Jacksonville Armada U23s

2023 US Open Cup Round 2: Claudio Repetto’s late brace pushes Miami FC past Jacksonville Armada U-23s

April 4, 2023 by Lee Ifans

Claudio Repetto of Miami FC scored a pair of goals in a two minute span late in the game to give the home team a 3-1 win over the Jacksonville Armada Under-23s (NPSL). With the Second Round win in the 2023 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, it marked the third year in a row that Miami FC won their opening game of the tournament.

Miami FC started off probing down both flanks with overlapping runs by the full backs, Curtis Thorn and Aedan Stanley. A couple of early corners came to nothing, though Florian Valot came close, flicking a near post header across the face of goal.

The Armada stood firm in defense for the opening part of the game. It was difficult for the visitors to retain possession and get out of their half. A mix that led to chances being at a premium. Miami FC had some opportunities with a couple of quick fire half chances from set pieces.

The match then exploded into life when the Armada’s Charles Eloundou raced on to a ball floated over the top and finished well in the 28th minute.

The lead didn’t last long though.

Five minutes later, Miami FC pulled level when Thorn sent over a teasing corner that Ryan Telfer hammered home.

Things went from bad to worse for Armada when midfielder Luto Tom picked up a couple of bookings at the end of the first 45. The score was tied at 1-1, but Jacksonville went into the halftime break down a man.

Miami would have the man advantage at the start of the second. The physical first half came back to bite Miami FC as well. Defender Curtis Thorn receiving his second yellow card of the night a few minutes after the restart for a professional foul. Five minutes into the second half, both teams were playing with 10 men.

The teams traded possession and Jacksonville had a chance on the break with the live wire Eloundou just after the hour mark.

Miami couldn’t capitalize on a goalmouth scramble after good work from substitute Ben Mines.

In the 82nd minute, Miami would prevail when substitute Repetto bundled in from close range after a teasing cross from man-of-the-match Aedan Stanley to give the home side the lead with less than ten minutes left.

Two minutes later, Repetto put matters beyond doubt with a well taken penalty to make it 3-1. For Repetto, it was the second tournament in a row where he played hero. Last year, he came off the bench for Phoenix Rising FC and scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 win over Valley United FC (NISA).

In the end, it was a 3-1 victory for the USL Championship side after a lively game in South Florida.

With the win, Miami advances to Round 3 where they will take on a team that is still to be determined. The draw for the Third Round will take place later this week.

2023 US Open Cup Round 1: GKs do double duty in PK shootout as Jacksonville Armada beats Miami United

March 25, 2023 by Jordan Beech

Miami United and Jacksonville Armada get ready to play a match in the First Round of the 2023 US Open Cup at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. | Photo: Stuart Webber

It took 10 rounds of penalty kicks, but eventually Jacksonville Armada FC U-23s put away Miami United FC in the First Round of the 2023 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Jacksonville won the shootout 9-8 after a 1-1 draw on Thursday night.

Mikah Thomas scored the Armada’s lone goal in the 42nd minute of play after it looked like neither team would find a breakthrough before the interval. A quick bit of build-up play by the hosts on the counter eventually saw Thomas collect a square ball in the middle of the box from Charles Elondou. Though Thomas’s initial effort was parried by the MUFC keeper, the Armada’s No. 3 was able to put the rebound away.

Halftime proved to be what Miami needed to regroup, as the visitors quickly leveled the score in the 48th minute thanks to Bautista Pablo Dominguez. Shamar Shelton whipped in a corner kick that found Dominguez’s head off a short run. Jacksonville had an opportunity to regain the advantage almost immediately from the restart, but the effort was found wanting.

A second yellow card to Thomas in the 83rd minute led the Armada to play down a man in extra time. However, a dogged defensive effort held MUFC at bay through the additional 30 minutes of play to keep the score even at 1-1.

With neither side claiming a pivotal second goal through extra time, the match was determined at the spot. Both teams converted their first seven chances. Miami had an opportunity to claim advancement in the eighth round of kicks after Jacksonville failed to convert, but Miami squandered the chance.

A keeper showdown ended up deciding the match, as the Armada’s Nicklaus Rulle converted against Miami’s Occenat Peterson in the 10th round of kicks before turning around and saving Peterson’s subsequent attempt.

Jacksonville moves to 2-3-1 all-time in Open Cup play, and have advanced to the Second Round for the first time since 2017. They will move on to face USL Championship side Miami FC at the FIU Soccer Stadium on Tuesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. Eastern.

USSF allows NY Cosmos B, Miami FC 2, Jacksonville Armada into 2018 US Open Cup in unprecedented decision

April 2, 2018 by Josh Hakala

UPDATE: All three Play-In Round games will take place on May 6. Click here for the full schedule.

A little over two weeks ago, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) announced the format for the 2018 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The 105th edition of the United States championship tournament would feature 94 teams, but last Friday afternoon, in an unprecedented decision, the federation added three teams that didn’t originally qualify for the competition into the 2018 field.

The New York Cosmos B, Jacksonville Armada Under-23s, and Miami FC 2, the three reserve teams for the remaining clubs in the North American Soccer League (NASL), will be allowed to enter the US Open Cup. Since the NASL canceled the 2018 season, the three teams shifted their remaining players to their reserve squads which all compete in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) as professional teams.

In previous years, the only way for NPSL teams entered the US Open Cup is through the NPSL qualifying process, which is determined (somewhat complexly) by the previous year’s league and playoff results. Cosmos B and the Armada U-23s failed to qualify and Miami FC 2 are a 2018 expansion team and did not compete in league play last season.

The statement from the US Open Cup Committee read: “The Committee carefully considered the teams’ exceptional situation which involved all three moving from Professional Division II status in 2017 to solely Open Division league participation earlier this year. Since the move occurred after the Open Division league’s 2018 Open Cup entry deadline in mid-2017, the Committee decided to allow the three teams the opportunity to compete in the 2018 edition of the U.S. Open Cup.”

All three teams accepted their invitations and will enter the tournament in a newly-created Play-In Round that is scheduled to take place the weekend of May 5-6.

As a member of the @usopencup committee, I am happy with this outcome. Everyone should have a chance to participate in this prestigious cup, and I’m happy that we gave the @JaxArmadaFC, The @NYCosmos and the @TheMiamiFC an opportunity to compete. Good luck to all the teams

— John Paul Motta (@JohnPMotta) March 31, 2018

US Soccer announced on Monday, April 2 that the New York Cosmos B will face the Brooklyn Italians FC of the NPSL, while the PDL’s FC Miami City will take on Miami FC 2, and The Villages SC (PDL) will face off with the Jacksonville Armada. The winners of those three matches will move on to the First Round on May 9.

The dates, times and locations for the Play-In Round will be announced at a later date. Brooklyn, FC Miami City and The Villages will have the first option to host and according to the press release, they have until 4 p.m. ET on Friday, April 6 to submit their hosting proposal to the federation.

The USSF will also announce the First Round pairings and the potential Second Round matchups on Wednesday, April 4.

“These three teams, the players and the coaching staff and their fans, who had planned to participate in the 2018 US Open Cup, and because they are no longer in a professional league and because now they are participating in an amateur league, they missed all of the deadlines to participate in the 2018 tournament,” said John Motta, President of the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and Open Cup committee member. “This situation was out of their control … and in my opinion, we had to find a way to allow these three teams to participate. Because it’s not the fault of any of the players, their fans, their coaches, so let’s take the politics aside and let them play.”

The NASL lost their Division 2 professional sanctioning on Sept. 3, 2017, which was after the registration deadline to enter the Open Division qualifying tournament for the 2018 US Open Cup.

The argument, as detailed in a letter submitted to the USSF by New York Cosmos chairman Rocco Commisso and shared on social media, laid out a number of complaints.

One of them being that Indy Eleven and North Carolina FC both left the NASL and were automatically entered into the US Open Cup as members of the USL. The main difference between the two situations is that since 2012, every US-based professional team is automatically entered into the competition. The Premier Development League (PDL) and the NPSL both choose their Open Cup entries based on the previous season’s results. All other teams are required to enter the Open Division qualifying tournament.

The letter also cited MLS (Los Angeles FC) and USL (Nashville SC, Las Vegas Lights FC, Fresno FC) expansion teams as examples of clubs that have been allowed to enter the tournament. Again, all professional teams are automatically entered into the Open Cup, so this is common practice.

Miami FC CEO Sean Flynn also submitted a similar letter to the US Soccer Federation.

TheCup.us has confirmed that the three NPSL teams will all be competing in the 2018 league season and the US Open Cup tournament as fully professional teams. There is no rule, either at the federation level or with the NPSL itself that prevents them from doing this. Although they are in the minority, they are not the only NPSL teams that compete in the league as professionals.

Earlier this year, amateur side El Farolito, winners of the 1993 US Open Cup, were disqualified for switching leagues during the qualifying process. They made the move from the San Francisco Soccer Football League (SFSFL) to the NPSL. Motta was quick to point out the difference between the two situations. One of them had a choice.

“These NASL teams were left out, through no fault of their own … while made a decision to change leagues mid-way through and that’s a clear violation of the Open Cup bylaws,” said Motta.

Section 202c1i of the Open Cup Handbook clearly states: “To remain eligible throughout the tournament, a team must remain a playing member in good standing within its club/league competition, starting from the Open Division entry deadline (which was last summer) and continuing until the Open Cup Final for the competition year.”

One minor detail is that the Jacksonville Armada Under-23s, who prior to this year were largely made up of college players, are putting that franchise on hiatus as the team converts to a fully-professional roster. Miami FC 2, which was announced prior to the NASL canceling the 2018 season, will remain under that name despite the team being converted to a roster full of NASL players. The New York Cosmos will be entering their usual professional roster under the name “Cosmos B”, therefore, just like Miami FC 2, they will be making the club’s first tournament appearance.

With this change, for the first time in tournament history, the NPSL will have more entries (22) than the PDL (20). This will also give the state of Florida 11 entries and the state of New York seven entries in this year’s tournament, both are Modern Era records.

Ian Foster also contributed to this report

2017 US Open Cup Round 2: Tampa Bay Rowdies cruise to 3-0 win over shorthanded Jacksonville Armada U-23s

May 16, 2017 by Matthew Cox

The Second Round of the 2017 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup started in St. Petersburg with the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL hosting the Jacksonville Armada U-23s from the NPSL.

With the Rowdies having a quick turnaround from last Saturday’s league win over Louisville City and looking ahead to a trip to Toronto for another league match this Friday night, squad rotation was the order of the day, as manager Stuart Campbell made nine changes to his last starting XI. Regulars such as Joe Cole, Marcel Schäfer, Martin Vingaard and Matt Pickens either were not named to the matchday 18 or began the night on the bench.

Regardless, Tampa Bay coasted to a 3-0 victory and will now await the result of tomorrow night’s match between Miami FC of the NASL and the South Florida Surf of the PDL. Should Miami win, the Rowdies will travel south for a Round 3 match with their former league foe, however, they would host the next round if the Surf can pull off a “cupset”.

The Rowdies matched their club record for most goals in a US Open Cup game with three. The last time they scored three goals in a game was when they faced this same Armada U23s team (then known as Jacksonville United) in the Second Round of the 2012 tournament. Tampa Bay also won that match 3-0.

Kyle Porter opened the scoring for the home side in the 4th minute, when he spotted the goalkeeper off his line and took a shot from the right sideline, about 40 yards from goal, which was slapped down by Armada GK Juan Fajardo and ruled to have crossed the line by assistant referee Janessa Gunn. For the next 40 minutes, the Rowdies controlled possession and created several chances but tallied no further goals until the 43rd minute when midfielder Alex Morrell took the ball off an Armada defender at the edge of the box, then chipped a shot from the left side that went between the GK and another defender before settling in the right side of the goal.

Describing his goal, Morrell said, “Luckily, the guy had a bad pass and I picked it off – I made the most out of it and scored on my old keeper from college.” (Morrell & Fajardo were college teammates at the University of North Florida.)

The Rowdies made one change at the half with Darwin Jones replacing Georgi Hristov in the 46th minute. He took up his customary spot on the wing as Leo Fernandes moved inside to play as a 10 and from the wing position Jones provided the cross that Martin Paterson finished for Tampa Bay’s third and final goal. Before that sequence of events however, there were some fireworks as Armada defender Dener Dos Santos received a straight red for a clenched fist strike to the face of Morrell, to the dismay of Jacksonville’s captain, who earned a yellow for dissent.

“When you’re not playing games, it’s hard to keep fitness,” Paterson said. “Not motivation, because I love football, but it’s hard to keep your fitness and your sharpness. I’ve trained hard and today was an opportunity to get out there and get going again.”

Content with the lead, the Rowdies played out the remainder of the game with ease. Jacksonville managed their two best chances of the night in the 72nd and 74th minutes but still failed to register a shot on target for the match.

“I thought it was a really, really professional performance by the team, we went out and got the job done, which was to win the game and get into the next round,” said Campbell. “As a player, I’ve always enjoyed cup competitions in England, it’s a totally different feeling than playing in league games.”

2017 US Open Cup: Defender scores “surreal” game-winner as Jacksonville Armada U23s edge The Villages SC

May 12, 2017 by Stuart Webber

Cameron Grassmyer isn’t known for finding the back of the net, but with the game in the balance, the 6’4″ defender provided a game-winner in the closing minutes on Wednesday night. Grassmyer’s 89th minute header off a free kick proved to be the difference in a 2-1 victory for the Jacksonville Armada U23 team against The Villages SC in the First Round of the 2017 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. For Grassmyer it’s a great experience he won’t forget.

“This is my first game ever in the US Open Cup, I know it has a huge tradition to it, and for me to have scored, it was such a long time for me to get back in the score sheet, the feeling was so surreal.” said Grassmyer.

For those who arrived late to Patton Park, they missed a blistering start for the visiting Buffalo. Ericksson Alves needed less than a minute to put The Villages SC ahead 1-0 after slamming home a rebound right in front of the net. But that was all the scoring the defending PDL Southeast division champs would see on this night. Despite some late chances for The Villages SC it was Jacksonville who took control after halftime under head coach Pat Cannon.

“To start the game we had some nerves, gave up a tough goal, but the boys settled in at halftime and we talked about putting more numbers forward, a little more sense of urgency and getting behind their back four.” said Cannon.

Substitutions proved to be a key swing for the Armada U23 side with a pair of changes at the 60th and 62nd minutes helping spur on the game-tying goal. Josh Castellanos scored the equalizer for the home team in the 63rd minute and momentum continued to roll the Armada’s way as the match went on.

Now Jacksonville turns its attention to Round 2 of the U.S. Open Cup and a trip to Al Lang Stadium next Tuesday night to face the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the United Soccer League. Nurdin Hrustic knows what it’s like to face the Rowdies from his time with the Armada’s senior club in the NASL and hopes to lead the U-23 side to similar success.

“We’re trying to be the Cinderella story and take it as far as possible, try to lead these young guys, with their power and energy coming out of college and try to do the best we can.” said Hrustic.