RECAP | Armada FC 3, RailHawks 0
The Carolina RailHawks lost to Jacksonville Armada FC, 3-0, at Community First Park on Wednesday night.
The RailHawks dominated the match early on and earned several corner kicks in the first five minutes. The Armada FC responded to the RailHawks’ intense pressure with a chance of their own in the 13th minute, but the score remained 0-0 as neither team was able to convert.
The scoring was once again almost opened by the away side in the 22nd minute when a beautiful corner kick from Tiyi Shipalane found the head of RailHawks captain Connor Tobin. However, Tobin’s attempt went just left of the goal.
Jacksonville finally capitalized on an opportunity with a goal from Jaime Castrillón off a rebound from a save from Akira Fitzgerald in the 32nd minute. They immediately followed up with another goal two minutes later from Akeil Barrett’s strike from distance. Despite the two-goal deficit, the RailHawks fought hard for the remainder of the half, but were unable to find the back of the net.
The beginning of the second half featured several chances for the RailHawks. Austin da Luz helped ignite the offense in the 47th minute with a fantastic chip pass to RailHawks forward Nacho Novo, but Novo blasted the ball over the goal. Novo and da Luz had another beautiful connection a few minutes later, yet da Luz’s shot went just left of the goalpost. The RailHawks continued to battle after the missed opportunities, though it was Jacksonville who scored the first goal of the second half on a blast from Jemal Johnson in the 62nd minute.
The away side relentlessly attacked after the Armada FC’s third goal of the match, however, the ball refused to go in the back of the net. Substitute Daniel Scott tried to bring energy off the bench, but his over-exuberance saw him issued a red card after an aggressive slide tackle in the 82nd minute.
After several shots in stoppage time that nearly went in, the RailHawks ultimately lost by a score of 3-0.
