North Carolina FC took on the Jacksonville Armada for the final time this regular season on Friday night and emerged with an important road point to help their push into the 2017 NASL Playoffs. NCFC was on a bit of a hot streak coming into the match, but the Armada needed points themselves. Let’s break down what happened.

The Boys were in white on Friday and while they were on a mission to get three points, one would do.

The first half was divided in two parts. The first part, the Armada had control and attacked early and often. The NCFC defense looked a little slow to stop them and gave the Armada too many chances. One of those chances led to them giving up a tough goal. Goalkeeper Macklin Robinson played great, but Zach Steinberger was in the right place at the right time to put Jacksonville in the lead, 1–0.

After the goal from Jacksonville, North Carolina FC knew it was time to turn up the intensity and get back into the game. They started to control the ball more and maintain the possession, and the Armada seemed to sit back a bit.

Nazmi Albadawi did a great job of creating a chance to score in the 36 minute. The Dead Whales took the ball down the field and a pic-in-roll type pass from Miller to Fortune to Albadawi opened up a pass to Renan Gorne who scored his sixth goal of the season.

The second half felt like more defense from NCFC. The Armada took advantage of sloppy play in the 62nd minute, but Jacksonville was unable to finish deep in the box.

North Carolina FC would’ve loved to walk away from this match with three points but are definitely happy with one. The defense struggled a little bit against a tough Armada side, but they were able to get the job done.

Props to the Oak City Supporters who made the trip to Jacksonville and then headed on to Orlando for the NWSL Championship match. Listening to the ESPN coverage, you could loudly hear the fans who helped the boys get a point.

North Carolina FC returns home this Saturday to take on the first-place San Francisco Deltas at Sahlen’s Stadium. The week after that, a trip to Indy to face the 3–3–8 Eleven should be a win… so if they can beat the Deltas, the playoffs are nearly secured.

While the Fall Season title isn’t completely out of reach with two games remaining, the team’s better chance comes in the combined standings. A top four finish there this season will likely secure a spot in the 2017 NASL Playoffs, and a win against San Francisco would do it.

Let’s pack WMSP and support the boys in their regular season home finale.