Under the Wednesday night lights at Hodges Stadium, the Jacksonville Armada FC faced off against FC Edmonton in one of the bigger matches in recent history for the Armada FC. Playoff implications were high in the match, and Jacksonville needed a win to put the team ahead in the standings.
Unfortunately for the home team, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. The Armada FC is still in contention for the last seat to the NASL Championship Semifinals, but needs three points to jump ahead of the New York Cosmos and regain fourth place in the Combined Standings.
Fans voted goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell the Armada FC Man of the Match for his performance against FC Edmonton. He showed up in superman fashion and was forced to make four huge saves.
Edmonton applied pressure early to Patterson-Sewell. Just eight minutes into the match, Albert Watson launched a header toward the net and Patterson-Sewell sprung straight up to knock it over the crossbar.
He held strong again in the second half, even when faced with a one-on-one with Sainey Nyassi. A hard shot by the winger forced Patterson-Sewell to make a quick reaction save and kept the visitors off the board again.
Patterson-Sewell’s effort did save Jacksonville from a loss after saving two more good shots by Edmonton. Although the Eddies tucked away one goal to equalize the match in the 62nd minute, Jacksonville still walked away with one point that could make a difference these next two matches.
The Armada FC now looks to Sunday in a pivotal matchup with the New York Cosmos. The match might be the deciding factor in who will receive the last seat into the postseason tournament. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Hodges Stadium and is the last home match of the Fall Season for Jacksonville. Tickets are on sale now at ArmadaFC.com/single-match.