With the Florida Tropics having their United Premier Soccer League
home opener Sunday, the question is, can they make it 20 in a row?
The Florida Tropics SC Presented by Bond Clinic will kick off their second season in the UPSL on Sunday, Sept. 27 when they host Huracan FC at 6 p.m. at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale.
Florida went 18-0-0 en route to a national championship in the spring of 2019, but the
UPSL did not play this past spring because of the pandemic. But the Tropics are playing
this fall in the UPSL’s top division, and opened the year with a hard-fought 2-1 at the PSE
Conquistadores last Saturday in Bradenton.
The hosts actually opened the scoring – it was the first time ever in 15 regular season
UPSL games that the Tropics trailed – on a shot from outside the top of the box that
wormed its way inside the far post, but Florida rallied for two goals before half time to
account for all the scoring.
Victor Parreiras – the 2019 spring UPSL national Most Valuable Player – buried a penalty
kick opportunity to tie the score, and newcomer Kewin Duque got the game winner on
an assist from Corey Mills. Duque is new to the Tropics UPSL Division I side, but played
recently with the Tropics 2 team that played an abbreviated UPSL Division II schedule
earlier this fall.
“We know that we have a target on our backs this season, and we have to understand
that every team we play is going to give us their absolute best effort,” Coach Lucas
Teixeira said. “I’m proud of the way we fought back, and know going forward as we
come together again for the first time in almost 18 months that we have big efforts
ahead of us to get the result we are always looking for.”
It was the season opener for both teams. The Tropics will play a 12-game schedule, with
Sunday’s game against Huracan FC the first of five straight home games, including a
Saturday night Oct. 3 Polk County showdown with Winter Haven United FC. That game
will start at 7 p.m. Admission is free, parking is $10 for single-person cars and $20 for
vehicles with multiple occupants. The club provides live streams of all home games, and
select road games, at www.mycujoo.com.
For more information, visit www.fltropics.com or call 863-240-0101. The Tropics are also
the defending Eastern Conference champions of the Major Arena Soccer League, and
will start their fifth season in the MASL later this winter at the RP Funding Center in
Lakeland.
Following are the season results, remaining game schedule