JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Armada are on a roll as they sit atop the Gulf Coast Conference standings in the National Premier Soccer League.
After a 2-0 victory over AFC Mobile on June 4 that stretched their winning streak to five games, the arrow is pointing up, way up, for the Armada.
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Armada head coach Tommy Krizanovic said the team’s morale is skyrocketing.
“We’ve done well in training, and it’s showed in games,” Krizanovic said. “We have a lot of team cohesion on and off the field. Even though we’re winning, we’re still very connected to keep our morale high.”
Wednesday, the Armada are back in action as they host in-state rivals, Tallahassee SC, in their third home game of the season.
These two teams met for the first game of the season, and the only game that the Armada had not captured all three points as the two came to a draw.
Krizanovic said the game results don’t faze his team for the upcoming rematch.
“We don’t worry about previous matches and let them dwell on future ones,” Krizanovic said. “We’re a performance-based group that looks at key performance indicators like possession, more shots, and more chances created to determine where we are.”
Along with drawing the first game of the season, some results can be related to a lack of scouting.
In the NPSL season, most team players come straight from college, so there is uncertainty about the entire roster as the season begins.
When it’s the first game of the season, it’s hard to predict the lineup and strategies that teams will go against.
“You don’t have any way to scout that current team and know exactly who’s on it,” Krizanovic said. “We’re big on scouting opponents, so that first game was a little tough on us.”
For the Armada, however, they had an identity before the season started that has propelled them to their current position.
“We’ve retained around 90% on the team from last year, so our chemistry has always been there,” Krizanovic said. “We knew what our guys could accomplish this year.”
Krizanovic credits his team’s success to everyone fighting for a role. He said his team doesn’t have a defined starting 11.
“Anyone within training sessions can take anyone’s spot at any moment,” Krizanovic said. “We could go into two different games with two different lineups, and we’d be very comfortable.”
Entering the season to where they are now, the goal has always been set for the Armada.
“Our team-oriented goals haven’t changed,” Krizanovic said. “The biggest goal is to put ourselves in the highest playoff position possible to host games.”
The playoffs get the community engaged, and the entire team loves the support of the fans during the playoffs.
“We want to continue building our fanbase. It’s been great to see the fans this year,” Krizanovic said. “The support has been great, and the more fans we can attract to playoff soccer the better.”