The city of Jacksonville should be proud of their NASL expansion team. While this year’s MLS expansion teams have struggled despite their star signings, Armada FC has spent most of this season in the mix fighting for a top spot in the table. After six games, Jax sits in third with both teams ahead of them having already played seven matches. They’re also near the top of the league in goals scored, thanks in part to a fast and aggressive front three.
Jacksonville Armada May Win NASL
So, with four games remaining in the NASL’s Spring Season, what can the Armada expect from their last four matches?
At Minnesota United FC, Saturday, May 23
On Saturday, Jacksonville travels to Minnesota to play United, a matchup that only two weeks ago would have looked like easy points. After week five, Minnesota was 0-3-1. Their loss was to current bottom-of-the-table Ottawa Fury and only one of those draws was to a team in the top half of the standings. Two weeks later and things have changed dramatically as Minnesota United seems to have shaken off their MLS announcement hangover and won their last two games, the most recent being a 3-1 thrashing of an Indy Eleven team that until last week hadn’t really given up many goals this season.
This may be a poorly timed resurrection from Armada’s point of view as Jacksonville needs every point they can get if they want to unseat the New York Cosmos at the top, but have struggled away from their home crowd. In three away games, they are 0-1-2. Still, Jacksonville hasn’t been out of a game at any point all season. Both losses were by a single goal and never to a team that should have been an easy win. The stats even suggest the loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies was at least a little unlucky, as Armada had significant advantages in both shots and possession.
The Prediction
Armada head back south with a point. Minnesota’s slow start seemed inexplicable and it’s likely the recent resurgence is more like what should be expected from them for the rest of the season, but Armada’s consistency will likely prevent them from stretching that win streak further.
Carolina RailHawks, Saturday May 30
This is a home game and Jacksonville has rolled at home in front of their large crowds. Only Indy Eleven can boast larger average attendance despite being one of the two smallest markets in the league. At home, Armada is 3-0-0 and has outscored opponents 6-2. There is a slight catch as the teams they’ve hosted are FC Edmonton, the San Antonio Scorpions and Indy Eleven, none of which are having very good seasons right now.
Armada will also be playing on short rest as they have their first ever entry into the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup only three days earlier.
The Prediction
Jacksonville wins this one. The RailHawks aren’t bad, but they also aren’t particularly good. Between the home field advantage and the fact that Jacksonville may have more of a reason to win at this point, Armada should be the favorites in this game.
Ottawa Fury FC, Sunday, June 7
Ottawa is not a strong team. They’re currently in last place and have only scored 4 goals in six games.
The Prediction
Jacksonville wins. This is another home game and likely turns into a must-win for Armada, and it’s hard to imagine a team with the offensive firepower of Jacksonville falling at home to such an anemic team as the Fury.
At New York Cosmos, Saturday, June 13
This could be the match that decides the Spring Season championship. New York currently has a comfortable lead of 15 points over Tampa’s 12 and Jacksonville’s 10, although with Armada’s game in hand, that lead could be smaller than it seems. As for the Cosmos, their dominance has been a little hard to explain. For most of the season, New York eked out low-scoring wins and even lower-scoring draws until a 4-2 win over defensively hapless Edmonton. That match was followed up by a near loss in Carolina last week when in the 90th minute the Cosmos were down 2-0 only to score two in stoppage time. There’s no doubting New York’s stoutness on defense. No other team has let fewer balls into the net, but they just aren’t that good on the other end. Sure, there’s that Edmonton game, but everyone scores on Edmonton, and of those two goals they scored in stoppage time in against the RailHawks, one of those was actually an own goal by Carolina.
The Prediction
Jacksonville will end the Spring Season with a draw. It’s unlikely that the Cosmos will give up many goals, but it’s also unlikely they’ll find it as easy to score on the Armada as they did with Edmonton.
The Final Result
If these predictions hold, that leaves the Jacksonville Armada with 18 points on the season. If the Cosmos were to drop two of their remaining games, that would put Jacksonville in a strong position to tie for first or even win outright. The only other teams Armada would have to worry about would be Tampa, who are currently 2 points ahead with one fewer remaining games and Minnesota 1 point behind with the same number of remaining games as Jacksonville.
Main Photo: Jacksonville Armada FC
