JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Armada are Gulf Coast Sunshine Conference Champions after a hard-fought 2-0 win over Naples United FC on Saturday night at Edward Waters University.
The win advances the Fleet to regional play, where they will host the Lubbock Matadors on Wednesday night in the South region semifinal.
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Saturday’s conference final was physical from the outset, and by the end of the night, 15 yellow cards would be issued and 3 red cards, forcing Naples United FC to play with just 8 men on the field by the final whistle.
The first of those red cards came in the 90th minute with the match still scoreless and headed for extra time as Diego Luengo earned a second yellow card and the ensuing red to end his night.
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Both goalkeepers kept the clean sheet in regulation, with Jacksonville’s Andy Dunn and Naples’ Joshua Burton making a number of saves throughout the evening, leading to a 30-minute added extra time period.
Eight minutes into that extra time, the second red card would be handed out to Naples as captain Pablo Marisi was given a yellow card for dissent, his second of the evening, and suddenly, Jacksonville had a two-man advantage.
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They would take advantage of that in the 110th minute when Sebastian Zettl found Xavi Csato in front of the net, and the talented forward made no mistake putting it into the back of the net to break the deadlock.
Another red card for Naples was issued to Maximo Furione a few minutes later, and the Armada set the final margin with a goal in the 120th minute from Mac Msabaha, his first of the season, to seal the deal.
Now the Boys in Blue return to Nathaniel Glover Community Field and Stadium on Wednesday night and need your support as they host Lone Star Conference champions Lubbock for the right to go to Hickory, NC on Saturday and play for a South region title. That match will be a 7 pm start and streams live on ActionSportsJax.com if you can’t make it out to EWU.
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