Undefeated, league-leading Tropics hit the road for pair in St. Louis this weekend

 LAKELAND, Fla. –  After opening the 2021 Major Arena Soccer League season with five straight home wins, the Florida Tropics will hit the road for a pair of games in St. Louis this weekend, matching up against the Ambush Friday in a 7:35 p.m. (CST) kickoff with the rematch coming Sunday, Jan. 31 at 3:05 p.m.

It is a matchup of the top two teams in the league, with Florida coming in at 5-0, and St. Louis at 3-2. The Tropics took a pair from St. Louis at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland Jan. 2 and 3 to start the 2021 season, recording wins of 4-1 and 7-5. Ricardo Carvalho assisted on all four goals in the Tropics first win, and Florida got a three-goal hat trick from newcomer Ian Bennett in the rematch.

Florida is led by Bennett – on loan to the Tropics for this season only since the Milwaukee Wave are not playing because of the pandemic restrictions in Wisconsin – who has nine goals and four assists. Goalkeeper Hugo Silva lowered his league-leading goals against average to 3.34 after posting an 8-0 shutout of the Dallas Sidekicks on Jan. 16, the last time the Tropics have taken to the field.

Broadcasts of both games will be available on a pay-per-view basis ($7.99 per game) at www.facebook.com/MASLsoccer/events.

After this weekend, the Tropics will be off until the Sidekicks host Florida on Feb. 12, before the Tropics return home to meet Tacoma (Feb. 18), San Diego (Feb. 19) and Ontario (Feb 21) as the RP Funding Center hosts six MASL games in four days,. 

The league is announcing schedules only a month at a time because of the pandemic restrictions, but the final games of the regular season will be played by April 18.

Single game tickets are available through the team’s Facebook page (click on the event link), or by calling 863-240-0101. Tickets will also be available gameday at the RP Funding Center box office. The team and arena have devised a socially distanced seating plan that can accommodate approximately 1,500 fans per game. Facial coverings will be required for those in attendance.