By: Ryan Flynn
Two first-half goals and a stellar defensive performance in the second half helped Sarasota Paradise keep their playoff hopes alive on Saturday night, defeating Fort Wayne FC 3-1.
Fort Wayne nearly opened the scoring within the first minute, Taig Healy receiving a stolen pass and sending it to Kabiru Gafar in the box, but Alex Sutton met Gafar head-on to deny the home side an early lead.
The home side struck first in the 14th minute off a direct free kick, Michael Rempel sending a ball in just outside the eighteen-yard box that thumped off the right post and past a diving Alex Sutton to give Fort Wayne a 1-0 lead.
Sarasota nearly came level in the 20th minute, Anderson Rosa seeing his corner kick narrowly miss burying itself in the top left corner when a defender got a head on it.
Paradise would level in the 24th minute, off of a well executed high press. Sander Røed applied pressure to the Fort Wayne center back, causing an errant pass that Andres Rodriguez intercepted. Rodriguez squared the ball to Jonathan Bolanos. Bolanos’s initial strike was blocked off the line, but the follow up from Bolanos was fired into an open net to level the score at 1-1.
In the dying embers of the first half, the Paradise were able to take the lead. After thwarting a Fort Wayne attack, Romain Gall received a ball from Sander Røed and dribbled down the right side of the pitch. Gall played through an overlapping Kisa Kiingi, who brilliantly nutmegged a defender. before being dispossessed. Anderson Rosa was the first to react to the loose ball, taking a positive touch and curling the ball into the bottom corner. Rosa’s strike put his goal tally at 8 this season, putting the Paradise ahead and shifting all the momentum in their favor heading into halftime.
Fort Wayne would almost grab a quick equalizer two minutes later, Taig Healy putting a ball into Ryan Becher right in front of goal that Alex Sutton denied with a lunging stop, keeping Sarasota ahead as the halftime whistle.
Defense would become the focus of the second half for Paradise, as the squad came out of the locker room poised to protect their lead. Fort Wayne would press hard in the opening minutes of the half, but the Paradise defense would stay composed and force their opponents to rush their shots, resulting in no goals and keeping the scoreline 2-1 in favor of Sarasota.
Sarasota would get their insurance goal at the end of the game. In a desperation attempt to find an equalizer, Fort Wayne sent their goalkeeper into the box for the last set piece of the game. Alex Sutton came out and claimed the ensuing free kick with authority. Sutton demonstrated acute game awareness and was able to quickly punt the ball up the field to create a counter attack. Sutton’s ball was right in the path for Anderson Rosa, who brilliantly backheeled the ball to find the run of Paradise forward Garrett McLaughlin who took a positive touch and buried the ball into the open net from outside the 18 yard box, doubling the lead. The Paradise demonstrated their resilience and tenacity in the game, coming from behind in a must win game and taking three points on the road to keep their postseason hopes alive. The Paradise have a quick turnaround, hosting rivals FC Naples who are one point ahead of them in another must win clash.
STATS TO KNOW
Jonathan Bolanos: 0.72 xG, 1 shot assist, decisive in attack
Kisa Kiingi: 6 tackles, 6 interceptions, 0.8 challenge success, defensive rock
Andres Rodriguez: 0.2 xT, 1 shot assist, creative link in midfield
QUOTES
“I couldn’t be more proud of our team. It was a massive group effort to get three points from here, against a team that has been in very good form recently. Our whole staff works diligently to prepare for each game day, and the players are bought into the process of getting better each day; it is rewarding to be the coach for this team. Now we shift our focus to the rivalry game on Wednesday.” Head Coach Mika Elovaara
UP NEXT
The push for the playoffs continues for Paradise as they host in-state rival Naples FC in the Battle for Paradise on Wednesday, October 21 at 6:30 PM.