Tropics, Harrisburg complete trade that sends Reget, Walter Bond to Heat

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Florida Tropics and Harrisburg Heat have completed a three-player deal which will send forwards Zach Reget and Taylor Walter Bond to the Heat in exchange for Raphael Araujo and future considerations, the teams revealed today. No further details on the deal, per league and team policy, will be announced.

Reget, a former Major Arena Soccer League Rookie of the Year with the St. Louis Ambush in 2018-19 when he scored 22 goals, was acquired in an off-season trade that summer with Florida and has been with the Tropics ever since, appearing in 71 regular season and playoff games with 74 goals. He has 13 goals in 11 games this season which is presently tied for fourth overall in goal scoring in the MASL. 

Walter Bond is a long-time MASL standout, starting his career with the Chicago Mustangs in 2014-15, with stops in Tacoma, Cedar Rapids and three years with the San Diego Sockers before joining the Tropics as a free agent. In his career, he has appeared in 163 total regular season and playoff games with 160 points, including 118 goals. 

“We want to thank both players for their important contributions to our success over the past few seasons. They’ve been important to our growth, ” Head Coach Clay Roberts said. “But, with a series of recent moves – including bringing back Ricardo Diegues, Rainer Hauss, and Bruno Henrique and adding Mike Jones and Thiago Freitas --  we just felt more balance was needed to make sure we had the right mix of players on our roster and we think we are in good shape in that regard now.” 

Araujo is from Bound Brook, New Jersey, and is playing his second season in the MASL for the Heat.  He had seven goals in 15 starts last season, and so far in 2022-23 has three goals and three assists in nine appearances. 

Like Reget, he was a member of the United States National Futsal team that competed in  in the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2021 in Lithuania and the 2022 national team that won the Umag Cup in Croatia last August.

“He can be a target or a second forward. He’s a very technical, hard working player, exactly what we’re looking for,” Roberts said. “He can score, keep possession and defend.”

Araujo attended and played college soccer at New Jersey City University and Rutgers-Newark University where he was the first All American in school history. Throughout his college career he earned two All-NJAC first team awards and NJAC Offensive player of the year. In just two seasons he set Rutgers-Newark career marks for goals (46), points per game (2.37), goals per game (1.07).

The Tropics are in the midst of a five-game road trip, with games in Dallas, Friday, Feb. 10 in Kansas City and Saturday, Feb. 11 in St. Louis before returning home for two straight at the RP Funding Center. That includes a Sunday, Feb 19 date against the Kansas City Comets and a visit from the Tacoma Stars on Sunday, Feb. 26.

Tickets for all home games are available starting at just $7 per game by calling the arena box office at 863-834-8111. Although tickets are also available online at www.rpfundingcenter.com, service fees are significantly higher through Ticketmaster as opposed to calling the box office directly. Tickets are also available on game day at the box office.