Return of Azcona = A Return To Form?
The Herons took on Forward Madison and North Carolina FC in recent USL League One play.
Whats good La Familia??
We’ve got a double decker edition of Pink Smoke as we look at FTLCF’s matches vs Forward Madison and North Carolina FC. We also give you a look at the upcoming opponent, Toronto FC II, on June 16th. Lets dive on in!
Flamingos vs Herons
Forward Madison migrated down to DRV PNK Stadium to take on our FTLCF side that was looking to rebound from their draw against Revs II. The Herons struck pay dirt early with a beautiful steal and through ball by George Acosta to Mitchell Curry. Curry rounded the keeper and skipped a shot past the defender from an extremely tight angle to get the Herons on the board.
Like we said, real tight angle……
At the 60th minute mark, Forward Madison’s Aaron Molloy set up Jake Keegan with a expertly placed ball which he slotted past Zamudio. FTLCF didn’t back down though and found fortune on their side as Madison’s Christian Diaz deflected a Shaan Hundal cross past his own keeper to make the score 2-1. The final say went to Forward Madison though as Derek Gebhard picked up the ball in a dangerous position and hit an absolute rocket to beat Zamudio and salvage a point for the Flamingos.
Game Takeaways:
1). The Acosta Effect
The team clearly missed Acosta. He was all over the pitch and tallied his league leading 5th assist on the strike by Curry. His play earned him USL League One Man of the Match Honors
2). Big Z Belongs In Net
Zamudio’s return was a welcome relief. Callendar was slated to be the back up behind John McCarthy but he has looked shaky since becoming the net minder for FTLCF. Yes, Zamudio allowed two goals but they weren’t head scratching bloopers. They were two expertly placed shots that most keepers would have had difficulty with.
Fun Facts:
Forward Madison has a mascot and its not a flamingo. The Forward Madison mascot is actually a holstein name Lionela Bessi.
Its a bird, its a plane, its our boy Edison!
North Carolina welcomed our boys for their next match which saw the return of boy wonder, Edison Azcona to the side. In the 30th minute, Mitchell Curry polished off a beautiful team build up to put the Herons up 1-0. Less than 5 minutes later, North Carolina scored on a goal from Selmir Miscic to level the match at 1-1.
The true stars of the match were both Rosales and Zamudio who came up time and time again with saves that bailed out FTLCF when they needed it the most. The goalkeeper and his center back were on the same page resulting in a pair of beautiful stops when North Carolina looked poised to score and steal a game away.
Edison would have the final say on this day though. After a North Carolina red card on a poorly timed tackle, FTLCF took advantage of great field position. Our magnifico from the Dominican Republic was found by Josh Penn in the box and hammered home a beautiful header to seal the deal for FTLCF resulting in a 2-1 victory. It was refreshing and exhilarating to be on the other side of a last minute goal. This one meant even more for as much as we were clamoring for more Azcona on the pitch.
Game Takeaways:
1). The Glue That Binds Us
The team is starting to find the chemistry that they lost with the lineup shuffle. The team as a whole looks more comfortable with each other and the continued evolution of Acosta in the midfield, Hardin in the back line and the return of Azcona to the line up could lead to great things.
2). The Emergence of Rosales
Rosales filling in on the back line has paid dividends now that he has settled in. Words don’t do it justice, watch the highlights. Hopefully he keeps this run of form and continues to evolve into the consistent partner that Captain Fantastic, Ethan Hardin, needs on a regular basis.
A Look Ahead: Toronto FC II
Our next opponent is reeling from a lack of form as of late. Toronto FC II is coming into our match sitting at 1-1-3 which puts them 11th out of 12 in USL League One. Their defense has come to play more often than not but their offense has left them stranded with out hope. In the past three games, they have drawn North Texas SC, Union Omaha and FC Tucson by a score of 1-1 in each game.
Toronto FC II has three goal scorers on the season in Garret McLaughlin (3), Themi Antonoglou (2) and Kosi Thompson (1). After that, it seems that the team has left their shooting boots in the Great White North. They have four players tied at one assist a piece to lead their team. One positive take away for the squad is the copious amount of changes they have created. Our backline and Zamudio will need to be on their A game.
Fort Lauderdale Notes:
We are offering a reward for the whereabouts of Aime Mabika. Our center back from Kentucky has yet again gone missing while the club has kept it close to the vest.
Fort Lauderdale has played 10 games which is substantially more than all teams in the USL. With that being said, most teams will gain a game back as FTLCF has a break until the 16th of June.
George Acosta was nominated as USL League One Player of the Month. George is consistently proving himself on the field and the fans of the league have taken notice. He accumulated 45% of the votes in a landslide victory. Congrats, George!!
And thats a wrap for this weeks edition of Pink Smoke! What are your thoughts about the topics above? We want to hear from you! Feel free to reach out to us by clicking on any of the links below!!
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As always….
VAMOS MIAMI!!
✌️IMPC