Armada return home in first place

Will host San Francisco Deltas Saturday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Just two matches into the 2017 season, the Jacksonville Armada finds themselves atop the table in the North American Soccer League standings.

The Armada has won both games in the young season by identical 1-0 scores over the same team, FC Edmonton. The first win was at home, Saturday's came in Canada when Zach Steinberger's seventh minute goal held up.

In two games against FC Edmonton, a playoff team a year ago, the Armada have surrendered only three shots on goal. While Edmonton created some chances in the second half on Saturday, the Armada defense held up.

"They put a lot of pressure on us in the second half,' said head coach Mark Lowry, “but I’m a big believer that you have to stick to your principles. Our principles are trying to play, trying to pass the ball, and trying to build out from the back. Edmonton made it very tough for us to do that, but we stuck to it. If you stick to your principles, you get the reward."

After an off-season that saw the Armada change ownership, change home parks and cut roster size and front office staff, two wins to open the season can go a long way to reminding the NASL that Jacksonville is still a player in professional soccer. 

This is a year of transition for the league. With several cities vying to join the NASL as expansion clubs in the next 12 months, this season's greatest challenge is about reinforcing the foundation of American soccer's second division. One new club began play in the NASL this season, the San Francisco Deltas. San Francisco comes to Jacksonville for a Saturday matchup at Hodges Stadium on the UNF campus off the strength of a 3-1 victory over North Carolina FC (formerly known as the Carolina RailHawks), on Saturday. The Deltas got two goals from Tom Heinemann and and one from Pablo Dyego in the victory, the first for the expansion team in NASL play.

Jacksonville stands atop the standings for the first time since the days after their inaugural match, when they beat FC Edmonton to start their first season in 2015.