TROPICS TOP ONTARIO 7-6, SPLIT WEEKEND SERIES

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Turning the tables from a one-goal loss Saturday night to Ontario, the Florida Tropics rode a second-half scoring surge to a 7-6 win over the Ontario Fury Sunday in a Major Arena Soccer League game at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. 

The Tropics got two goals each from Zach Reget and VcMore Eligwe, along with a sensational scissors kick goal by Anthony Arico and another from Taylor Walter Bond who beat three defender to score, in improving to 3-1 on the season. Ricardo Carvalho got the game winner at the 10:26 mark of the final period. 

Franck Tayou, who had three goals in Ontario’s 6-5 win on Saturday, had four more in this one, including three in the final period as the Fury fought back from a 6-3 deficit. Justin Stinson and Thiago Goncalves got the other goals as Ontario fell to 2-1. 

Hugo Silva – who didn’t arrive at the arena until 30 minutes before kickoff because he was receiving medical care on a shoulder he hurt in Saturday’s game – picked up his third win of the 2021-22 campaign, facing 16 shots and making 10 saves, including one on Stinson on a clean breakaway. 

Florida will be off for the upcoming holiday weekend, and then host Utica City FC in a pair of Sunday afternoon games, the first one on Jan. 2 and the rematch on Jan. 9. Kickoff for both is at 3:05 p.m. and both games will be broadcast live on the league’s MASL Youtube channel. This year, Tropics fans can take advantage of the “Tropics Blitz” that will provide free general admission tickets to many of the 200 level seats at the RP Funding Center for the entire 2021-22 season thanks to the team’s sponsor as a thank-you for five years of support, and as a way of providing a great evening of family entertainment for parents and kids who have had their activities curtailed because of the ongoing pandemic. Vehicles with two or more persons will pay $20 to park, and then be able to take their parking receipt to the RP Funding Center box office for the same number of free tickets as occupants in the vehicle. Single occupant vehicles will pay just $10 for parking. 

For more information, visit www.fltropics.com.