NASL Jacksonville Armada FC

Armada Will Try to Duplicate Previous Success against Cosmos on Saturday

Published on September 10, 2015 under North American Soccer League (NASL)
Jacksonville Armada FC News Release


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville Armada FC will head back to the Empire State this Saturday when it takes on the North American Soccer League Spring Season Champions, the New York Cosmos, for a 7 p.m. ET showdown at Shuart Stadium.

The Armada, who are still looking for their first road victory of 2015, is coming off a 3-0 loss at Indy Eleven last Saturday. Although Jacksonville dominated possession (59-41), it fell victim once again to the counterattack, and once Indy took a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute, it "parked the bus" and made it difficult for the Armada to get any clear looks at the goal. Goalkeeper David Sierra had several impressive saves, finishing with six total, despite the final score.

The Cosmos are coming off just their second NASL loss of 2015 after dropping a 2-0 road contest to the Tampa Bay Rowdies last Saturday. The loss also snapped the Cosmos' eight-match unbeaten streak. In the 41st minute, New York thought it would have a penalty kick when Raúl went down in the box after appearing to be clipped by Rowdies goalkeeper Matt Pickens, but Raúl was booked for embellishment. The Cosmos also had a good look in the 34th minute when Marcos Senna hit Raúl with a cross-field pass, who sent a touch to Sebastian Guenzatti in the box, but Guenzatti had his 14-yard shot deflect out for a corner kick.

Even though the rest of the NASL has had a tough time figuring out the Cosmos, the Armada have somehow figured out the answer to the riddle. Jacksonville took down New York 1-0 at Community First Park on July 18, getting a tap-in goal from Tommy Krizanovic in the 49th minute off a header from Jaime Castrillon. In New York on June 13, the Armada played to a 3-3 draw with the Cosmos to cap off the Spring Season. Pascal Millien was responsible for all three Jacksonville goals, scoring in the 59th and 73rd minutes and assisting on Joseph Toby's 89th minute strike. It was Toby's first goal as a professional player.

Below is a breakdown of each team and the match.

WHEN & WHERE

Saturday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. ET | Shuart Stadium

THE TEAMS

Jacksonville Armada FC (3W-2D-6L, 11 pts., 10th NASL Fall; 6-5-10, 23 pts., 10th NASL Combined)

New York Cosmos (5W-4D-2L, 19 pts., 3rd in NASL Fall; 10-9-2, 39 pts., 1 st NASL Combined)

SERIES HISTORY

Jacksonville leads, 1-1-0

LAST RESULT

Armada FC 1, Cosmos 0 - 7/18/15 in Jacksonville | Recap | Video Highlights

WATCH

- CW17 in Jacksonville | Cole Pepper - PXP, Bob Veal - Color and Krissty Andaur - Sideline

LISTEN

- Live stream on

sportsradiojax.iheart.com | Stuart Webber - PXP and David Hayes - Color

- Also streamed live on iHeart app

READ

- Live Twitter updates on @ArmadaFCgameday - #NYCvJAX

- Live stats on ArmadaFC.com

WHAT'S AT STAKE

As the season starts to inch closer to the end, Jacksonville will need to figure out how to get points on the road to stay in the NASL Championship race. With 23 points in the Combined Standings, the Armada are currently two wins and a draw behind the Tampa Bay Rowdies, which currently has a hold on the fourth playoff spot.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Jacksonville: Pascal Millien, who is returning from international duty after helping lead Haiti to a 6-1 two-leg aggregate win over Grenada last week, will be a welcome addition back in the lineup. Millien's two-goal effort in New York on June 13 helped him finish the Spring Season as Jacksonville's leading goal scorer. The Armada are 4-5-5 (17 pts.) and are averaging 1.42 goals per match when Millien starts compared to a 2-0-5 record (6 pts.) and 0.71 goals per match average when he doesn't.

New York: With all of the notable talent in the midfield and frontline, it might be easy to overlook Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer. However, his stats and record would tell you not to. Maurer is second in the league in saves (56) and GAA (1.00) and holds the best record among all 'keepers.

NOTABLES

The Armada are the only team in the NASL this season that hold a season series advantage over the Cosmos (1-1-0). The only other team that comes close is the Rowdies, who with their 2-0 win last Saturday over New York, is the only other NASL to defeat the Cosmos this season.

Jacksonville is the only NASL team to have not lost to the Cosmos in New York this year. The Armada's three goals scored on June 13 were the most allowed by the Cosmos at home in an NASL match since their 3-1 loss to the San Antonio Scorpions on July 12, 2014.

Dating back to the 42nd second minute against Atlanta on Aug. 15, the Armada are currently on a 318-minute scoreless streak and are on a three-game scoreless drought for the third time this season (including the 3-0 U.S. Open Cup loss to Richmond on May 27. Jacksonville's longest scoreless streak is 335 minutes.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Armada will hit the road again to take on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday in a Coastal Cup battle. The match will be shown at 11 p.m. ET on CW17 in Jacksonville on "Armada Extra Time" and will be broadcast live on Sports Radio 930-AM in Jacksonville as well as streamed on sportsradiojax.iheart.com and on the iHeart app.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



North American Soccer League Stories from September 10, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central