Armada falls 1-0 in hard-fought loss to Strikers

Armada FC Public Relations | Nov. 1, 2015

Final Stats

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A storybook inaugural season may have come to a tough end for the Jacksonville Armada FC on Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 loss to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, but thing became apparent – the passion for soccer in Northeast Florida is here to stay and will only get stronger in time.

A boisterous crowd of 9,083 was announced at Community First Park, which was a new facility record for soccer. Add two other attendance records – 13,934 against the Philadelphia Union on Feb. 7 at EverBank Field to set a North American Soccer League preseason record and an NASL regular season record crowd of 16,134 on April 4 against FC Edmonton – also at EverBank Field – and you would be hard-pressed to find anyone to dispute that “the beautiful game” is on the rise on the First Coast.

Midfielder Lucas Scaglia, a scrappy, bulldoggish Argentinian that has been the Armada’s unsung hero all year, was named Farah & Farah Man of the Match after frustrating the Fort Lauderdale attack most of the night while also being active in feeding Armada forwards and getting a couple of looks at the goal himself. Goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo also had a solid three-save performance.

Fort Lauderdale’s (8W-6D-6L NASL Fall, 11W-8D-11L Combined) 87th minute goal by Marlon Freitas was aided by a lot of congestion around the goal, and Armada defenders backed off him for a split second. Erase that mishap, and on paper, it looked as though the Armada had a firm grip on the match.

Jacksonville (5-4-11, 8-8-14) dominated possession by a margin of 57-43 percent and also had an advantage in shots (10-7) and corners (6-3). Armada forward Alhassane Keita had two early looks in the fifth and 10th minutes right in front of the goal, but Strikers ’keeper David Meves put a stop to both attempts. In the 79th minute, Jacksonville was inches away from going up 1-0 when Akeil Barrett’s shot from a sliding Jemal Johnson cross want just wide of the goal.

The Strikers came into the match needing at least a draw to grab the final spot in The Championship, the NASL’s four-team postseason tournament, with Tampa Bay’s 2-0 loss to New York on Saturday. With its win, Fort Lauderdale will head to New York this Saturday to take on the top-seeded Cosmos in the semifinals.

Jacksonville will now go into the offseason to rest and plan for next season, which starts in February with a preseason friendly with Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union at Community First Park. Season tickets for 2016, starting at $10 per match, are on sale now and can be purchased by calling 1.844.2.ARMADA or visiting armadafc.com.

NASL Fall Season

Strikers 1, Armada FC 0

Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015

Community First Park – Jacksonville, Fla.

Attendance: 9,083 – New Community First Park record for soccer match

Scoring Summary

FTL – Marlon Freitas, 87’

Discipline Summary

FTL – Jonathan Barrajo (caution), 67’

FTL – Marlon Freitas (caution), 88’

FTL – Ivan Guerrero (caution), 90’

Armada FC Lineup (4-2-3-1): Miguel Gallardo (GK), Lucas Trejo, Matt Bahner, Mechack Jerome, Lucas Scaglia, Nicolas Perea (Bochy Hoyos, 90’), Jaime Castrillon (Akeil Barrett, 73’), Pascal Millien, Jemal Johnson (Marcos Flores, 81’), Alhassane Keita

Unused Armada FC Bench: David Sierra (GK), Tommy Krivanovic, Tyler Williams

Strikers Lineup (4-2-3-1): David Meves (GK), Ivan Guerrero, Frankie Sanfilippo, Jordan Graye, Jonathan Barrajo, Manny Gonzalez (Jose Angulo, 89’), Hendry Thomas, Walter Ramirez, Marlon Freitas, Dani Sanchez (Shawn Chin, 16’)(Bruno Nunes, 71’), Stefano Pinho

Unused Strikers Bench: Lionel Brown (GK), Karsten Smith, Christian Blandon, Daniel Navarro