Fort Lauderdale CF continues with its inaugural USL League One season this Saturday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. ET. The team will host South Georgia Tormenta FC at Inter Miami CF Stadium after previously facing the side on the road this season in a historic match in which Fort Lauderdale clinched its first win and points in team history. The match will air live on ESPN+.
“I think it’s going to be a much more difficult affair for us. We caught them by surprise a little bit [last time we faced them]. I think that they saw that we were missing quite a few players from our lineup and maybe they came into the match feeling a little confident,” said manager Jason Kreis. “I feel like it’s going to be much more competitive on Saturday.”
Fort Lauderdale is coming off of a strong performance in which they overcame in-state opponent Orlando CIty B 2-0 at Inter Miami CF Stadium in the second matchup of the season between the sides. The team was led to victory by goals from 16-year-old winger Edison Azcona in the 5th minute and striker Ricky Lopez-Espin in the 51st minute, in a match that saw Fort Lauderdale secure its first clean sheet and extend its undefeated run at its home ground to three matches.
Fort Lauderdale left-back Sami Guediri earned Player of the Week honors after playing a key role at both ends of the field in the match, getting his first assist of the season, completing 44 of 53 passes overall and winning 7 of 10 duels and 2 of 3 tackles. Azcona, who is registered as an Inter Miami CF Academy player, and 17-year-old goalkeeper Andre Zuluaga, who is also an Academy product, were also named to the USL League One Team of the Week for Week 9 after their standout performances in the team’s previous match. In what was just his second appearance, Zuluaga recorded a four-save shutout, while Azcona scored his second goal of the season, recorded his first assist, completed 37 of 41 passes overall and made eight ball recoveries.
The team’s first matchup against Tormenta FC took place on Aug. 8 at Erik Russell Park in Statesboro, Ga. Fort Lauderdale secured its first win and points in team history with a 1-2 victory that night. In the match, the team took the lead in the first half with a 41st minute goal by Azcona before extending its lead in the 76th with a spectacular driven shot by Lopez-Espin from the midfield line, which was subsequently voted as USL League One Goal of the Month for August. Tormenta FC went on to score in the 93rd minute, but Fort Lauderdale held on for the remainder of the match to claim the historic win for the team.
South Georgia Tormenta FC currently sits 8th in the USL League One table, having accumulated a record of two wins, four draws and four losses so far this season. The sides’ most recent match saw them draw 1-1 against Union Omaha at home.
The team has been led by midfielders Luca Mayr-Fälten, Marco Micaletto and Nil Vinyals in 2020. The trio leads the team in scoring with three goals each.
