In sports, the playoffs can do funny things to time.
Seconds can feel like hours. A whole half can vanish in the blink of an eye. That shift can disorient you.
Perhaps most unfairly, the playoffs can distill a whole season — 10 months of early mornings and late nights — into one 90-minute contest.
It’s a little after 1:30pm ET on Friday, and Joe Suchecki is settling in for another interview. The topic of conversation is the MLS NEXT Pro Playoff game against Chattanooga FC, which is rapidly approaching.
As captain of New York City FC II, the 24-year-old feels well placed to speak for a group preparing to take its first step into the postseason. While this is his first experience of the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs, he knows that getting here took a season of adapting, staying together and navigating setbacks.
Suchecki’s own route back to the Club had similar characteristics. He left the Club's academy to play four years at the University of Maryland, then completed his master’s degree at Northwestern. Six years passed before he returned, first as a trialist, then signing with the Club and being named captain by Head Coach Matt Pilkington.
“To be shown the trust by a coach to be the captain, and then also to stay as the captain throughout the whole season, really means a lot and shows that he has a lot of faith in me to be a mature and responsible leader to help the team achieve their goals,” Suchecki said.
He freely admits he returned a different person. He dealt with injuries at Maryland, including a stress fracture that kept him out for months. At Northwestern, he learned more about recovery, nutrition and the details of caring for his body. Those experiences now shape how he approaches the game and the advice he gives the younger players around him.
His return to the Club also brought a new role on the field.
“I’ve never played as a center back in my life until the season, and I had to learn from scratch,” he said. “So it’s pretty much taking what you’re given and rolling with it.”
“I was on YouTube for hours. There was a lot of studying going on, but also a lot of asking questions of the coaching staff, and they were super helpful, especially if I was unsure of where to be, I would ask, and they would always have an answer for me, and it was super helpful.”
Suchecki’s adaptability is symptomatic of what he believes to be the team’s identity and greatest strength.
“The coaching staff's done a really good job of not making us rigid,” he said. “So it's not, if the ball is here, you have to go there. You have to make this pass. It's pretty much okay, if the ball is progressing in this way, you have an option to go here, you have an option to go there. But it's really giving the players freedom to express themselves in the way that makes them unique and lets players showcase their unique strengths, and which makes us really, really hard to defend against because, depending on who you put where, the team's going to play differently.”
The season began with a tough start. A strong run followed, then a stretch when results and performances became harder to come by. Through it all, the players continued adjusting.
When asked, Suchecki pinpointed one result that helped show what the team could become. In May, New York City FC II faced an undefeated Red Bull New York II side and scored three times to win, 3-2. It was a turning point.
“Going into it, it was like, ‘OK, this is going to be a tough game,’ and then we came out swinging. We played really, really, really well. And after the game, everyone’s looking around like, ‘Wow, we can really do something this season.’”
That self-belief will be tested against Chattanooga FC, a side Suchecki expects to bring experience and physicality. The challenge, he believes, will be to stay focused on the team’s own game and make its rotations work.
The playoffs can make every moment feel larger, but Suchecki is trying to keep his attention on the work in front of him: preparing well, feeling healthy and being ready when the game arrives.
“All you want to do is make the playoffs so you can play important games that matter,” he said. “Either you win or you learn. So you can’t really lose.”
That outlook comes from a player who has learned to value the process. Suchecki was a busy child. He earned a black belt in karate and also participated in gymnastics and ballroom dancing.
“I made the fifth grade finals for New York City in ballroom dancing,” he said. “I did the tango.”
Of all his off-field pursuits, karate in particular taught him the value of detail.
“In order to get better at any skill, you have to be extremely dedicated and focused on the details. Especially karate, it's so technique specific. If your fist is two inches to the right or two inches to the left, that's a point off.”
“If you're participating in a competition, if you're fighting someone, then you'll learn pretty quickly. If your technique is wrong, you will get punched.”
It is an apt way to approach a game that can compress an entire season into 90 minutes. The preparation is done in the days before; the details are built over months. Then the whistle goes, and time starts doing what it does in the playoffs.
“I'm excited,” he said. Later, he added, “It's a high-stakes game. That's all you want. All you want to do is make the playoffs so you can play important games that matter, and either you win or you learn. You can't really lose.”
Legacy is a heavy word in sports, but Suchecki has not allowed himself to think too far beyond Chattanooga FC. The next round can wait. For now, there is one game to prepare for, one challenge to meet and a chance for this group to see how far it can go.
When the moment arrives, he wants to be ready to meet it.
