FC Jacksonville Allows Early Goals to Central Florida, Team Loses 3-2

Photgraphy by Keith Garrett

Second-half rally by Destroyers not enough to carry team to victory

Written by Ryan Day

Despite second-half heroics by the Jacksonville Destroyers, three unanswered goals by Central Florida in the first 51 minutes of play were too much of an obstacle to overcome.

“You can’t win very many games needing to score four goals,” head coach Aidan Davison said following a 3-2 loss to the Central Florida Kraze on Thursday. “We gave away too many bad goals tonight.”

It was a game that finished with the Destroyers attacking the Kraze defenders several times as the game wound down. In the last six minutes alone, Jacksonville had three corner-kick opportunities and five shots on goal. There were several opportunities for the home team as attacking possessions were put together one after another.

“We’ve got to play smarter, we’ve got to manage the game better,” Davison said.

Just five minutes into the game, Central Florida scored an easy goal on Jacksonville goalkeeper Andreas Schnabl after a break down in the defense. Then, just before halftime, a foul just outside the Destroyers box allowed the Kraze to score on a direct kick and make it 2-0 at the break.

Then, five minutes into the second half, Central Florida earned a corner-kick opportunity and converted after Schnabl stopped the first shot, dove to stop the second shot, but couldn’t stop the third. By the 51st minute, the Kraze were up 3-0 and it looked as though the game was going to easily go in their favor.

But minutes later, midfielder Gonzalo de Mujica took a pass from the Destroyers backfield, dribbled it past two Central Florida defenders, squared up a long-range shot and scored from over 30 yards out.

“At halftime, Aidan [Davison] said for us to calm down and be patient and that’s what we did,” de Mujica said. “We knew we’d get opportunities in the second half.”

After several more chances, Jacksonville captain Daniel Villegas dribbled to the left side of the field and rocketed one into the upper-90 of the Central Florida goal. The score was 3-2 and the lead was cut to just one goal with over eight minutes to play.

The last few minutes were a series of long crosses, corner-kick opportunities and shots that went just inches wide of the net. At the final whistle, the scoreboard showed Central Florida had won 3-2, and Jacksonville players were left to wonder what could have been had the team not started so slowly.

“The effort at the end was too little, too late,” defender Daniel Villegas said. “If we started out like we finished we would have won. The second half, it shows how dangerous we are when we hit our potential.”

“Sometimes we don’t come out like we should,” defender Isaac Kinman said. “It’s hard to accept, but sometimes there’s no real reason for it. It sounds cliché, I know, but sometimes there’s no better explanation for it than that.”

“To be down 2-0 and to come back like that, it shows just how good we can be,” de Mujica said. “That’s something we can build on.”

The loss leaves Jacksonville at 3-8-4 heading into their last match of the season on Saturday, July 23rd against Bradenton at 4pm at Jacksonville University.