The Sporting Club Jacksonville (0-2-1, 1 pt) men got off to a blistering start, but ultimately dropped Wednesday’s home match to Miami FC (1-1-1, 4 pts), 4-2.
It had been over a week since Sporting JAX faced USL Championship competition, and the side was hungry to capture its first win. It looked like it may be the night at Hodges Stadium as the home side jumped out to an early lead in the second minute. An incredible cross from defender Harvey Neville found its way to captain Kieran Sadlier, who put it past the keeper. Jacksonville’s first attack had proved fruitful, and they didn’t let up any.
While Sporting JAX pressed the envelope, it wasn’t long until Miami found success in the 12th minute when Mason Tunbridge scored to level. This was quickly shaping up to be very different from Jacksonville’s last outing at Rhode Island, which saw no goals until the latter moments. The scoring continued when Sporting JAX defender Dida Armstrong drew a foul in the box, leading to a penalty kick.
Already having scored once, Sadlier took to the spot. He succeeded with his second goal of the night, putting his team ahead, 2-1. Just 23 minutes into the match, Sporting JAX had already surpassed its record for goals scored in a USL Championship match. Things remained action-packed throughout the rest of the half, but the score stayed the same.
Coming out of the break, Sporting JAX was poised to protect the lead and earn their first-ever USL Championship win. Ultimately, though, this didn’t happen.
The first domino to fall came in the 53rd minute when Miami’s Alessandro Milesi tied things back up with his second goal of the young season. Further trouble arrived just five minutes later when Arney Marimon scored to take the lead.
The final nail in the coffin arrived when an awkward sequence caught the Sporting JAX defense off-guard in the 84th, leading to Miami’s fourth goal of the evening. This isn’t to say that the home squad didn’t have chances. There were moments in the midway point of the second half where it looked like they may cut into the lead, but these were not meant to be.
“By the time we had more chances, they’d got back in the game and gone ahead,” Sadlier admitted. “We just need to finish our chances; it’s as simple as that,” Armstrong added.
It’s a disappointing result, but lessons are being learned as Sporting JAX navigates the earliest days of its inaugural season in the USL Championship. Head coach Liam Fox spoke to this following the match.
“There’s going to be some challenges. There’s going to be some ups. There’s going to be some downs,” Fox said. “It was disappointment; that’s to be expected. I’d be worried if there wasn’t disappointment.”
Players echoed this sentiment, including Armstrong, one of the team’s first signings.
“We started off saying that we wouldn’t lose a home game, and we’ve done that twice now, so I think there’s disappointment, but there’s a sense of pride that needs to happen,” Armstrong said. “It’s [a matter of] just getting back to the drawing board, working hard and trained, coming out stronger, and just looking forward to the next.”
Part of this is naturally the lack of time the team has spent together. With each match and every day at training, this group will continue to gel more and more. As the team’s captain, Sadlier has noticed this.
“There’s always progress,” Sadlier said. “We definitely improved in certain areas, and we’re always trying to improve; It’s very early in the season, but there’s definitely improvement.”
While progress was made, Coach Fox did hone in on some areas of improvement, including defense as a whole.
“We need to make sure that we’re better defending,” Fox said. “And that’s not just the defenders, and that’s the whole team. We need to make sure that we work a bit harder to make teams earn their goals a bit more.”
There’s no time for Sporting JAX to sulk, as they’ll be back in business on the road Saturday against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Coming away with a win at Highmark Stadium won’t be an easy task, but earning a point will be crucial for Sporting JAX to avoid falling behind in the Eastern Conference.
“We can choose to feel sorry for ourselves and roll over, or we can just get back to work and keep improving, trying to improve every single day,” Fox added. “We’ll review it, we’ll learn from it, we’ll discuss it, and then our focus will quickly shift to Saturday, because that’s the next game.”
