Armada Victorious Over Rowdies, 2-0, In Dade's Debut

Mike McCall, ArmadaFC.com | Sept. 26, 2015

Final Stats

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Was it the coaching change? The new formation and more balanced approach? Or perhaps the addition of an experienced, poised defender?

Or maybe it was none of that — just a product of playing at home.

Who cares why, this feels good.

That much was evident as winger Pascal Millien went back-flipping toward a portion of the 7,163 fans at Community First Park on Saturday night, celebrating his goal that sealed a 2-0 win over the rival Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Three-game losing streak over. Off-field drama brushed aside after seeing the general manager and coaches dismissed midweek. And, thanks to Lucas Scaglia’s opener in the 34^th, a 531-minute scoring drought laid to rest.

“Tonight is a special night for us,” said Millien, who was named the Farah & Farah Man of the Match for his goal and assisting on Scaglia’s. “After a tough time changing coaching staffs, and we haven’t won for like four games now, to come home and get a win — tonight it’s about the team and the club.”

And it’s also about interim coach Eric Dade, even if the former pro player and Armada FC Director of Player Development was eager to keep the focus off himself afterward.

He made a point to say he didn’t plan on blowing up the system prepared by his predecessor, Guillermo Hoyos, but there were clearly tweaks made since Dade took over on Tuesday.

He deployed a new-look 4-2-3-1 formation to match the team’s fresh jerseys — red and tangerine kits honoring the NASL Golden Era Jacksonville Tea Men — a move to add some defensive structure to a team that had lost its previous three games by a combined 6-0.

For the first time all season, Scaglia had help in defensive midfield via Nicolas Perea, and while fullbacks Lucas Trejo and Shawn Nicklaw still helped in the attack, they honored their defensive duties more than usual.

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Then there was freshly-signed centerback Mechack Jérôme, a Haitian national teamer who put in a massive debut performance with key blocks and clearances alongside sharp passing all over the field.

“I’m a big fan of the last coaching regime, and they really pushed for an attacking style of soccer,” Dade said. “What you find is that Tampa is a very good team, and if you don’t defend first, you don’t give yourself that opportunity to (win). Do we just want to defend and not go forward? No. We have some special three players up front … and we wanted those guys to go out and win the game for us.”

And they did — Millien in particular.

Nicklaw sprung the first goal by heroically holding off two Rowdies in the corner, then finding Millien, who slid a pass that Scaglia one-timed into the left side of the goal with a low, curling effort that beat Pickens for his first NASL goal.

The rest of the first half was the Armada trying to fend off an equalizer, as Gallardo had to muster a double save to deny Brian Shriver and Darnell King, who was a constant threat. Then, Gallardo stuffed Corey Hertzog after a sequence where the Rowdies seemingly passed with impunity throughout the box.

“It was just a reaction,” Gallardo said of his double save. “I’m 30 years old, but I felt like I was 21 again. … If you ask me to do it off the field I can’t even move. It must be all the adrenaline, and that means that I still love the game.”

(Some added adrenaline: Dade said afterward that he didn’t plan to rotate Gallardo and David Sierra in goal as Hoyos had, and he hinted that Gallardo would remain the starter.)

That was the worst of the attacks that Jacksonville had to weather, as the second half was much quieter, save for Jérôme’s free kick that Pickens had to dive to deny in the 54^th, the right-footed shot Millien cut back across Pickens and into the net in the 74^th, some late scoring chances for Keita and Akeil Barrett, and big name substitutions (Freddy Adu for Tampa Bay and Marcos Flores for Jacksonville).

In all, it was a controlled, impressive win against a tough rival. And even though the Armada (4W-2D-8L NASL Fall, 7-5-12 Combined) are all but mathematically eliminated from the NASL Playoffs, there’s still plenty to play for.

For one, they’ll be looking to stretch their home unbeaten streak to eight when they host the Indy Eleven next Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“It’d be nice to see the guys go on a run,” Dade said. “I think the fans of Jacksonville have been great and the organization has been great. It would be nice to see us go ahead and make a run at it and see how many points we can get out of it.”

Tickets to next Saturday's match, starting at $12, can be purchased by calling 1.844.2.ARMADA or by visiting armadafc.com.

NASL Fall Season
Armada FC 2, Rowdies 0
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015
Community First Park – Jacksonville, Fla.

Attendance: 7,163

Scoring Summary:
JAX – Lucas Scaglia (Pascal Millien), 34’
JAX – Pascal Millien, 74’

Discipline Summary:
TBR – Marcelo Saragosa (caution), 78'

Armada FC Lineup (4-2-3-1): Miguel Gallardo (GK), Lucas Trejo, Matt Bahner, Mechack Jerome, Shawn Nicklaw, Lucas Scaglia, Nicolas Perea, Jaime Castrillon (Akeil Barrett, 68’), Jemal Johnson (Marcos Flores, 80’), Pascal Millien (Tommy Krizanovic, 89’), Alhassane Keita

Unused Armada FC Subs: David Sierra (GK), Nurdin Hrustic, Fabricio Ortiz, Bochy Hoyos

Rowdies Lineup (4-4-2): Matt Pickens (GK), Ben Sweat (Freddy Adu, 77’), Tamika Mkandawire, Gale Agbossoumonde, Rich Balchan, Corey Hertzog (Long Tan, 63’), Juan Guerra (Richard Menjivar, 77’), Marcelo Saragosa, Darnell King, Brian Shriver, Georgi Hristov

Unused Rowdies Subs: Kamil ÄŒontofalský, Stefan Antonijevic, Martin Núñez, Robert Hernández