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NASL Jacksonville Armada FC

Armada Hold Tough in 1-0 Loss to Cosmos

September 12, 2015 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Jacksonville Armada FC News Release


HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Even down a man for the majority of the second half, the Jacksonville Armada FC gave the North American Soccer League's best team, the New York Cosmos, all it could handle before falling 1-0 at Shuart Stadium on Saturday night.

Defender Shawn Nicklaw was named the Farah & Farah Man of the Match after a strong defensive effort, which aided goalkeeper David Sierra in his solid four save performance.

Playing in a steady stream of heavy rain and wind, the Armada (3W-2D-8L NASL Fall, 6-5-11 Combined) and Cosmos (6-4-2, 11-9-2) battled back and forth in an uneventful scoreless first half. The Cosmos had a 6-1 shot advantage in the first half, but only two of those were on goal and relatively easy saves for Sierra.

Jacksonville's one shot was the best scoring chance of either team in the half, and it came in the 35th minute when forward Pascal Millien took the ball at midfield and pushed it ahead to Shawn Nicklaw. Nicklaw brought it up to the right wing and curled a cross through the box for an open Tyler Williams, but Williams' shot was too strong and went high.

After more of the same in the first few minutes of the second half, the tables turned in the 52nd minute when defender Lucas Trejo was shown a red card after his foot accidentally kicked the face of Cosmos forward Lucky Mkosana when he was trying to corral a bouncing ball.

Then in the 74th minute, Raúl showed some of his legendary elusiveness when he took a feed from Walter Restrepo and shook a couple of Armada defenders in the box before putting it past Sierra to give New York a 1-0 advantage.

Despite being down a man, it didn't change Jacksonville's aggressive approach, and in the 77th minute, the Armada were awarded a free kick 25 yards away from New York's goal, and forward Alhassane Keita blasted it over the Cosmos wall, but it sailed just high over the crossbar.

Following that, the Cosmos sought to put the match out of reach and turned up the pressure a notch on the Armada. Midfielder Walter Restrepo took it on a breakaway in the 77th and tried to slide it into the bottom right of the goal, but his shot narrowly missed. Cosmos forward Gaston Cellerino had two other shots that were stopped the Armada in the 83rd and 90th minutes.

It was the first time the Armada fell to the Cosmos this season after playing to a 3-3 draw in New York on June 13 and winning 1-0 on July 18 in Jacksonville.

The Armada hit the road again to take on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday in a Coastal Cup battle.

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