Jacksonville FC Handles Florida Brothers 5-2 to Win UPSL Florida Division 2 Championship.
07.03.2021
The young Jacksonville FC hosted the recent south Florida champions Florida Brothers and broke them down to lift the title. Here is the game recap, as well as some quotes from the winners.
The team from eastern Jacksonville had quite the journey to reach this point. In the Florida central division regular season, JFC had 6 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, scoring 33 and allowing 12 for a goal difference of +21. They finished 5th in their division, and they qualified for the playoffs. They controlled Orlando Rovers academy 4-1 and defeated Inter Jax 3-1 in the semi-finals. They then went to penalties to beat Atletico Orlando to be crowned Florida Central champions, get promoted, and advanced to Sunday's Florida Championship.
For the Florida Brothers, their trip to the championship was not so different. In the Florida south division regular season, FL Bros won 7, tied 4, and lost 3 times, scoring 29 and allowing 19 for a goal difference of +10. They placed 3rd in their division and went straight to playoffs. In the postseason, they dominated Inter Florida 5-1 in the quarterfinals, survived penalties vs. CMA Tritons, and beat 1st place Kendal in a close 2-1 match to win Florida south and gain promotion.
Match Recap
The 1st half was a tale of luck vs. structure, a half controlled mostly by the Brothers, but the Jacksonville side knew where to be when the opportunities came. Yet JFC was plentiful in their mistakes as their goalkeeper Dominguez mishandles an airball from traffic with teammates and opponents, and Miller recovers it to make it 1-0 Florida Brothers. Only 6 minutes later, JFC wins a penalty, and Amalberti converts it to make it a tie ball game. For most of the half, the hosts found themselves playing defensively and not completing their passes, which allowed the Brothers to move up the field after taking those incomplete passes. However, in the 43' the south Florida team would make a mistake of their own as a defender losing possession to JFC forward Cope as he wins the tackle and coverts a 1v1 shot low to the bottom right to take the lead. The Brothers would find bad luck again before halftime as JFC gets a corner that ends up in the Florida Brother keeper's hands, but Cunha losses control, and Cope taps the loose ball in, right in front of goal to take the lead to 3-1. Overall, the half saw the Bros have more possession, but JFC has been at the right place at the right time to convert opportunities.
The second half started with JFC having the ball more and their wingers making individual plays to get forward. In the 54', Ancelin gets a pass on the left side of the box and slots it in, catching Cunha off his line to make it 4-1 JFC. They continue getting to the Bros final 3rd by seeing the gaps on both wings and keeping the ball to fend off 3 pressing Florida bros midfielders and find an open winger. After roughly 15-20 minutes of JFC taking control, the Bros regain possession and make plenty of chances in the final third but couldn't get a shot on target, except for a header that bounces down from the post in the 70', but the referee says no goal.
Then before stoppage time, the Italian midfielder Fanfoni gets a solo shot off of a corner clearance and blasts a rocket from beyond the box to get the Brother's second goal. As soon as they made their goal, JFC made no effort to bunker down on defense and win a tackle to prevent a Brothers' cross into the box and converts to a 2v2 counterattack. Barrera gets a low cross alone in the box to finish the match 5-2 for Jacksonville to win the UPSL Florida D2 Championship.
Post-Match Interview
Our partner, TopSite Agency, who provided the Livestream of this final, had the chance to interview the game MVP and winning coach. Match commentator Dario Daicz spoke to Evan Cope, match MVP, and Tommy Krizanovic, JFC head coach.
"We have been playing together all our lives, and that was the key to winning this match" -Evan Cope on what was the key to winning the final.
"Florida Brothers are a good team, organized, they pressed us high. It was a good to play out of our comfort zone. I congradulate them on everything" - Tommy Krizanovic on his thoughts of the final win.
You can watch the match replay here, courtesy of TopSite Agency (In Spanish).
Image by Jacksonville FC social media
