LAKELAND — The Florida Tropics have been rampant all season, proving a vicious goal-scoring threat and that continued on Friday night at the RP Funding Center. The Tropics fell just one goal short of the team record for goals in a home Major Arena Soccer League match.
Coming second on the goal-scoring charts for the season the Tropics continued their stunning form winning 15-4 against the Dallas Sidekicks.
Unfortunately, the Sidekicks were forced to play without usual starting goalkeeper Juan Gamboa as he had to attend to a personal matter. The side is hoping that he will return on Sunday and make the trip to Lakeland, but will be given all the time needed to attend to things and hopefully deal with things.
Florida took full advantage of reserve goalkeeper, Chase Coy and took a significant 6-1 lead into the halftime break. The run continued in the second half and the first goal in the half piled on the pain for the sidekicks with Zach Reget scoring a shorthanded goal, the Tropics’ first of the season.
The star of the night was Bruno Henrique who scored a goal and laid off three assists, one of nine players to get at least one point on the night. Victor Parreiras, Ricardo Carvlaho, Kiel Williams, and Reget all managed braces in strong performances. Taylor Walter Bond, Breno Oliveria, J.P. Reyes, Anthony Arico, and Chad Vandegriffe all scored one goal each.
Jamie Lovegrove was the best for the Sidekicks, managing a goal and an assist in the loss. There won’t be much time for Dallas to recover with the two sides going again on Sunday. Florida remains on top of the Southern Conference and the combined league table with 24 points, one win ahead of Kansas City from the Central Conference (who have played one fewer match) and four wins clear of Baltimore in the conference.
Cover Image: Major Arena Soccer League
Florida Soccer Report 