Mike McCall, ArmadaFC.com | Oct. 19, 2016

FINAL STATS

The mood around Armada FC is unmistakably different these days.

For evidence, look no further than the field at Community First Park following Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Miami FC.

Zach Steinberger interrupts Matt Bahner’s interview, spraying him in the face with water before leaping in front of the camera to yell, “We won!” Owner Mark Frisch spots Bryan Burke walking toward the locker room and leaps in the air for a celebratory side-bump, then does the same with Bahner.

The Armada (4-8-8 NASL Fall, 5-12-13 Combined) won’t be going to the NASL Playoffs, but they don’t care right now. They’re playing good soccer and getting results.

This one came via a rare comeback victory, thanks to a Charles Eloundou goal in the first minute, then second-half strikes by Alex Dixon and Lucas Scaglia to erase Miami’s lead.

“We needed it,” said head coach Mark Lowry, who notched his first home win since taking over in August. “They work hard and they know they’re playing well, but having these wins and victories just reinforces it and adds value to what we’re doing.”

Under Lowry, the Armada are now 3-6-3, a run of form that, if extrapolated across 30 games, would put them roughly in playoff contention.

This one was especially impressive for a few reasons.

Facing an opponent that needed a win to bolster their chances at the fourth and final playoff spot, they managed to come back from a late deficit for the first time in club history.

And they did it on short rest after Saturday’s 4-2 shootout with the first-place New York Cosmos, when they allowed three late goals.

“We’re on a high after a big low on Saturday,” said Zach Steinberger, who tallied two assists. “It’s great to see constant improvement instead of the other way around. I’m so proud to be part of this team and the coaching staff who has done so much since taking over. I couldn’t be happier for the guys, and we’d like to carry this momentum into next season.”

While Saturday had been a rough ending, they couldn’t have asked for a better start to this one.

Just 36 seconds in, they were ahead.

Eloundou played a one-two with Steinberger, went around two defenders and made easy work of a shot from close range to put the Armada up 1-0. It was the second fastest goal in club history after Jemal Johnson’s 12-second screamer during their NASL debut back in 2015.

The next 25 minutes held opportunities for both sides, but the rest of the half belonged to Miami FC. Ariel Martinez equalized in the 27th minute when he used a sharp cutback to dance between four defenders in the box, then finished sharply with his left foot.

Miami striker Jaime Chavez had three chances to snatch the lead before the break, but keeper Miguel Gallardo dove to break up a long pass to him in front of goal, Tyler Ruthven slid in to deny a shooting opportunity from close range, and Chavez had a header clang off the post after beating Gallardo to a cross from Hunter Freeman.

At the half, Lowry made a tactical change. He had come out looking to press Miami’s back line, but the visitors overloaded the central midfield and were able to dictate play. When he dropped players to match their numbers in midfield, the Armada were able to sit back, force turnovers and launch counterattacks.

They finished with the lead in shots (17-14) and shots on goal (8-3) despite having only 41 percent of possession.

It wasn’t all rosy, as Gallardo and Ruthven had to make more big plays just after the half, and Miami took the lead with a Gabriel Farfan header in the 65th.

But they weren’t down for long.

Four minutes later they were level again, as Steinberger ran onto a ball from Mechack Jérôme, beat his man to the end line, turned the corner and slid in a pass to Dixon, who buried the equalizer.

The eventual winner came in the 74th, when Scaglia poked in Burke’s header at the back post.

From there, they killed off clock, survived a few scoring threats and even launched a few of their own, most notably Dixon’s breakaway attempt that Miami’s Daniel Vega had to come out of net to stop.

Coming in, Jacksonville had been 0-1-20 all-time when trailing after 60 minutes.

“I think it says a lot about the job Mark and [technical director Nathan Walter] have done that the guys found the energy in the second half to find a way to win that game,” Ruthven said.

They’ll have to re-energize again for a long road trip this weekend, when they travel to face FC Edmonton at 4 p.m. on Sunday. After that, they’ll come back to host the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the season finale at 4 p.m. on Oct. 30.

Match Report

Starting XI:

JAX (4-2-3-1): Gallardo, Burke, Ruthven, Jerome, Johnson, George, Maripuu (Scaglia 45’), Steinberger, Eloundou (Bahner 81’), Wallace

MIA (3-4-1-2): Borrajo (Steele 83’), Vega, Trafford, Martinez (Rennella 63’), Chavez, Poku, Freeman, Bernstein, Ryan, Rezende, Smith (Farfan 45’)

Scoring Summary:

JAX: Eloundou (Steinberger) 1’

MIA: Martinez (Poku) 27’

MIA: Farfan (Borrajo) 65’

JAX: Dixon (Steinberger) 69’

JAX: Scaglia (Burke) 74’

Discipline:

MIA: Ryan (caution) 12’

JAX: George (caution) 23’

MIA: Chavez (caution) 60’

MIA: Poku (caution) 88’

MIA: Farfan (caution) 90’

MIA: Poku (ejection) 90+2

MIA: Borrajo (caution) 90+3

Attendance:

1,608