The Fort Lauderdale Strikers lost to FC Tampa Bay 2-0 on Saturday night in the Centennial Match played at Lockhart Stadium. Goals by FC Tampa Bay’s Aaron King and Mike Ambersley brought down the Strikers in the third of four regular season match-ups this season between the in-state rivals.
“We were beat by a better team tonight,” said Strikers head coach Daryl Shore. “We can’t make excuses, it seemed like they wanted the game more and that it meant more to them. It’s quite befuddling because it was a big game for us. We came out flat even though we had a good week of practice.”
In the first half, FC Tampa Bay midfielder Tsuyoshi Yoshitake made a long run down the left side and swung a cross into the middle of the box. The ball was redirected by Mike Ambersley to the feet of Aaron King, who slotted it home into the lower right-hand corner past goalkeeper Matt Glaeser.
The Strikers best chance in the first half came from forward Polo Morales in the 28th minute when he received a ball from a running Brian Shriver and fired it on goal from point blank range. The shot was pushed out of bounds by Tampa Bay’s Jeff Attinella.
FC Tampa Bay added to their lead in the 77th minute. An errant back pass fell to the feet of Mike Ambersley, who rounded Glaeser and was alone on goal. His shot inside far post finished off the match and put the Coastal Cup, the trophy for the in-state rivalry between the two squads, back in FC Tampa Bay’s hands.
The loss tonight keeps the Strikers in sixth place in the NASL, the final playoff spot. They are just three points clear of the Montreal Impact who won tonight. With the win, FC Tampa Bay is now five points clear in third place and sit comfortably to clinch a spot in the NASL playoffs.
The Strikers play their next two games at home against the MLS-bound Montreal Impact on September 3 and the league-leading Carolina RailHawks on September 7. The final regular season home game will be on September 17 against the Atlanta Silverbacks.