Chaotic finish: After a blown three-goal halftime lead that head coach Liam Fox termed “absolutely unacceptable,” Sporting Club Jacksonville salvaged a 4-4 draw with Rafferty Pedder’s 89th-minute goal against USL Championship Western Conference leader San Antonio FC on May 27.
Defensive meltdown: Sporting Jax entered the locker room at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium up 3-0, nearing its first-ever league win. But the lead dissolved in nine minutes: San Antonio’s Dmitrii Erofeev scored after Nelson Flores Blanco tackled the ball from Edgardo Rito in the penalty area, Christian Sorto curled a brilliant shot into the top corner three minutes later and Akeem O’Connor-Ward finished Jorge Hernandez’s assist amid defensive chaos in the 54th minute.
Pedder salvages point: After repeatedly testing Sporting Jax keeper Christian Olivares, San Antonio (5-1-6) seized a 76th-minute lead when Sorto controlled the ball and blasted home off a Flores Blanco assist. But with barely a minute to play, Sporting Jax’s Tyshawn Rose and Dida Armstrong exchanged passes on the left wing and Pedder arrived in perfect timing for a crisp, low, game-tying goal.
Fast first half: Sporting Jax’s start was the club’s best to date. Six minutes in, Pedder spun around San Antonio’s Mikey Maldonado and surged through midfield to set up Emil Jaaskelainen, whose shot deflected in off defender Daniel Barbir. Kieran Sadlier then converted two penalty kicks, the first for Rece Buckmaster’s trip on Tyshawn Rose, the second after a more dubious foul whistled on Richard Sanchez when referee Edson Carvajal ruled that the San Antonio keeper had taken down Pedder.
Quick free kicks: The Sporting Jax men had never before led a league game by more than one goal but, at 0-8-2, remains the league’s last winless team. … Jordan Rossiter, Antonio Gomez and Wan Kuzain received yellow cards for Sporting Jax. … The game is the highest-scoring draw in Jacksonville professional soccer since Oct. 22, 2017, when the Jacksonville Armada blew a 3-1 lead against the New York Cosmos in a North American Soccer League game that finished 4-4.
They said it: “The biggest problem has been finding that level of consistency. Until we get that, we’re going to have more nights like this.” — Fox.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sporting Jax men salvage draw after defensive collapse. What happened?
Reporting by Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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