Pivotal Matches This Weekend for Pirates

PANAMA CITY, FL— The impressive turnaround of the Panama City Pirates first season comes to a head this weekend as they host the current leaders and likely division champions Central Florida Kraze. The Orlando-area club comes to town for two games in two days beginning Saturday at 7:00 PM, and concluding this Sunday at 2:00 PM at Mike Gavlak Stadium in Panama City Beach. The Kraze stand in the way of the Pirates playoff hopes, which hinge on the club winning out the rest of the season and getting some help from other teams.
 
The Pirates lost four out of their first five games this year, including their first back-to-back set against the Kraze. Since then, the Scourge of the Emerald Coast has gone on to be undefeated in their last seven games and winning five of those. The surge has taken a team that was in seventh place at the time and has poised them to finish in the top half of the table, provided that they continue their stellar form.
 
However, history is not on the side of the Pirates. In the two matches they have played against the Kraze, the Pirates lost by an aggregate score of 5:1. The Kraze were the first team to give up a goal to the Pirates, when Jimmy McHenry netted the first Pirates tally in franchise history at the Seminole Soccer Complex. This weekend marks the first time that the Kraze will be visiting Mike Gavlak Stadium, a place that has turned out to be very unkind to visiting teams. The Pirates have a 4-1-1 record at home, and have outscored their opponents in those games a whopping 17:4. In addition, the Pirates have seen their game raised through changes in structure and positioning, as well as the much-improved play of men like Panama City local Consthandivine "CD" Harris, who has become the team's leading scorer.
 
The Kraze come into the match with the daunting task of playing their third and fourth games in seven days. After posting a 3-1 victory over the Palm Beach Pumas last night in Palm Beach, they return home on Thursday to face the Bradenton Academics, who have been the only team to defeat them this year. With the Academics being the only team that can still rob the Kraze of a championship, they will certainly be in fighting form when the two teams tangle on Thursday. Following that match, there will be no rest for the weary, as the Kraze turn around and play two days later in Panama City. The Pirates, having not played in two weeks, will almost certainly be well rested and come out with all cannons blazing.
 
This weekend is likely to be the measuring stick by which the Pirates will judge their inaugural season. Taking six points from the Kraze in these two matches will give the Pirates the confidence they need to win out the rest of their matches, and possibly sneak into the playoffs. With that in mind, these two matches are sure to be crowd pleasers.
 

Fans who attend Saturday night's match will receive half price tickets for the Sunday match. In addition, anyone under the age of twelve who wears a soccer jersey will receive $3.00 off their ticket. For any Bay County Youth Soccer player who wears their team's jersey, in addition to getting $3.00 off tickets, the Pirates will donate $1.00 to the Bay County Youth Soccer Association.