PREVIEW: Armada Clashes With RailHawks on Saturday at Home

Armada FC Public Relations | Aug. 5, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Armada will return home on Saturday to host the Carolina RailHawks at 7 p.m.

The Armada is coming off a tough 5-2 loss to NASL Spring Season champion Indy Eleven on Wednesday night in Indianapolis. Forward Alhassane Keita found the back of the net for the first time in league play this season when he struck gold in the 33rd minute.

He almost tallied another strike in the 80th off a Matt Bahner cross, but Indy's Colin Falvey got a foot on it first and put it past goalkeeper Jon Busch for an own goal.

Carolina, winless in its last three, fell 1-0 to FC Edmonton last Sunday in Canada. After solid defense from both backlines and goalkeepers for the majority of the match, Edmonton broke through in the 67th minute on a Jake Keegan strike.

In Jacksonville and Carolina's last meeting on June 4 in Cary, N.C., the Armada had the majority of chances with six shots on goal compared to the RailHawks' two, but neither side was able to break through in a scoreless draw. Armada forward Danny Barrow was named Farah & Farah Man of the Match after a stellar night in which he created multiple chances and played with a solid pace.

Below is a breakdown of the teams and the matchup.

WHEN & WHERE
Saturday, Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. ET | Community First Park
Buy Tickets | Weather

THE TEAMS
Jacksonville Armada (1W-1D-5L, 4 pts., 12th NASL Fall, 2W-5D-10L, 11 pts., 11th NASL Combined)
Carolina RailHawks (2W-1D-3L, 7 pts., 8th NASL Fall, 6W-3D-7L, 21 pts., 7th NASL Combined)

THE COACHES
Jacksonville Armada – Tony Meola, 1st season
Carolina RailHawks – Colin Clarke, 4th season

SERIES HISTORY
Carolina leads, 2-1-1

LAST RESULT 
RailHawks 0, Armada 0 - 6/4/16 in Cary, N.C. | Recap | Final Stats

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

WATCH
- CW17 in Jacksonville – Cole Pepper – PXP, Mauricio Ruiz – Color and Amanda Borges – Sideline
- ESPN3 Nationally

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

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

POTENT NOTABLES
- With this week's Wednesday/Saturday slate, it is be the fourth time in 2016 (including the U.S. Open Cup third round affair with the Charleston Battery) the Armada has had to endure two games in a week. It will begin a stretch of five games in 18 days.

- Jacksonville has gone with 15 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).

- Though he has played in just seven contests, goalkeeper Sean Lewis already has 33 saves, which ranks eighth in the NASL. He set a club record with 10 saves at the Tampa Bay Rowdies on July 2 and notched nine saves at the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on July 30. His 4.7 saves per match is the best saves per match average in the NASL.

- Forward Alhassane Keita will be unavailable for the 18. He is serving a one-match suspension after being shown a red card in the final minutes of the Armada's match against Indy Eleven on Wednesday night.

BY THE NUMBERS
30 – The number of shots by Junior Sandoval, currently sixth in the NASL.

77 – The number of clearances for defender Tyler Ruthven, currently fourth in the NASL.

198 – The number of total shots the Armada has taken this season, currently third in the NASL.

639 - The number of total passes by midfielder Kevan George, which leads the team.

INJURY WATCH
- After going down with an elbow injury in the 21st minute against the New York Cosmos on July 14, Alex Dixon is indefinitely. He is expected to return to training in approximately three weeks.

- Midfielder/forward Junior Sandoval is currently sidelined for approximately two weeks with a right calf injury.

CLUB CONNECTIONS
RailHawks defender Drew Beckie and Armada midfielder Kevan George were both part of the Columbus Crew (MLS) organization in 2013 ... RailHawks midfielder Austin Da Luz was a teammate of Armada goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo and defender Mechack Jerome at Orlando City SC (USL) in 2011 ... RailHawks defender Kareem Moses and Armada midfielder Kevan George are teammates on the Trinidad and Tobago national team ... RailHawks forward Matt Fondy played eight games for the Armada in 2016 before being transferred to Carolina in June ... RailHawks forward Billy Schuler and Armada forward Alex Dixon were teammates with the University of North Carolina from 2008-10 ... RailHawks forward Brian Shriver was a teammate of Schuler's and Dixon's at UNC in 2008 ... Shriver and Armada defender Anthony Wallace both played for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 2014 ... RailHawks midfielder James Marcelin and Armada defender Mechack Jerome and midfielder Pascal Millien are teammates on the Haitian national team.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Armada will head north for a 5 p.m. road fixture next Saturday at Ottawa Fury FC.