PREVIEW: State Pride On Line In Tonight's Battle With Orlando City

Armada FC Public Relations | Feb. 13, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Saturday night will be an historic event for soccer in Florida as the Jacksonville Armada FC will take on Major League Soccer’s Orlando City SC for the first time ever. The match will take place at Community First Park at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville and kicks off at 6 p.m.

Although technically not an official rivalry as the teams have not met on the pitch yet, the anticipation has been building between the sides over the past couple of weeks, particularly with the supporters groups and their banter on social media. The passion will be evident both on the field and in the stands in the Sunshine State battle.

The Armada will hope to keep its stout defensive prowess going this week after a rain-soaked 1-0 win over MLS side Philadelphia Union last Saturday in Jacksonville. Each team held its ground for most of the match until trialist Charles Eloundou connected on a one-time pass from Akeil Barrett and sent it over the Union goalkeeper’s head for the goal. Armada goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo was named Farah & Farah Man of the Match, and the effort was supported well by Jacksonville’s backline of Tyler Ruthven, Beto Navarro and Mechack Jerome.

Orlando City is opening its preseason on Saturday night, and it will look to get off to a solid start after missing the MLS Playoffs last year in the club’s inaugural season in the league. The Lions finished seventh in the Eastern Conference and five points behind Toronto FC for the final spot.

Below is a breakdown of each team and the match.

WHEN & WHERE
Saturday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. ET | Community First Park
Buy Tickets | Weather

THE TEAMS
Jacksonville Armada FC (8W-7D-15L, 31 pts., 11th NASL Combined in 2015; 1-0-0 preseason in 2016)
Orlando City SC (12W-8D-14L, 44 pts., 7th MLS Eastern Conference in 2015)

SERIES HISTORY
First meeting

CLUB QUICK LINKS
Armada FC: News | Roster | Schedule
Orlando City SC: News | Roster | Schedule

WATCH
- CW17 – Cole Pepper – PXP, Andy Kidd – Color and Ashlea Bullington – Sideline

LISTEN
- Live on Project 106.9-FM | Kent Justice – PXP and Bob Veal – Color
- Also streamed live on iHeart app and project1069.iheart.com

READ
- Live Twitter updates on @ArmadaFCgameday – #JAXvOCSC
- Live stats on ArmadaFC.com

LOOKING AHEAD
The Armada will return to action at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27 as it hosts 2015 MLS Supporters Shield winners, the New York Red Bulls. Tickets, starting at $10, can be purchased by calling 1.844.2.ARMADA or visiting armadafc.com.