Team plays first match in Inter Miami CF Stadium history; Hands professional debuts to nine players
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (July 18, 2020) - Fort Lauderdale CF launched its inaugural season tonight with its first match in USL League One. The team fell to a 0-2 loss to Greenville Triumph SC in a match that kicked off at 7 p.m. ET at Inter Miami CF Stadium.
The match marked the first in the history of Inter Miami CF Stadium. The new stadium sits in Fort Lauderdale next to the Inter Miami Training Center, the Club’s elite 50,000-square-foot training center; the facilities are also home to Inter Miami’s MLS team, as well as the Inter Miami CF Academy. Inter Miami CF Stadium will continue to serve as the permanent home of Fort Lauderdale CF after Inter Miami moves to the proposed Miami Freedom Park site.
Fort Lauderdale CF handed professional debuts to defender Frank Nodarse, and Inter Miami CF Academy products Francisco Raggio, Andres Cardenas and Edison Azcona as they lined up in the starting eleven. Four more Academy products made their professional debuts off the bench as defender Ian Fray, midfielder Joshua Saavedra and forwards Jason Buckner and Dairon Reyes came on in the second half match; defender Christian Lue Young also made his professional debut in the second half.
The team’s other starters - goalkeeper Dylan Castanheira, defenders Brian Rosales, Modesto Mendez and Sami Guediri, midfielders Servando Carrasco and Blaine Ferri, and forward Ricky Lopez-Espin - brought previous professional experience into their Club debuts.
Fort Lauderdale initiated much of the attacking danger in the early stages of the match, beginning with a13th minute header from team captain Servando Carrasco that floated just over the bar after a precise corner delivery. The team continued to put pressure on the visitors in the 22nd minute when 16-year-old midfielder Azcona curled a right-footed shot from the top of the box towards the bottom right corner of the net, only for the Greenville keeper to make a sprawling save; the ball deflected out to the feet of forward Lopez-Espin whose follow-up shot was also saved.
It was Greenville, however, that struck first in the final moments of the first half. In the third minute of stoppage time Alex Morell controlled a long ball over the top and curled a shot into the bottom right corner of the net to give Greenville the 0-1 lead.
The visitors consolidated their lead in the opening moments of the second half, as a cross reached Jake Keegan in the box who headed it in for a 0-2 lead in the 47th minute. Greenville held onto their lead for the duration of the match, ending with a 0-2 victory at Inter Miami CF Stadium.
Fort Lauderdale CF Head Coach Jason Kreis was on duty for the U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team leaving Darren Powell, Inter Miami CF Director of Player Development, to serve as Head Coach for the match. Powell will serve as Head Coach for all matches in which Kreis is unavailable.
