pre-season game, the Stars lost three successive away preseason games: 0-4 to Brooklyn Italians of the NPSL, 1-3 to Jersey Express of the PDL, and most recently 0-4 to Ocean City FC of the PDL.With those results, the Stars moved to an overall record of 11-5-3 since the 2011-2012 season started on August 1, 2011.

FC Sonic, like Junior Lone Star FC, will be hurting from their elimination in the 2012 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup First Round…FC Sonic, the 2010 Keystone Conference Champions, 2010 NPSL National Semi-finalist, and last year’s Keystone Conference Runners-up, were beaten 2-0 by PDL’s Long Island Rough Riders on May 15th.

Players to Watch

After sustaining an ankle injury that disrupted his pre-season, forward Jerome Pour is back. The 23-year old forward will be looking to add on to his goals tally for the Stars. Pour leads the Stars in goals, eight so far in 14 appearances. Another notable mention will be midfield maestro Joe-Joe Jappah who leads the Stars in assists, five so far in 10 games.

FC Sonic will be led by stalwart defender James Graf who led the Sonic to the 2010 NPSL semi-finals and a third place finish. The Sonic will also depend on midfielder Cody Antonini who was included in the 2011 NPSL All-Star team.

Lineups

FC SONIC: To be announced.

JUNIOR LONE STAR FC: Monyan; Daniel, Dosso, Fofana A, Mayah, Sheriff, Zoegar A; Ayouba, Geayea, Jappah, Mulbah, Torh, Turay, Wright, Zoegar C; Brown, Camara, Doe, Pour, Wiah.

Starting XI will be announced via the Star’s Twitter feed approximately 45 minutes before kick-off.