Home opener preview: FC Monmouth vs Kingston Stockade
MAY 18 2025
Written By Chris Dailey
For the first time in 337 days, it’s FC Monmouth matchday at Count Basie Park, as the Blue and Gold (1-0-0) host Kingston Stockade FC (1-0-0) for a 6 PM kickoff. A lot has changed since FC Monmouth last defended their home soil, including a move to The League for Clubs (TLFC).
TLFC is currently home to 51 clubs, and the league’s quick ascent has drawn attention from American soccer supporters all across the nation. Dennis Crowley, the visionary behind Kingston Stockade, is at the vocal forefront of the TLFC’s founding members.
FC Monmouth will come into the match looking to carry on their red-hot form. The team opened up their 2025 campaign with a dominant 6-0 road win over Lighthouse Boys Club of Kensington. Rutgers forward Lenny Aviles registered a hat trick, while Andrew Araya, Nate Anevski, and Davide Caputo chipped in with one apiece. Although the playing conditions weren’t ideal, FC Monmouth was still able to showcase its class. With the win, the club was awarded with the #6 spot on TLFC’s initial national power-rankings.
Similarly, Kingston Stockade got their season off to a hot start against a Kensington-based club. Stockade thrashed Kensington SC 5-1. The win saw the club garner the #8 spot on TLFC’s national power-rankings. Iyare Harris scored two goals, supplemented by the excellent buildup work of Noah Mellen and Cosimo Tristani.
Stockade is coached by former player Jamal Lis-Simmons. During his playing career, Simmons led Stockade to their first ever conference title and US Open Cup berth in 2018. As a whole, the club is one of the most notorious in the lower-league soccer scene, largely due to Crowley’s efforts and vision. His detailed chronicles of creating and operating Kingston Stockade have captured the hearts and minds of thousands, even inspiring many to start their own clubs. Crowley will be in attendance; buzz about his presence has started to spread around the Monmouth County soccer scene.
FC Monmouth will be led by new head coach, Hugh MacDonald. MacDonald is the current associate head coach at Monmouth University, and he surely impressed in his initial outing against Lighthouse Boys Club of Kensington. Now against a stronger opponent, MacDonald has been working diligently at practice to fine-tune his squad for Sunday’s clash.
“They’re a good club. They’re really well supported,” said MacDonald, “There will be times in this match when we’re up against it, I'm sure. But there will hopefully be times when we’re doing some of the things we want to. As far as the opposition scout is concerned, it’s a little difficult with it being so early in the season. So, we’re going to really focus on ourselves and how good we can be in each phase of play and if we can do what we want to from a performance standpoint, we hope that the result follows.”
FC Monmouth will be captained by Andrew Araya and Lenny Aviles. Although they’re only in year two and year one with the club, respectively, MacDonald has no doubt that they’re the right men to carry the responsibility of wearing the armband that represents all of Monmouth county.
“I haven’t had much time with the group to really figure out where we were going to go with naming the captains, so it took me a little bit of time to learn the guys, see who were the natural leaders out there, and those two came to the forefront right from the start. I’m excited for them and happy for the future with those two leading us,” stated MacDonald.
Expect to see an upbeat, attacking style of play from FC Monmouth. Only returning 4 players from last year, the team boasts a revamped and revitalized attack that has already shown its clinical nature in net. With spirits high amongst the players at practice this week, it’s evident that they’re hungry for more.
Make sure to follow along with live updates throughout the game on social media, @wearemonmouth. If you can’t make it and would like to watch, visit the YouTube stream. Simply search “FC Monmouth National Soccer Network” and it will pop up!
To buy tickets, visit fcmonmouth.com/tickets.