PREVIEW: Lowry Leads Fleet Into Battle For First Time Saturday At Ottawa

Armada FC Public Relations | Aug. 11, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Saturday will be a fresh start for the Jacksonville Armada as interim head coach Mark Lowry leads his fleet into battle for the first time at 5 p.m. against Ottawa Fury FC on the road.

Lowry, previously an assistant coach for the Armada, was named the interim coach after former coach Tony Meola and the club parted ways on Sunday. No stranger to a coaching transition, he came to Jacksonville last season from Orlando City SC to serve as an assistant for former interim head coach Eric Dade for the final seven games.

Joined by assistant coaches Pat Cannon and Daryl Sattler, who are making the move up from the Armada U-23 team (Cannon was the head coach, while Sattler coached the goalkeepers), Lowry has taken over a side that recently snapped a five-match losing skid last Saturday in a 2-2 draw with the Carolina RailHawks in Jacksonville.

Forward Charles Eloundou, who was named Farah & Farah Man of the Match and earned NASL Team of the Week honors for his performance, found the back of the net twice for the first two goals of his NASL career.

It was the first multiple-goal effort by an Armada player since Aug. 8, 2015, when Alhassane Keita scored twice against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

After falling behind on a goal by former Armada striker Matt Fondy in the sixth minute, Eloundou put Jacksonville up 2-1 with his strikes in the 19th and 50th minute on assists from Lucas Scaglia and Alex Andersson, respectively. It looked as though the Armada might be able to hold on to the lead, which would have been the first time in club history Jacksonville won after the opposition scored first. It was not to be.

Former Liga MX star Omar Bravo went unmarked and connected on a header off a Steven Miller cross for the equalizer in the 68th minute. Despite gaining a man advantage in the 70th when Carolina's Austin da Luz was shown a second yellow card, the Armada could not retake the lead and had to settle for the draw.

Ottawa fell 1-0 last Saturday in Indianapolis on a second-half stoppage time goal to Indy Eleven, which defeated the Armada 5-2 last Wednesday, Aug. 3. After a defensive stalemate between the sides through 90 minutes, Indy's Don Smart netted the winner in the 92nd on a cross from Dylan Mares. The result snapped Fury FC's three-match winning streak and ended their shutout streak at 368 minutes.

In Ottawa and Jacksonville's last meeting on July 23, Fury FC was able to take advantage of prime chances in a 2-0 win despite the Armada's 57-43 percent possession advantage. Jacksonville also outshot Ottawa 14-9. Thomas Stewart and Carl Haworth found the back of the net for Fury FC.

Below is a breakdown of the teams and the matchup.

WHEN & WHERE
Saturday, Aug. 13 at 5 p.m. ET | TD Place Stadium
Buy Tickets | Weather

THE TEAMS
Jacksonville Armada (1W-2D-5L, 5 pts., 11th NASL Fall, 2W-6D-10L, 12 pts., 11th NASL Combined)
Ottawa Fury FC (3W-0D-4L, 9 pts., 7th NASL Fall, 5W-3D-9L, 18 pts., 10th NASL Combined)

THE COACHES
Jacksonville Armada – Mark Lowry, 1st season
Ottawa Fury FC – Paul Dalglish, 1st season

SERIES HISTORY
Ottawa leads, 4-1-0

LAST RESULT 
Fury FC 2, Armada 0 - 7/23/16 in Jacksonville, Fla. | Recap | Final Stats

CLUB QUICK LINKS
Armada: News | Roster | Schedule | Season Stats
Fury FC: News | Roster | Schedule | Season Stats

WATCH
- CW17 in Jacksonville – Cole Pepper – PXP and Andy Kidd – Color
- ESPN3 Nationally

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

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

POTENT NOTABLES
- Jacksonville has gone with 16 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).

- The Armada's two goals in each of its last two matches is the team's first back-to-back multiple goal effort since falling 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Aug. 8, 2015, and following it up with a 3-0 win over the Carolina RailHawks on Aug. 12, 2015.

- Interim head coach Mark Lowry will hope to follow in the steps of his former boss Eric Dade, who won in his first outing as interim coach with a 2-0 showing against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Sept. 26, 2015, in Jacksonville. The match was defender Mechack Jerome's debut, who signed the day before from USL side Charlotte Independence.

- Lowry's first test will be on the road, which has not been kind to the Armada. Jacksonville has yet to record a regular season road win in its existence, a winless streak that stands at an NASL record 25 games (the Armada did come 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). His squad will also have to play on artificial turf, a surface that has handed the Armada an 0-3-9 all-time record.

- It will be the first time the Armada and Fury FC face each other on a Saturday in Ottawa. The previous two meetings at TD Place Stadium have been on a Sunday.

BY THE NUMBERS
0 – The number of all-time wins for the Armada after settling for a draw in its previous game.

1 – The number of goals the Armada has scored on Fury FC in the all-time series.

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

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

692 – 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 out indefinitely. He is currently rehabbing the injury and could return to training within the next two weeks.

- Midfielder/forward Junior Sandoval is currently sidelined for another week with a right calf injury.

CLUB CONNECTIONS
Ottawa defender Rich Balchan and Armada midfielder Kevan George played together at MLS side Columbus Crew in 2012 ... Ottawa defender Eddie Edward and Armada defender Anthony Wallace played a season together with FC Dallas in 2010 ... Ottawa defender Onua Obasi and Armada forward Alex Dixon were teammates at USL side Rochester Rhinos in 2014 and 2015 ... Obasi, Dixon and Ottawa midfielder Lance Rozeboom played together on Rochester in 2014 ... Ottawa midfielder Mozzi Gyorio and Dixon trained together at the Houston Dynamo Youth Academy in 2007-08, where they were coached by Ottawa head coach Paul Dalglish ... Gyorio and Armada midfielder Pascal Millien were teammates at FC Tampa Bay (now Tampa Bay Rowdies) in 2011, where they were coached by Dalglish ... Ottawa defender Kyle Porter, Ottawa midfielder Julian de Guzman (most capped player in Canadian history) and Armada defender Karl Ouimette played together on the Canadian national team from 2013-15 ... Ouimette also played with Ottawa defender Mallan Roberts on the Canadian national team in a World Cup Qualifier against Dominica on June 17, 2015 ... Ouimette and de Guzman also were also on the Canadian national team roster in a World Cup Qualifier against Honduras on Nov. 14, 2015 ... Ouimette, de Guzman and Ottawa midfielder Jamar Dixon also were also on the Canadian national team roster in an international friendly against the USMNT on Feb. 6, 2016 ... Ouimette, Armada defender Mechack Jerome and Ottawa midfielder Maxime Tissot were teammates at MLS side Montreal Impact in 2013 and 2014 ... Ottawa forward Dennis Chin, Armada goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo and Armada Jerome played together at Orlando City SC (USL) from 2011-12, winning a league title and regular season championship ... Chin, Gallardo and Armada defender Bryan Burke also played together for the Lions from 2013-14, winning a league title and regular season title ... Chin and Armada defender Tyler Ruthven played together at Arizona United SC (USL) in 2015.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Armada will return home on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. fixture with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in a Coastal Cup battle. It will be "Wet Your Whistle Wednesday" at Community First Park, where fans can buy select beers in various locations for $1. It will also be Business Night, where local business will be highlighted. Tickets, starting at $11, can be purchased by calling 1.844.2.ARMADA or visiting armadafc.com/tickets.