Florida

2024 Union II preseason: Florida phase

Published

2 years ago

February 18, 2024

Press Room

Photo: @PhilaUnionII

Union II played four matches during its Florida preseason, and unsurprisingly, the record is mixed.

Both the levels of the opposition and the levels of their own game rosters were mixed. They won the first against lesser competition, lost the next against a Division 2 side, won the third against a younger fellow Division 3 developmental team, and lost the last to Division 3 veterans.

Day date	Opponent	Result	League	Level
Tue, Feb. 6	Florida Premier FC	W 5 – 0	ECNL Boys	Amateur
Fri, Feb. 9	Tampa Bay Rowdies	L 4 – 1	USL Championship	Division 2
Wed, Feb. 14	Colorado Rapids 2	W 2 – 0	MLS NEXT Pro	Division 3
Sat, Feb. 17	Orlando City B	L 4 – 0	MLS NEXT Pro	Division 3

These two preseason scrimmages will occur after the side returns north.

Day date	Opponent	Venue	League	Level
Sun, Feb. 25	Loudoun United FC	Chester	USL Championship	Division 2
Fri, Mar. 1	Hartford Athletic	Hartford	USL Championship	Division 2

The 28-game regular season schedule opens at Subaru Park on Sunday, Mar. 17 at 3:00 p.m. against Toronto FC II.

A lean preseason roster

The collected data (see below) suggests that Union II both practiced and played with fewer than two full elevens until the first team left for Costa Rica. In no match were more than six substitutions reported. From the beginning, some players were asked to play full 90s.

We estimate that between signed professionals and academy amateurs, there were perhaps 15 or 16 players in camp, including keepers. Once the first team left, some of its deeper reserves stayed in Florida with Union II.

We have some potential explanations:

The total salary budget may have been divided more heavily in the first team’s favor in 2024 at the expense of the second team to provide greater first-team depth to cover deep runs in their three secondary competitions.
The U17 pool is now being depleted from both its top (as it always has been) and now its bottom, since the academy’s new U16 side may mean U16s are no longer “playing up” at the U17 level.
Given Academy Director Tommy Wilson’s role in building past professional second-team squads, his departure may have affected the acquisition of this year’s Union II players, although he would have helped with the trialists who went to Florida.

The strongest probable explanation arises from the variability of 2024’s first team schedule. Its roster size necessarily anticipates deep runs in all three of its secondary competitions. But were no such runs to materialize, a surfeit of players would exist if both rosters were fully staffed. There would be too many players for not enough game minutes.

Last season with a smaller first-team roster there were too many bodies. Once the Champions League was over, Brandan Craig was loaned out to try to get minutes (July 5). After the Leagues Cup had begun Andres Perea was likewise loaned (July 28).

Similarly, this year’s larger roster might easily see more mid-season and end-of-season loans away.

When players sit without playing, their roster asset values drop, a consideration for the club’s balance sheet. Balance sheets affect the club’s ability to get short-term financing, perhaps a contingency to consider when undertaking a building project such as phase two of the WSFS Sportsplex.

Schedule variation

The quantity of first-team games could vary from as many as 21 extra to as few as five. The calculation below assumes Open Cup participation will follow last year’s pattern, but there is no official confirmation of that.

Concacaf Champions Cup could add as many as nine games or as few as two.
Leagues Cup could add seven or two.
The U. S. Open Cup, five or one.

The first team’s currently healthy roster totals 26. It is expected to rise to 27 (José Riasco), and with luck will rise to 28 (David Vazquez). Two more are currently rehabbing from surgeries, one for a few months (Leon Flach, a torn pec) and the other for probably longer (Isaiah LeFlore, an ACL).

Union II’s roster sparseness helps ensure sufficient future minutes for its occupants’ proper development. It also tested the mental fortitude of those who had to play full 90s from the beginning, itself useful as both a growth opportunity and an evaluation.

The data

Utilizing social media, we collate below the minutes from players by position across the Florida matches and what levels of competition they faced. It is not certain that the data is fully complete.

Tactical shapes and individual positions are usually inferences but sometimes estimations. Only sometimes were substitutes concretely linked to whom they replaced. Players with asterisks are first-teamers. Players in italics are academy amateurs. Goals scored are indicated by superscripted “G”s. The remaining unidentified trialist is assumed to be — or have been — a professional.

Notes:

Francis Westfield is 2024’s Swiss Army knife in the defense and the midfield. He has played anywhere in front of the goalkeeper and behind the attacking mid, having added left back to his previously demonstrated versatility. He is also preseason’s Union II ironman being the only player accumulating all 360 available game minutes.
Both of Kyle Tucker’s goals were free kicks.
Cavan Sullivan’s date of birth makes him slightly less than 14 ½ years old.
At this writing, Jose Riasco is still rostered to Union II but is expected to sign with the first team.
We believe Trialist 2 has been recently-announced Union II defender Randy Meneses who is on loan for the season with a purchase option from LDUQuito’s U20s in Ecuador.
We believe that Trialist 1 is “Sequera” who was listed by surname as a substitute against Orlando, likely referring to 17-year-old Venezuelan attacking mid Giovanny Sequera who played at last fall’s Indonesian U17 World Cup and has not yet been officially announced by Union II. Delays in the United States might perhaps be related to international paperwork since P1 visas historically have been difficult to get for minor league soccer players but this has not been confirmed.

		Florida Premier FC Advertisement		Tampa Bay Rowdies		Colorado Rapids 2		Orlando City B Advertisement
Inferred Shapes		4-1-2-1-2		3-5-2		4-1-2-1-2		4-1-2-1-2
1	Andrew Rick	GK	75’	GK	90’	GK	90’	GK	90′
2	Jonathan Evans	GK	15’	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	Jack Andrus	LB	90’	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	Carlos Rojas	LCB^G	90’	—	—	DM	30’	RCB	49’
5	Gavin Wetzel	RCB	90’	LCB	90’	RB	15’	RB	49’
6	Francis Westfield	RB	90’	CCB	90’	LB	90’	LB	90′
7	Jamir Berdecio*	—	—	RCB	90’	RB	75’	RB	41’
8	Kyle Tucker	DM^G	90’	RDM^G	90’	DM	60’	DM	90′
9	CJ Olney	—	—	LWB	90’	LM	75’	—	—
10	Nick Pariano*	—	—	RWB	90’	RM	90’	AM	—
11	Antonios Horozoglou	LM^G	45’	—	—	LM?	15’	—	—
12	Trialist 3	LM?	45’	—	—	—	—	—	—
13	Alex Perez	RM	45’	LDM	54’	RM^G	45’	RM	41’
14	Randy Meneses	RM?	45’	LDM	36’	—	—	—	—
15	Giovanny Sequera	AM	45’	AM	90’	AM	30’	RM	49’
16	Cavan Sullivan	AM	45’	S	45’	AM	60’	S	49’
17	Edward Davis	S	45’	S	45’	S	30’	—	—
18	Ryan Zellefrow	S	45’	S	45’	—	—	—	—
19	Sal Olivas	S^GG	90’	S	45’	S	60’	S	90′
20	David Vazquez	—	—	—	—	AM^G	45’	S	41’
21	Neil Pierre	—	—	—	—	RCB	90’	RCB	41’
22	Olwethu Makhanya*	—	—	—	—	LCB	90’	LCB	90′
23	Sanders Ngabo*	—	—	—	—	—	—	LM	90′

Author: Tim Jones
Still learning soccer after nearly five decades. A southwestern Ohio buckeye transplanted to Chester County. Used to teach history, enjoys new ideas, sometimes bakes bread, is a sports fan, and loves apparently unconnected connections.

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Florida

South Florida farmers warn that freezing temperatures could lead to higher prices in the market as they brace for crop losses

Published

9 hours ago

February 2, 2026

Press Room

South Florida farmers warn that freezing temperatures could lead to higher prices in the market as they brace for crop losses

South Florida farmers are assessing damage after freezing temperatures swept across the region early Monday morning, with growers warning that the cold could soon lead to higher prices for fruits and vegetables.

At Kern Carpenter Nursery, owner Kern Carpenter said nearly 20% of his tomato crop was damaged by the overnight freeze.

“The wind died, and it got cold really fast. We did the best we could and still got burned,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter is not alone. Sam Accursio, a green bean farmer in South Florida, shared a video with CBS News Miami showing frost covering his plants just before sunrise.

“These plants were just like an ice cube. You could go up to them, and the leaves were crunchy,” Accursio said.

Accursio and his workers began watering crops before 1 a.m. in an effort to prevent frost damage, but hundreds of plants were still affected.

With another cold night in the forecast, farmers are preparing for more potential losses.

“They’re saying upper 30s, low 40s. We’re hoping we don’t have to crank up anything again,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter added that excess watering can also harm crops, creating another challenge for farmers trying to protect their fields.

At Robert Is Here, a popular South Florida fruit market established in 1959, shoppers may soon feel the impact.

Asked whether prices could increase, owner Robert Moehling Jr. said consumers should expect changes.

“100% you are going to feel it in the market. With the frost, it can cause damage, and having continuous days of frost makes it worse,” he said.

Accursio says green bean prices are especially vulnerable.

“In this particular case, the lack of product will probably drive the price up,” he said.

Despite the losses, some farmers say South Florida could help offset shortages caused by freeze damage in North and Central Florida.

Carpenter said he has already seen tomato prices rise and believes additional cold could make things worse.

“I would think in the next few weeks the prices would go up,” he said.

Farmers say they will need 48 to 72 hours to fully assess the extent of the damage and are still bracing for the impact of another cold night.

In:

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Florida

Marijuana petition group calls Florida ruling ‘premature’

Published

21 hours ago

February 2, 2026

Press Room

Marijuana petition group calls Florida ruling ‘premature’

Smart and Safe Florida was looking to get an adult-use recreational marijuana amendment on the 2026 ballot.

A petition group aiming to get recreational marijuana on Florida’s 2026 ballot says the state’s announcement of its failure is premature.
The group, Smart and Safe Florida, believes it will meet the signature requirement once all submitted petitions are counted.
Florida’s Secretary of State announced that the group failed to meet the nearly 881,000 verified signature threshold by the February 1 deadline.

A petition group pushing to get recreational marijuana on Florida’s 2026 November statewide ballot is saying the state’s announcement of its failure to gather enough signatures is “premature.”

Secretary of State Cord Byrd announced Feb. 1 that all 22 citizen-led proposed amendments to the state’s constitution failed to meet Florida law’s signature requirements.

Smart and Safe Florida, the group behind adult-use recreational pot, pushed back.

“We believe the declaration by the Secretary of State is premature, as the final and complete county by county totals for validated petitions are not yet reported,” a spokesperson for Smart and Safe Florida said. “We submitted over 1.4 million signatures and believe, when they are all counted, we will have more than enough to make the ballot.”

The group needed to have met 880,062 signatures by Feb. 1, but the Florida Division of Elections website only listed 783,592 verified signatures. For months, the number was slowly trickling upward, since the group had more than 662,000 verified in November.

The pot group faced several challenges while seeking to get its petition on the ballot, all stemming from a law the governor approved last year (HB 1205). It brought stricter penalties and deadlines for petition groups, and with it came increased costs to verify petitions by supervisors of elections, effectively making it more costly to gather signatures.

The law is currently being challenged in federal court by a number of petition groups, including Smart and Safe Florida, saying it restricts core political speech. A trial begins Feb. 9.

The law went into effect July 1; a federal judge agreed one provision restricting nonresidents and noncitizens from volunteering from gathering signatures would “impose a severe burden on political expression.”

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled that state officials couldn’t enforce that part, but a divided appeals court promptly upheld the law, disagreeing with arguments of free speech violations.

But that’s just one hurdle.

Smart and Safe Florida also was entangled in another lawsuit alleging that Byrd violated state-required procedures and was blocking the group’s ballot measure. They also filed against Byrd on a separate issue, accusing him of seeking to invalidate 200,000 petitions without legal basis, but a circuit judge sided with him.

The DeSantis administration had continually lambasted the marijuana proposal when it was on the ballot in the 2024 elections. He held events condemning the ballot measure and contended that Florida lawmakers wouldn’t be able to set guidelines on marijuana use after it passes.

More recently, Florida’s attorney general escalated its fight against the recreational pot campaign, by accusing Smart and Safe Florida of submitting fraudulent petitions and failing to inform law enforcement. The group countered, saying they complied with state law and reported any suspicions to the Secretary of State’s office.

Attorney General James Uthmeier reacted tongue-in-cheek on social media shortly after Byrd’s announcement, posting a GIF that looked like the opening of a Looney Tunes cartoon, but instead saying, “You hate to see it!”

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at SMatat@gannett.com. On X: @stephanymatat.

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Florida

Cold weather brings chaos, delays and cancellations to travelers at South Florida airports: “It’s a big mess”

Published

1 day ago

February 1, 2026

Press Room

Cold weather brings chaos, delays and cancellations to travelers at South Florida airports: “It’s a big mess”

People flying out of Miami International Airport knew there were going to be significant delays and cancellations due to the winter storm, but they didn’t know they would also be waiting in long lines before even heading inside to catch their flight.

“I mean, I get it, weather is weather. But I mean, if you look at this place, bags aren’t going to make the flights,” said traveler Logan Toby, who is heading to Dallas. “Hopefully, we make the flights.”

People flying out of MIA on Sunday were met by long lines. Already facing the fear that their flight would be impacted by winter weather, their nightmare started in the bag drop-off with a line stretching across the American Airlines ticketing area.

“It’s a big mess,” said Desiree Cedgwick, who is traveling to Salt Lake City.

Cedgwick had her sunny vacation impacted last week.

“Our flight got canceled from Phoenix to Charlotte. So they rerouted us a few different times,” she told CBS News Miami. “We finally made it to Charlotte a day later. Had to get on the cruise that day. We sat on the tarmac for four hours, missed our cruise by three minutes.”

When she got to MIA with her family and saw the baggage line, it was like reliving a nightmare all over again.

“My kids are very nervous to travel back — they keep asking me if their flight’s cancelled or if they’re going to get home,” Cedgwich said. “We’ll get home eventually.”

Passengers were eventually told that if their bag was tagged to be left in a designated area near the ticketing counter. Bags eventually piled up and sat as travelers made their way to another long line: TSA.

Marybel Ellen Killburn, who is traveling back home to Tennessee, decided to arrive hours before her flight

“We knew it was going to be impacted, so we went to Joe Stone Crab — an iconic meal. We just got here and we’re going with the flow,” she told CBS News Miami.