Tropics looking to extend winning streak in home openers
LAKELAND — When the Florida Tropics open the home portion of their 2021-22 Major Arena Soccer League schedule this weekend, they’ll be looking to extend an impressive streak.
The Tropics have never lost a home opener since joining the league in 2016, going 5-0 in opening games at the RP Funding Center, where they will host the Ontario Fury in a 5:05 p.m. kickoff Saturday.
The Tropics come into the game at 2-0 after winning in Baltimore on Dec. 4, 6-4 , followed less than 24 hours later by an impressive 7-1 road win against Utica City FC. With their win over the Blast, Florida has never lost a season opener in their history either, now a perfect 6-0.
Keeping their home-opening win streak intact won’t be easy. The Fury (1-0) feature the best player in the MASL in Franck Tayou, and advanced tho the league’s championship series last spring before falling to the champion San Diego Sockers, who had eliminated the Tropics in the first-round of the playoffs.
Tropics fans will see plenty of familiar faces on the floor Saturday, including all-time leading scorer Victor Parreiras, two-time second team MASL all star goaltender Hugo Silva, and 2019-20 MASL Defender of the Year Drew Ruggles, all of whom were free agents after last year.
Also re-signed to new deals was forward Zach Reget, who scored four goals in Florida’s first two games, and all-star forward Ricardo Carvalho. Over the past two years, the Tropics are 28-6 in the regular season – best in the entire MASL.
But two springs ago, the playoffs were canceled because of the Covid 19 outbreak. San Diego’s two game sweep of Florida on a neutral field last spring, with the Sockers winning one game in overtime and the second by just a lone goal, means the Tropics are still looking for their first ever home playoff game this year, and first ever playoff win.
“We feel like we have some unfinished business for sure,” said Head Coach Clay Roberts, who comes into this weekend’s games with a 54-50 career record. “That’s why it was important to keep our core, key players in place for this season and beyond. They have proven they have what it takes to bring a championship to Polk County, but we know there are seven or eight teams in the MASL this year that can legitimately stake a claim to a title this year, so we need to bring our top game every game starting Saturday.”
The Fury and Tropics will hook up again at 3:05 p.m. on Sunday. The team’s unusual schedule will keep them home for another seven straight games with January weekend doubleheaders against the Harrisburg Heat and Dallas Sidekicks, two single games against Eastern Division foe Utica, and a single game against the St. Louis Ambush on Jan. 30. The team’s next road game isn’t until Feb. 12 in Dallas.
Fans can get free general admission tickets to all home games this year. After paying to park, they can take their receipt to the arena box office to exchange that for the same number of tickets equal to the number of occupants in the parking vehicle.
Full details on the team’s roster, schedule and news including the new ticket offer can be found at www.fltropics.com
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Tropics looking to extend winning streak in home openers
