JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Armada FC will hit the road this Saturday for a crucial road fixture against Minnesota United FC at 8 p.m. EST Saturday at NSC Stadium in Blaine, Minn.
Currently on a three-match unbeaten streak, it will be the Armada FC's second-straight road match. Minnesota, affectionately referred to by its fans as the Loons, is returning home after a road match with Indy Eleven last weekend.
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For each club, every match from here on out is vital. With the Armada FC standing at 10 points and United FC standing at nine points in the NASL Spring Season table, respectively, each club controls its own destiny. If either team wins each remaining game on its schedule, it will win the NASL Spring Season title and bid to the Championship Playoff.
The New York Cosmos are in first with 15 points but still have to play both the Armada FC and United. Jacksonville and New York meet on June 13 in the final NASL Spring regular season contest for each club, and a couple of scenarios exist in which it could turn out to be the de facto Spring Season championship match. The simplest scenario would be in which both the Armada FC and Cosmos win each of their remaining NASL matches heading into the finale (three for Jacksonville, two for New York).
Although the Armada FC hasn't yet won on the road, they were able to come away with a point from last Saturday's 1-1 road draw with the Atlanta Silverbacks and had a few opportunities to grab the win. After Jacksonville allowed a quick goal to Atlanta's Hans Dennisen less than 30 seconds into the match, Armada FC forward Alhassane Keita answered in the 20th minute by sticking his strike on the far right post past Silverbacks goalkeeper Steward Ceus on a feed from midfielder Marcos Flores.
Jacksonville is second in the league for goals scored per match (1.7) and has averaged 1.3 goals in its three road matches.
Minnesota had a late surge of offense in its 3-1 victory over Indy Eleven last Saturday in Indianapolis. Kalif Alhassan, Justin Davis and Juliano Vicentini all ended on the United scoresheet. After Indy leveled the match at 1-1 in the 49th minute, United reclaimed the lead when Davis knocked in a rebound off a save in the 63rd minute.