Tropics will look for 20th win in a row this Sunday at home after road win to open UPSL season

AUBURNDALE, Fla. – 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 (0-1-0) 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 (1-0-0) 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 and current standings in the UPSL’S Southeast Conference Florida West Division:

Sept. 19    Florida Tropics 2, PSE Conquistadores 1

                  Scorers: Parreiras, Duque (Mills)

Sunday, Sept. 27 vs. Huracan FC, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 3, vs. Winter Haven United FC, 7 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 11 vs. Dragon City FC, 6 p.m.

Sunday, Oct 18 vs. PSE Conquistadors, 6 p.m.

Sunday, November 1 vs. Sporting Tampa Bay FC, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 7 at St. Petersburg Aztecs FC, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 14 at Huracan FC, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 21 @ Winter Haven United FC, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 28 @ Dragon City FC, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5 vs. St. Petersburg Aztecs, 7 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 19 at Sporting Tampa Bay FC, 6 p.m. 

                                                    W    L    D    GF    GA  PTS

Winter Haven United FC          1    0     0      5      0    3

St. Petersburg FC Aztecs        1    0    0       4     1    3

Florida Tropics                          1    0    0       2    1     3

PSE Conquistadores                0    1    0       1    2    0

Sporting Tampa Bay FC          0    1    0       1    4    0

Huracan FC                               0    1    0       0    5    0

Dragon City FC                         0    0    0       0    0    0

ABOUT THE FLORIDA TROPICS SC: Founded in 2016, the Florida Tropics SC Presented by Bond Clinic fields teams in both the United Premier Soccer League (outdoor at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale) and Major Arena Soccer League (indoor at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, the highest level of professional arena soccer in the world). The Tropics are starting their second season of UPSL play, and will start their fifth season in the MASL as defending Eastern Conference champions this winter.

ABOUT BOND CLINIC: Founded in 1948 by Dr. Benjamin, Bond Clinic, P.A. is proud to be one of the first businesses established in downtown Winter Haven.  They are a multi-specialty medical group, currently offering 28 specialties and over 90 providers.  Bond Clinic has 10 campuses which are located in the heart of Central Florida and our mission is to provide quality health care in a compassionate, ethical and efficient manner to this region.  In addition, we are committed to our community and driven to increase access to medical care while reducing the cost to our patients.