JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The men's soccer edition of the River City Rumble will take place on Saturday night at Hodges Stadium. It will mark the 18th meeting between cross-town rivals Jacksonville and North Florida.
Both the Ospreys and the Dolphins will be seeking their first conference win in the crucial Atlantic Sun match tomorrow night. The two teams played 110 minutes of soccer last season and could not decide a winner, playing to a 1-1 draw. Saturday's contest can be viewed live on
A-Sun.TV and can be followed via
LIVE STATS. As always, fans can follow
@OspreyMSOC on twitter for in-game updates and all information on North Florida men's soccer.
Series History: The Ospreys and Dolphins have squared off against each other almost every year since 1994. They only gap in the series was from 1998 to 2000. Jacksonville has enjoyed most of the success, winning 10 of the 17 meetings. The last Osprey victory came in 2009 when they edged the Dolphins, 2-1 on the road. Jacksonville is 6-1 playing at Hodges Stadium with its only road loss coming in 2001.
Elusive First Win: Both teams enter Saturday's matchup seeking their first Atlantic Sun victory. Jacksonville is fresh off a 3-1 loss to Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday night while the Ospreys suffered a setback in their conference opener to Stetson on Saturday.
Home Cooking: The Ospreys will play their first game at home since August 31, after spending the entire month of September on the road. Playing in front of a record, season opening crowd, North Florida scored five goals against Florida Atlantic back on Aug. 29 and three more in a win over NJIT on Aug. 31. The two wins are the only two games at Hodges Stadium this season and the eight goals account for 73 percent of their goals on the year.
Scouting Jacksonville: The backbone of the Dolphins team this season has been the play of Marc Meny in goal this season. He leads the Atlantic Sun in saves with 41 and has tied for the league lead with three shutouts. He has played every minute of the Dolphins' first nine games and boasts a 1.89 goals against average. On offense, Jacksonville has relied on freshman striker, Ejiroghene Mrabure, who has tallied three goals and two assists in his first season. Classmate Allan Morgan is the team's top distributor and tied for the league lead with four assists.
Sunshine State Foes: Over the past two seasons, North Florida has enjoyed success against team from the state of Florida, boasting a 6-3-1 mark. The Ospreys have two wins this season against Florida schools in 2014 and recorded a Division I high, four against Sunshine State schools in 2013.
River City Coaching Products: North Florida Head Coach,
Derek Marinatos and first-year Jacksonville Assistant Coach Pat Cannon, each played high school soccer in Jacksonville. Marinatos attended The Bolles School while Cannon played at Fletcher.
| Team-by-Team Comparison |
| Team | 2014 Record | Goals | Assists | Points | Goals Against | Saves | Shutouts |
| North Florida | 3-4 | 11 | 9 | 31 | 119 | 26 | 1 |
| Jacksonville | 3-6 | 12 | 10 | 34 | 12 | 41 | 3 |
