The Fort Lauderdale Strikers (6-10-6, 28 points) will look to draw even with, and potentially move ahead of their cross-state rival FC Tampa Bay (8-7-7, 31 points) at Lockhart Stadium on Saturday, August 27, at 7:30p.m. A Fort Lauderdale victory would level them with Tampa Bay on points and even the season series between the teams at 1-1-1.
“There’s a lot riding on this game,” said head coach Daryl Shore. “We need to continue to play well and make this final push to get into the playoffs.”
Fort Lauderdale is 0-1-1 against FC Tampa Bay this season. The most recent meeting between these teams saw the Strikers lose 4-2 in St. Petersburg on July 4. The first match-up of the season at Lockhart Stadium, on June 29, finished in dramatic fashion when Eduardo Coudet scored on a free kick from just outside the penalty area during second half stoppage time to give the Strikers a 1-1 draw.
This is the final game of Coudet’s six-game suspension resulting from a red card he received on July 20 against Puerto Rico. Coudet made contact with the referee and failed to leave the field in a timely manner after he was shown the red card. Coudet still leads the Strikers in goals (6) and assists (4).
The Strikers are undefeated in three of four games this season when they return home from a road trip. The team has won their last two games at Lockhart Stadium. Saturday is also the first game new Strikers midfielder Wellington “Pecka” Paeckart will be available to play in. Pecka comes to the Strikers from Brazilian club Flamengo.
FC Tampa Bay is coming off a loss at home to the Puerto Rico Islanders last Saturday. Tampa Bay is led by forward Mike Ambersley who is currently second in NASL with 10 goals this season. Goalkeeper Jeff Attinella leads the NASL with his 102 saves on the year.
There is a scenario where the Strikers can finish the night in third place in the NASL standings. If Fort Lauderdale beat FC Tampa Bay by two or more goals and both FC Edmonton and NSC Minnesota tie or lose their games, the Strikers will be tied with FC Tampa Bay, but own the tie breaker against them.
“They (FC Tampa Bay) are three points ahead of us in the standings,” said Shore. “We are playing for third place and also for the city of Fort Lauderdale.”
The City of Fort Lauderdale will be celebrating their 100-year anniversary with several special Centennial related events. Striker players will be wearing a special commemorative jersey featuring a patch on the arm with the logo representing the city’s anniversary along with a patch located in the center of the chest celebrating the Hard Rock Café and their 40-year anniversary.
Last Time Out
Fort Lauderdale lost the final game of their three-game road trip against the league-leading Carolina RailHawks 2-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Strikers finished their road trip 1-1-1.
Carolina opened the scoring from the penalty spot. After a late foul by Strikers defender Toni Stahl, Carolina forward Etienne Barbara was able to score his NASL-leading 17th goal of the season. In the second half, a quick build-up of play led to the RailHawks Matt Watson taking a Pablo Campos through ball one on one with Strikers goalkeeper Matt Glaeser, whom he chipped to put away the victory.