PREVIEW: Armada Set to Challenge Cosmos for First Place on Wednesday Night in New York

Armada FC Public Relations | July 12, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Wednesday night's battle on Long Island between the Jacksonville Armada and New York Cosmos presents the first high-stakes contest of the North American Soccer League Fall Season.

The winner of the game will be in first place on the Fall table. And for the Armada, even a draw will help as it will give the squad a one-point advantage over three other teams for second place.

Both New York and Jacksonville are coming off wins in their fixtures last Saturday. The Armada's Jemal Johnson found the back of the net for the first time in nearly a year when he blasted home an Alex Dixon service in the ninth minute against expansion side Puerto Rico FC. Then roughly 10 minutes later, a stormed rolled through and caused a two-hour delay at Community First Park.

Despite the lull, Jacksonville kept its attacking spirit alive and took a 2-0 lead when Johnson fed Dixon for the score. The Armada was able to hold firm, dominating possession 57 to 43 percent, and helped keep pressure off its backline and goalkeeper Sean Lewis. It wasn't until the 78th minute when Puerto Rico's Hector Ramos took advantage of a missed clearance attempt and put his side on the board.
After the hiccup, the Armada clamped down and closed out the match for a 2-1 win and extend its club record five-match league unbeaten streak.

The Cosmos found their luck at the right time last Saturday night against Miami FC as forward Lucky Mkosana netted the game-winner off a Hunter Freeman corner in stoppage time to give New York 3-2 win in Miami. Mkosana put the Cosmos on the board first when he scored off a David Diosa assist in the 39th minute.

Both New York and Jacksonville met on April 10 at James M. Shuart Stadium, with the Cosmos coming out on top, 2-0, despite the Armada looking like the stronger side at times and holding a 10-0 advantage on corner kicks. Jairo Arrieta and Adam Moffatt found the back of the net for New York.

Below is a breakdown of the teams and the matchup.

WHEN & WHERE
Wednesday, July 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET | James M. Shuart Stadium
Buy Tickets | Weather

THE TEAMS
Jacksonville Armada FC (1W-1D, 0L, 4 pts., 2nd NASL Fall, 2W-5D-5L, 11 pts., 9th NASL Combined)
New York Cosmos (2W-0D-0L, 6 pts., 1st NASL Fall, 8W-0D-4L, 24 pts., 1st NASL Combined)

THE COACHES
Jacksonville Armada FC – Tony Meola, 1st season
New York Cosmos – Giovanni Savarese, 4th season

SERIES HISTORY
New York leads, 2-1-1

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

WATCH
- ONE World Sports nationally – JP Dellacamera – PXP and Janusz Michallik – Color
- oneworldsports.com
- Armada Extra Time (11 p.m. ET on CW17) in Jacksonville – Cole Pepper – PXP and Mauricio Ruiz – Color

LISTEN
- Live on Project 106.9-FM in Jacksonville | Cole Pepper – PXP and Mauricio Ruiz – Color
- Also streamed live on iHeart app or project1069.iheart.com

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

POTENT NOTABLES

- Jacksonville has gone with 11 different lineups this season and has had the same back-to-back starting 11 just once (June 4 at Carolina, June 11 vs. Tampa Bay). Alex Dixon earned just his second start of the season last Saturday against Puerto Rico FC and his first since the Armada's Spring opener at the Cosmos on April 10. It was the first time this season he was featured at center forward.

- Last Saturday's two goal effort was just the second this season in league play (last vs. Miami FC on April 15). It was the first time this year in league play the Armada has notched two assists in a match. With Jemal Johnson and Dixon having a goal and assist each, it was the first time in club history where two different players were responsible for all goals scored in a game.

- Jacksonville has yet to record a road win in its existence. Its winless streak away from Jacksonville stands at 20 games. However, the Armada came close to getting that monkey off its back this season against Fort Lauderdale on April 23 and Tampa Bay on July 2. Jacksonville scored first in both contests before settling for draws.

- After a 10th-place finish in the NASL Spring Season standings, the Armada got busy with tweaking the roster. Jacksonville has added five new players – Alexander Andersson, Nicklas Maripuu, Karl Ouimette, Jason Plumhoff 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 and traded defender Shawn Nicklaw to FC Edmonton for Plumhoff.

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.

Plumhoff, an attacking midfielder, played six games for FC Edmonton and scored a goal before being traded. A former product of the Bayern Munich youth system, he led the Harrisburg City Islanders (USL) with 10 goals in 2015.

- Jacksonville's current five-game league unbeaten streak is the longest in club history. During that frame, the Armada has had a shot accuracy percentage clip of at least 50 percent in four of the five contests (best showing was 60 percent against Indy Eleven on May 28). In the eight prior league games, Jacksonville registered at least 50 percent just twice – vs. Miami FC on April 15 and at Minnesota on May 14.

BY THE NUMBERS

22 – The number of bookings for the Armada through 12 matches (21 yellows, 1 red), which is third-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).

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

146 – The number of total shots the Armada has taken this season, fourth-best in the NASL.

INJURY WATCH

- Many have been eagerly awaiting the debut of Finnish international Pekka Lagerblom since he went down with an Achilles injury in the preseason. Though he has been training with the team and participating in scrimmages since June, the technical staff does not want to push the 33-year-old midfielder until he is fully ready.

- Forward Alhassane Keita is out with a hamstring injury.

CLUB CONNECTIONS
Armada FC head coach and technical director Tony Meola and assistant coach Jim Rooney played with Cosmos head coach/sporting director Giovanni Savarese at the Long Island Rough Riders in 1995 ... Meola and Savarese also played together on MLS side New York/New Jersey Metrostars (now New York Red Bulls) from 1996-98 ... Savarese and Rooney also played together on the Rough Riders in 1994 ... Armada goalkeepers coach Sal Rosamilia, a childhood friend of Meola, was a player and assistant coach for Columbia University ... Armada midfielder Junior Sandoval and defender Tyler Ruthven played with Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer on the now defunct NASL side Atlanta Silverbacks in 2011 ... Cosmos defender Carlos Mendes and Meola were teammates on the Red Bulls in 2005 and 2006 ... Armada defender Matt Bahner and Cosmos forward Lucky Mkosana played together for the USL's Harrisburg City Islanders in 2013 ... Armada forward Jemal Johnson played for the Cosmos in 2013-14 ... Ruthven (New York Red Bulls), Karl Ouimette (New York Red Bulls), Anthony Wallace (New York Red Bulls) and Nicolas Perea (Syracuse University also have ties to New York.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Armada will end its busy week with an 8 p.m. Coastal Cup battle at Miami FC on Saturday.