Fort Lauderdale CF filled up the stat sheet this evening as the team secured its second victory at home this season, defeating FC Tucson 5-1 on Sunday night at DRV PNK Stadium.
The squad, looking to put last week’s loss against Union Omaha in the rearview mirror, quickly opened the scoring in the first two minutes. George Acosta delivered a perfectly timed assist to a sprinting Abel Caputo. Caputo struck a shot and after a deflection off of Tucson goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley the ball bounced into the back of the net for the first goal of the match.
Mere minutes later, on the other side of the pitch, FC Tucson found a chance for an equalizer in the form of a penalty as a foul was called in the box. The penalty attempt by Tucson’s Franco Pérez was aimed at the center of the goal, but one of many brilliant saves tonight from Drake Callender, who is on loan from Inter Miami, kept the score 1-nil.
While Callender held the fort down for his team defensively, in attack the ball found the back of the net for the team once more in the first half. Acosta’s effort from a free kick allowed Christian Lue Young to pounce on the deflection just outside the six-yard box, finding the right position to score by striking the ball right above the outstretched hands of the goalkeeper, increasing the lead to 2-0 for Fort Lauderdale at the 39-minute mark.
In the second half, the relentless attacking efforts of Acosta were rewarded as Noah Allen hit a cross that was deflected to his teammate as he waited on the edge of the box to strike. The result was a powerful strike by Acosta that glided towards the bottom corner of the net, punching his first goal for the season, and extending the lead to 3-0 at the 47-minute mark.
Tucson aimed to regroup and regain energy as the team made a series of substitutions that seemingly energized the visitors. Tucson’s Joao Delgado managed to secure a goal for his team to make it 3-1 at the 74-minute mark.
Fort Lauderdale, however, seemed determined to secure the victory and never took its foot off the gas. Just two minutes later, Venton Evans surged through the opposition to run onto an inch-perfect through ball from Ignacio Poplawski before using his control to slow down, maneuver his way around a defender and swing his left foot to net a fourth goal for the home team.
Acosta and Evans would continue to make their mark on the game as Acosta pushed the ball forward, finding Evans between defenders, but Evans found enough room to secure a second goal of the night at the 87-minute mark, increasing Evan’s goal total to three for the season, the second-most for the team. Acosta, meanwhile, secured his team-leading third assist for the season. After four minutes of stoppage time, the final score for the match remained intact with an emphatic 5-1 win for the hosts.
Next up for Fort Lauderdale is an evening match on the road against Chattanooga Red Wolves SC in CHI Memorial Stadium on Saturday, May 22 at 7 p.m. ET.
