PREVIEW: Fall Season Kicks Off With Coastal Cup Battle at Tampa Bay

Armada FC Public Relations | June 30, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Armada will begin the North American Soccer League Fall Season just as it ended the Spring with another Coastal Cup showdown with rivals, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

It will be the fifth meeting between the two teams in NASL action and the third at Al Lang Stadium. Tampa Bay won both of the previous two home games, 3-2.

Though the Armada stayed busy training during the NASL midseason break, it will be the first game action since a tough 1-0 loss to Orlando City SC on June 15 in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup.

The Armada ended its NASL Spring Season on June 11 in Jacksonville with a 1-1 draw with the Rowdies. Despite being a man down after defender Shawn Nicklaw was sent off in the 46th minute for a red card, Jacksonville did not let up on the attack. It seemed to pay off when Junior Sandoval's missile of a goal put the Armada up 1-0 in the 52nd minute.

Jacksonville continued to hold firm and make gutsy plays, but finally the disadvantage caught up with the Armada in the 84th minute when Tampa Bay's Junior Burgos found the back of the net.

The draw helped the Armada finish 10th in the Spring Season standings above Miami FC. Jacksonville has drawn in three straight league games.

Below is a breakdown of the teams and the matchup.

WHEN & WHERE
Saturday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET | Al Lang Stadium
Buy Tickets | Weather

THE TEAMS
Jacksonville Armada FC (1W-4D-5L, 7 pts., 10th NASL Spring)
Tampa Bay Rowdies (4W-4D-2L, 16 pts., 5th NASL Spring)

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

SERIES HISTORY
Tampa Bay leads, 2-1-1

LAST RESULT 
Armada 1, Rowdies 1 - 6/11/16 in Jacksonville, Fla. | Recap

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

WATCH
- CW17 in Jacksonville – Cole Pepper – PXP and Mauricio Ruiz – Color
- beIN Sports nationally

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

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

POTENT NOTABLES

- After a 10th-place finish in the NASL Spring Season standings, the Armada got busy with tweaking the roster. Jacksonville added four new players – Alexander Andersson, Nicklas Maripuu, Karl Ouimette and Zach Steinberger – all of whom are expected to help an attack that scored a league-low five goals in the Spring. The Armada also transferred forward Matt Fondy to the Carolina RailHawks.

Andersson, a striker, and Maripuu, a midfielder, both hail from Sweden and will join the club as soon as ITC clearance is granted. Ouimette (New York Red Bulls) and Steinberger (Houston Dynamo) are both on loan from their respective MLS clubs through the end of the NASL Fall Season.

- Jacksonville has scored 60% (3/5) of its goals from outside the box so far this season. No other NASL team has scored more than 29% of its goals from outside the box this year. The Armada has also conceded a league-leading three goals from outside the box (tied with three other teams).

- Sandoval has the most experience scoring against the Rowdies of anyone on the Armada roster, netting four total (three against Tampa Bay as a member of former NASL club, the Atlanta Silverbacks (two in 2014, one in 2011) and one with the Armada on June 11). 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.

- Jacksonville has only won once in its 10 league games, however, it has conceded multiple goals just twice in ten games, though the Armada has only scored twice in its last seven games.

BY THE NUMBERS

17 – The number of bookings for the Armada through 10 matches (16 yellows, 1 red), which is tied for the second-least in the league. Jacksonville led the NASL in 2015 for most yellow cards with 64 and finished with the second-most red cards (9).

126 – The number of total shots the Armada has taken this season, tied for second-best in the NASL. Of those total shots, 40 were on target, tied for third-most in the league.

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

62 – The number of duels won this year by Kevan George, third-best in the NASL.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Armada will host NASL expansion club Puerto Rico FC at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 9. It will be Armadaritaville at Community First Park, and fans are encouraged to wear their favorite island gear and will be able to enjoy tropical music all night at the stadium. The Armada FC is offering a special ticket deal for $16 in the Bow Terrace or $20 in the general admission bleachers that comes with a voucher for one free cocktail. To purchase Armada FC tickets, starting at $11 per match, visit armadafc.com/tickets or call 1.844.2.ARMADA.