In the 'Vic' of time, UPSL 2019 Playoff MVP Victor Parreiras makes trip for finals weekend

LOS ANGELES -- There's a chance the Florida Tropics roster could get a significant boost in its quest for the second straight United Premier Soccer League Spring championship.

Victor Parreiras, the Spring 2019 regular season and playoff Most Valuable Player for the UPSL, will be available for selection tonight when the Tropics meet New York Contour United in the second of two league semi-final playoff games in Los Angeles.

Parreiras dressed for only a handful of regular season outdoor games in 2021 after recovering from a sports hernia surgery at the end of the Major Arena Soccer League season this spring. However, a setback forced Parreiras back to the sideline for the end of the regular season and all five of the Tropics playoff games so far.

One of the original Tropics players from its inaugural 2016-17 MASL season -- as is Tropics Coach J.P. Reyes -- Parreiras is  MASL Second Team all star and is the Tropics all time leading points scorer in Florida's five years in the MASL with  69 goals and 61 assists.

In 2019, he led the Tropics to a perfect 18-0-0 mark and the UPSL Spring crown. There was no Spring 2020 season because of the Covid 19 pandemic, so Florida remains as the defending champions going into the weekend.

He started every game in 2019, netting 12 goals and adding 10 assists. When on the pitch, he usually is the Tropics player to take corner kicks and free kicks. He assisted on the game-winning goal in the 2019 semi-finals, and scored one of the franchise's most dramatic goals ever, finishing a great individual effort at the top of the box to beat two defenders and tie the game in second-half stoppage time in the finals. The Tropics went on to win the championship on penalty kicks, one of which was a conversion by Parreiras.

"While it's great to have Victor available for selection, we've only gotten this for because each and every player on our dress list understands their roles and have bought into that 100 percent," Reyes said. "That will continue to be the case this weekend. It will take a total team effort to come home with the result we all want, and our players totally understand that."

Friday night's game will begin at 11 p.m. EST (8 Pacific Standard Time), and will be streamed live at elevensports.com