PREVIEW: Opportunities Await For Armada in Saturday's Coastal Cup Battle

Armada FC Public Relations | June 9, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Armada's North American Soccer League Spring Season finale at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Community First Park presents several major opportunities.

With a win, the Armada will defeat an arch rival and spoil said rival's chance at the Spring Season title, earn another three points in the Coastal Cup standings to increase their first-place lead and get a positive jolt of momentum heading into the Fall Season and next Wednesday's monumental U.S. Open Cup fourth-round showdown with in-state rival Orlando City SC at Jacksonville University's Southern Oak Stadium.

Jacksonville's arrow has certainly been pointing up lately, riding a wave of three straight positive results with a 1-1 draw against Indy Eleven on May 28, a thrilling 2-1 extra time win over USL side Charleston Battery on June 1 in the third round of the Open Cup and a scoreless draw on the road with a solid Carolina RailHawks squad last Saturday.

Armada goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo recorded Jacksonville's first clean sheet of the season and made three key saves while also stopping numerous dangerous crosses. Although it wasn't able to find the back of the net, the Armada had multiple scoring opportunities, a few which were orchestrated by NASL Team of the Week selection Danny Barrow.

The Rowdies will prove to be a formidable foe as they have won their last two league contests, including a 2-1 win over Ottawa last Saturday on the back of two Georgi Hristov goals. Hristov was named the NASL Player of the Week following his performance and Kalif Alhassan, who assisted on Hristov's first goal, was named to NASL Team of the Week. Joe Cole, former English National Teamer and Chelsea FC midfielder, assisted on the other score.

Though Tampa Bay holds a 2-0-1 series advantage, with both victories coming in St. Petersburg, the Armada bested the Rowdies in the most recent meeting on Sept. 26, 2015, last season in Jacksonville, 2-0. Pascal Millien accounted for both goals, assisting on Lucas Scaglia's 34th minute strike and scoring in the 74th.

Below is a breakdown of the teams and the matchup.

WHEN & WHERE
Saturday, June 11 at 4 p.m. ET | Community First Park
Buy Tickets | Weather

THE TEAMS
Jacksonville Armada FC (1W-3D-5L, 6 pts., 11th NASL Spring)
Tampa Bay Rowdies (4W-3D-2L, 15 pts., 3rd NASL Spring)

THE COACHES
Jacksonville Armada FC – Tony Meola, 1st season
Tampa Bay Rowdies – Stuart Campbell, 2nd season

SERIES HISTORY
Tampa Bay leads, 2-0-1

LAST RESULT 
Armada 2, Rowdies 0 - 9/26/15 in Jacksonville, Fla. | Recap | Video Highlights

CLUB QUICK LINKS
Armada: News | Roster | Schedule | Season Stats
Rowdies: News | Roster | Schedule | Season Stats

WATCH
- CW17 in Jacksonville – Cole Pepper – PXP, Mauricio Ruiz – Color and Lauren Brooks – Sideline
- ESPN3 nationally

LISTEN
- Live on Project 106.9-FM in Jacksonville | Stuart Webber – PXP and Lauren Brooks – Sideline
- Also streamed live on iHeart app or project1069.iheart.com

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

POTENT NOTABLES

- Jacksonville will be without starters Mechack Jerome (defender) and Pascal Millien (forward/midfielder), who are playing for the Haitian National Team in COPA America Centenario. The Armada will also be without injured defender Matt Bahner (concussion), goalkeeper Sebastian Evers (groin), midfielder Lucas Scaglia (knee) and midfielder Pekka Lagerblom (Achilles).

- Though the Armada has had trouble finding the back of the net in league matches with four total, when it has scored, it has been early. Three of the four goals have come in the 16-30th minute, which is best in the league.

- Junior Sandoval is thought of more as an attacking player, but he has made a significant impact on keeping the opposing side's attack at bay. In his 571 minutes played, Jacksonville is conceding an average of 0.6 goals per 90 minutes compared to an average of 1.9 goals conceded per 90 minutes in the 291 minutes without Sandoval.

- Sandoval has the most experience scoring against the Rowdies of anyone on the Armada roster, netting three against Tampa Bay as a member of former NASL club, the Atlanta Silverbacks (two in 2014, one in 2011). Alhassane Keita has scored the most goals against the Rowdies as a member of the Armada, finding the back of the net twice in Jacksonville's 3-2 loss on Aug. 8, 2015 in St. Petersburg.

- The Armada is on a seven-game winless streak in league play, however, it has conceded more than one goal in only one of those seven games. And Jacksonville has been quite active in the opponents' half, completing 1,575 passes on that side of the pitch this season, which the second-highest total in the NASL.

BY THE NUMBERS

15 – The number of yellow cards for the Armada through eight matches, which is second-least in the league for bookings. Jacksonville led the NASL in 2015 for most yellow cards with 64 and finished with the second-most red cards (9).

116 – The number of total shots the Armada has taken this season, second-best in the NASL. The Armada has had four players take 13 or more shots so far this season; no team in the league has had more different players take 13 or more shots.

49 – The number of clearances for defender Tyler Ruthven, currently third-best in the NASL.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Armada will host in-state rival and MLS side Orlando City SC at 7 p.m. next Wednesday in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Jacksonville University's Southern Oak Stadium. Tickets cost $15 for Armada FC season ticket members and $25 for the general public and can be purchased by calling 1.844.2.ARMADA or visiting armadafc.com/us-open-cup-tickets-. Tickets will also be available for purchase this Saturday at the Community First Park box office.