photo courtesy: Adrestia FC/Kevin Carrion
An impressive 3-0 win on Saturday evening at Doral Meadow Park confirmed Adrestia FC’s place into the UPSL Florida South Playoffs.
With the regular season nearing completion the familiar name of Miami United tops the Florida South D1 table. Eight of the nine teams qualify for the post season tournament but the win for Adrestia confirmed their place as Miami Sun were beaten 3-2 in a match later that evening vs City Soccer FC. That result also meant that despite losing, Florida Fusion will also make it into the championship tournament.
A pleasant evening’s weather and the nice surroundings of Meadow Park combined to make perfect conditions for an entertaining and engaging contest. A small but safely socially distant crowd was treated to some great soccer and a game that was a bit closer than the 3-0 scoreline suggests. Adrestia look the lead early in the game thanks to a confident penalty scored by David Mizrahi. The early goal raised a response from Fusion who had their chances, particularly down the right hand side where Nahim Fernandez looked lively. Center forward Victor Belandria was also a threat and despite a few good crosses Fusion couldn’t create a clear chance for their #9.
Adrestia doubled their lead at the end of the first half. A well taken goal by Michael Lawrence who latched on to a loose ball and finished calmly after the Fusion keeper got caught in no man’s land. There was no shortage of chances and the two goalkeepers were kept busy in an open and attacking game. Fusion came flying out of the blocks in the second 45 and despite piling the pressure on could not solve the Adrestia defense. Center back Sime Ludner had a great game for Adrestia and played an important part in the clean sheet for his team.
The third goal came near the end of the game. The Fusion defense looking for offside from a free kick but Cameron McDonald had perfect timing to finish from point blank range. Fusion will have been disappointed to concede from a penalty and two lapses in concentration but they can hold their heads high for their attacking approach, they never gave up on the game. Adrestia face table-topping Miami United in their final regular season game next weekend. Florida Fusion have games against Soccer Soldiers and Port St. Lucie United.
