PREVIEW: Coastal Cup Clash in Fort Lauderdale Up Next for Armada

Armada FC Public Relations | July 28, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Armada will head to South Florida for another Coastal Cup battle with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at 7 p.m. this Saturday at Lockhart Stadium.

Jacksonville is coming off a 2-0 loss to Ottawa Fury FC last Saturday at Community First Park. Ottawa's Thomas Stewart and Carl Haworth found the back of the net in the 37th and 60th minutes, respectively, and were assisted by Bryan Olivera on each score.

The Armada was not without its chances, led by new Swedish acquisition Alex Andersson, who nearly scored twice in the first 10 minutes. Fellow Swede Nicklas Maripuu shined for the Armada in his debut, earning Farah and Farah Man of the Match, while Finnish captain Pekka Lagerblom made his regular season debut and had a solid first half of action.

Fort Lauderdale fell 3-1 at the hands of Minnesota United FC last Saturday at NSC Stadium in Blaine, Minn. United scored twice within the first 25 minutes for a firm grasp of control. Paulo Jr. scored in the 54th minute off a Bryan Arguez through ball and the Strikers did hold an advantage in shots (10-7), but they were not able to overcome the deficit.

In the sides' last meeting on April 23 in Fort Lauderdale, the Armada looked as if it would earn its first road victory in club history.

Jacksonville defender Matt Bahner scored on a header in the 16th minute, and after Striker captain Jean-Marc Alexandre was sent off in the 55th minute for being shown a second yellow card, it seemed as if things would be smooth sailing for the Armada.

Despite the man advantage, it was not to be, however, as the Strikers' Maicon Santos found an opening from a Jose Angulo cross and headed it past a diving Miguel Gallardo in the 74th. Jacksonville had a furious attacking rally in the final minutes of the contest but could not break through and had to settle for the draw.

Below is a breakdown of the teams and the matchup.

WHEN & WHERE
Saturday, July 30 at 7 p.m. ET | Lockhart Stadium
Buy Tickets | Weather

THE TEAMS
Jacksonville Armada (1W-1D-3L, 4 pts., 11th NASL Fall, 2W-5D-8L, 11 pts., 11th NASL Combined)
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (0W-1D-4L, 1 pt., 12th NASL Fall, 4W-4D-7L, 16 pts., 8th NASL Combined)

THE COACHES
Jacksonville Armada – Tony Meola, 1st season
Fort Lauderdale Strikers – Caio Zanardi, 1st season

SERIES HISTORY
Fort Lauderdale leads, 3-1-0

LAST RESULT 
Strikers 1, Armada 1 - 4/23/16 in Fort Lauderdale | Recap | Final Stats

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

WATCH
 - CW17 in Jacksonville – Cole Pepper – PXP and David Hayes – Color
- ESPN3 Nationally

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

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

POTENT NOTABLES
- Jacksonville has gone with 13 different lineups this season and has had the same back-to-back starting 11 just twice (June 4 at Carolina, June 11 vs. Tampa Bay; July 11 vs. Puerto Rico FC, July 14 at New York Cosmos).

- Kevan George leads the NASL with 36 tackles. Junior Sandoval is fifth with 30. George's total accounts for 15 percent of the Armada's 234 tackles this season. George has also won 92 duels (63 percent success rate) and is the only Armada player to have completed more than 200 passes in the opposition's half of the field (225).

- Tyler Ruthven is one of four players with at least 10 blocks in league play this year. He ranks fourth in the NASL with 10 blocks.

BY THE NUMBERS
0 – The number of times the Armada has defeated the Strikers in four tries.
29 – The number of shots by Junior Sandoval, tied for fourth in the NASL.
73 – The number of clearances for defender Tyler Ruthven, currently tied for third in the NASL.
178 – The number of total shots the Armada has taken this season, tied for fifth-best in the NASL.

INJURY WATCH
- Forward Alhassane Keita participated in full in this week's training after being out the past couple of weeks with a hamstring injury.

- After going down with an elbow injury in the 21st minute against the New York Cosmos on July 14, Alex Dixon is out approximately six weeks.

- Defender Matt Bahner is currently sidelined with a bone bruise on his right ankle.

COASTAL CUP WATCH
The Armada stands in third on the Coastal Cup table behind the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Miami FC. The Rowdies win the goal differential tiebreaker, and Miami FC has a better road goal differential than the Armada.

The Strikers, winner of last year's competition, are 0-3-1 in Coastal Cup fixtures this season.

Established in 2010, the club with the most combined points from derby matches at the end of the NASL Fall Season will be awarded the Coastal Cup. Including Saturday's tilt with the Miami FC, the Armada will have five more chances to add to its first-place lead.

CLUB CONNECTIONS
Armada FC head coach and technical director Tony Meola was a goalkeeper for the Strikers in 1991 when Fort Lauderdale was a member of the APSL ... Meola shared the goal with former Jacksonville Tea Men 'keeper and fellow U.S. Soccer National Hall of Famer Arnie Mauser ... Armada assistant coach Jim Rooney was an assistant coach for the Strikers in 2011 ... Armada defender Patrick Otte played for the Strikers from 2011-12 ... Armada forward Jemal Johnson played for the Strikers for the NASL Spring Season in 2013 ... Armada midfielder Pascal Millien and defender Mechack Jérôme are teammates on the Haitian National Team with Strikers midfielder Jean-Marc Alexandre ... Armada forward Charles Eloundou and Strikers defender Gale Agbossoumonde were teammates with the Colorado Rapids in 2014 ... Armada goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo and Strikers midfielder Manny Gonzalez were teammates on the USL's first iteration of the Autin Aztex in 2009 ... Armada defender Tyler Ruthven and Strikers forward Jose Angulo were teammates on MLS's New York Red Bulls in 2012.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Armada will continue its road swing for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with Spring Season champion Indy Eleven on Wednesday.