Fort Lauderdale CF fell to FC Tucson 0-4 at DRV PNK Stadium on Sunday night.
Venton Evans led the team in the first minutes of the game offensively, as he provided the first shot on-target of the night. However, the tides quickly changed as the squad could not strike the opening goal of the match and instead found themselves in a 0-1 deficit as the visiting team, led by Gio Calixtro, scored early on at the six-minute mark. George Acosta continued the charge offensively as he battled, relentlessly striving to find the equalizer for his Club.
Controversy ensued at the 24-minute when a corner kick awarded to Tucson led to the referee signaling a handball call against Fort Lauderdale inside the penalty area, gifting Tucson the chance to extend the lead. The penalty would be converted moments later by Charlie Dennis.
Defensive difficulties continued to pile up for Fort Lauderdale as Tucson’s Shak Adams pressed the ball in the danger zone. Adams’ attempt ricocheted off goalkeeper Drake Callender’s hands, but traffic in the box gave Tucson’s Calixtro the chance to recover the ball and find the open goal to extend the lead to 0-3 at the 26-minute mark and into halftime.
Tucson’s Calixtro stacked on his third goal for the match at the 53-minute mark, increasing the lead to 0-4 for the visitors. Activity offensively for Fort Lauderdale pressed on throughout the rest of the match up to the final whistle, as a header by halftime substitute Shaan Hundal would result in the final on-target attempt this evening for the Club, but the hosts were unable to find a goal of their own.
Next up for Fort Lauderdale is a trip to the Peach State as they take on South Georgia Tormenta FC on the road at Erk Russell Park next weekend on Saturday, Aug. 28 at 8 p.m. ET.
