By Jason Lind

WHO

New York Cosmos (0-1-0 Fall, 5-6-0 Overall) vs. Jacksonville Armada FC (0-0-3, 3-3-7)

WHEN & WHERE

Saturday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET | Community First Park in Jacksonville, Fla.

WATCH & FOLLOW

• Official Viewing Party at Buffalo Wild Wings in Westbury, N.Y. 
  • Come early - we'll be showing the U.S. Men's National Team vs. Cuba in the Gold Cup Quarterfinals at 5 p.m. ET!
• ONE World Sports
• ESPN3
• @NYCosmos_Match and #JAXvNYC on Twitter

THE STAKES

Cosmos: The boys in green have an undefeated season to protect at Community First Park on Saturday night. The league unbeaten streak stands at 11 games; the Cosmos finished their title-winning Spring Season 5-5-0 (WDL) and opened the fall with a 1-1 draw against Indy Eleven at home on July 5.

A single point separated the Cosmos and Tampa Bay Rowdies at the apex of the Spring Season standings, and now a single point separates them on the combined table. New York (21 points) sits between Tampa Bay (22) and Carolina/Minnesota (18 each) in the race for the best overall record, but the Cosmos have a game in hand against the Rowdies and two against the RailHawks and United FC.

The Cosmos have already punched their ticket to The Championship, the NASL’s four-team postseason tournament, in November. Now they’re battling for the right to host a potential postseason final at home.

Armada FC: Three wins in the expansion side’s opening five matches were an impressive precedent to set. But Jacksonville is winless across all competitions since their 1-0 victory against Indy Eleven on May 9. They sit in last place for the Fall Season and second to last in the combined standings. The Fall Season has opened with three goalless road losses for the Armada FC: 2-0 to Ottawa on July 5, 1-0 to Atlanta on July 11 and most recently a humbling 4-0 defeat in Minnesota on Wednesday night.

So while they’ll be operating on a short week, Armada FC get to seek some much-needed respite in Jacksonville, where they’re 3-1-1 in NASL play. But the home team will have to do without at least two of its leading goal scorers. 

Pascal Millien remains with the Haitian national team after helping his country clinch a berth in the 2015 Gold Cup Quarterfinals. Alhassane Keita was shown a red card in the first half against Minnesota for a flailing collision with Loons goalkeeper Sammy Ndjock that saw Keita's boot connect with Ndjock's face. Meanwhile playmaking midfielder Marcos Flores came off the pitch at NSC Stadium grabbing his leg 10 minutes prior to Keita's ejection. There could be a heavy attacking burden on former Cosmos winger Jemal Johnson to make Jacksonville dangerous going forward on Saturday night.

MATCHUP HISTORY

The Cosmos have never played a road game against the Armada FC. The sole previous meeting between these two clubs ended in a 3-3 draw at Shuart Stadium on June 13. New York built a two-goal lead but Jacksonville scored three times in the second half to steal a point away from home. The draw, however, was enough for the Cosmos to clinch the spring title and secure a postseason spot.

NOTES

• Walter Restrepo’s goal on July 5 made him the ninth Cosmos player to score a goal in an NASL game this year. Raúl still holds the team lead with four scores. Lucky Mkosana and Leo Fernandes each have three.
• The bye week came early in the Fall Season for the Cosmos. With last weekend off, the team now enters a two-game jaunt away from New York. After Saturday night’s road encounter with Jacksonville, a second visit to “The Mike” this year is in store. New York will face Indy on July 25, then return to Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University for a matchup with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on August 2.
• Two of Armada leading goal scorer Pascal Millien’s four goals this year came against the Cosmos on June 13, but he’ll be playing a different game in Baltimore when New York and Jacksonville kick off. The Haitian international helped his country reach the 2015 Gold Cup Quarterfinals. Haiti is scheduled to face Jamaica at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.

QUOTES

"Getting back into the league was good for us. Our game against Indy gave us the opportunity to give minutes to guys who have worked hard to earn them, and I thought they performed well. Indy did some good things. It was important to not lose at home, and we have to keep on building from this game."

-Head coach Giovanni Savarese

"We're going to go over the video from our last game, look at the things we did wrong and the things we did right, then fix the mistakes. Hopefully we'll be able to get the three points in this game."

-Midfielder Sebastián Guenzatti