Coach Marc Dos Santos promised that the San Francisco Deltas would be more offensively minded in the Fall Season. His team proved the point on the road Sunday in Jacksonville outshooting the home side and nearly taking the full three points.

The Deltas attacked from the start of the match and had two excellent opportunities to score in the first fifteen minutes. Deltas defender Karl Ouimette had a point blank stop saved by Armada keeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell in the 10th minute. Shortly afterward Patterson-Sewell came to the rescue again as Jackson took a sharp shot from the right side that was pared away by the Armada keeper. Forward Tommy Heinemann looked to have a clear tap-in for goal with the rebound but was unable to get his footing right, and the Jacksonville defense was able to clear the ball.

A few minutes later Deltas defensive midfielder Cristian Portilla went down with a knee injury. Portilla has been the lynchpin of the team in the Spring Season, and his absence seemed to rattle the away side.

Jacksonville took advantage and the lead in the 35th minute when Deltas defender Patrick Hopkins pushed down Armada forward Derek Gebhard in the box. Jacksonville’s Jack Blake converted the penalty kick to take the lead 1-0.

San Francisco weathered an early chance from Jacksonville in the second half and started to apply consistent pressure on the home team’s defense. In the 58th minute Jackson, who terrorized the Armada with his play all game, delivered a perfectly weighted pass to Danny Cruz. He ran onto the ball and waited until the last possible moment to shoot the ball over Patterson-Sewell and equalize the match.

The Deltas continued the pressure and had several more good chances. Heinemann turned in the box in the 63rd minute and fired a low shot that Patterson-Sewell was able to swat away. In the 74th minute, Dagoberto made his first appearance for San Francisco and injected more energy into the attack.

It appeared that all the pressure the Deltas applied finally paid off in just before the end of regulation time when a Jacksonville giveaway made its way to Heinemann just in front of goal. His shot found the back of the net, but the sideline official judged him to be just offsides.

“We always play to win the game. I’m proud of the guys’ effort to come back, tie the game and even win it,” said SF Deltas head coach Marc Dos Santos, who was not on the sidelines due to a red card suspension. “Unfortunately, there was no truth in today’s result due to a bad decision. We need to stay strong and keep getting points.”

With the Cosmos win over Miami FC on Saturday, New York jumped over San Francisco to take over second place in the combined standings on goal differential. The two teams will play next weekend in San Francisco. The early season match will be an important game for both sides to keep ahead of each other in the playoff race. It will take place on Saturday, August 5th at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park at 5 p.m.