Men’s professional soccer has officially returned to the First Coast as Sporting Jax kicked off its inaugural season in the USL Championship League on Feb. 21. The men’s team hosted Charleston Battery in their preseason debut at Hodges Stadium and came away with a 2-1 victory.
Sporting Jax scored the first goal in under a minute of the opening half. Charleston Battery evened the score with a goal of their own before halftime. Sporting Jax had the only goal of the second half, which was scored by captain Kieran Sadlier.
Charleston Battery largely controlled possession throughout the first half and looked like the better team for much of the game. However, Mark Warburton, head of soccer and sporting director, did not seem worried about his team’s performance.
“It’s a group of players coming together and learning to be a unit and that takes time,” he said.
Zeke Soto echoed Warburton’s sentiment. “We are still getting to know each other, but the ceiling is very high for us,” said Soto.
Sadlier, along with the rest of his team, is very excited to be in Jacksonville and to connect with the fan base.
“I am very excited to be here, and we want to grow with our fans,” he said.
Sporting Jax will kick off their regular season on Saturday, March 7, at Hodges Stadium against Hartford Athletic.
