Pensacola to host title showdown Sunday
Ten-and-one Pensacola FC will host 10-1 Union 10 FC of Daphne on Sunday to determine who will be the first League for Clubs Gulf Coast Conference champions.
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? The soccer equivalent of that rhetorical question could be answered Sunday when Pensacola FC hosts Union 10 FC in the first-ever League for Clubs’ Gulf Coast Conference championship match.
While some fans wanted an all-Florida final — a third match between Panhandle 850 Cup rivals Pensacola and Tallahassee — that hope ended when shorthanded Union 10 outlasted the Battle Lions 3-1 in extra time Wednesday in Daphne, Ala. Meanwhile, the Pelicans cruised to a ho-hum 3-0 win against Gaffa FC in the other semifinal, its third victory against the Mississippi team this season.
Pensacola coach Dean Logan said the Pelicans are “ready and excited” to represent PFC against Union 10.
“They share the same record as us, so we know that they will be a tough opponent,” he said. “They have some players who are really talented, so we won’t take it lightly. We understand that it’s a final, and we will be ready.”
Logan said fans should expect Pensacola to continue to play high-energy football.
“We have always been an entertaining team, and you won’t expect anything less,” he said. “We just have to execute in all moments of the game and limit any threats that they may possess.”
Division champs are evenly matched
On paper, the teams seem well-matched. PFC and the Union are both 10-1, they were the conference’s East and West division champions, respectively, and neither has lost since May. Pensacola scored 45 goals (tied with Tallahassee SC for best in the conference) and conceded a conference low five scores; the Pelicans’ +40 goal differential also topped the conference.
Union 10 scored 40 goals, third most behind PFC and Tallahassee. They gave up nine, second to Pensacola, for a third-best goal differential of +31 (Tallahassee had +34).
The Union — created by the merger of Mobile United and Gulf Coast Rangers in 2022 — has won nine straight since losing 3-4 at Gaffa FC in Ridgedale, Miss., a suburb of Jackson, on May 29. It beat Gaffa two days later on its home pitch at Village Park in Daphne.
The Pelicans lost 1-0 at home to arch-rival Tallahassee on May 25 but turned the tables on the Battle Lions with a 2-0 win June 11 at Gene Cox Stadium. That win not only evened the regular-season series but also gave PFC its fifth-straight Florida Panhandle 850 Cup, a challenge trophy only Pensacola has lifted since it was introduced in 2021 by supporters of the Pelicans, Lions, and Florida Roots. The Roots, based in Panama City, didn’t field a men’s team in 2025.
Players to watch
Josh Bynoe (University of Mobile) led Union with nine goals, tied with Pensacola’s Bruno Marques (University of the Cumberlands) for second in the conference; Hardy Lewis (Delta State University) of Gaffa had 10. Noah Miller (University of Mobile), with six goals, and Alejo Binaghi (University of Mobile), with four, add danger to the Union attack. Josiah Fontenot (University of West Florida), eight goals, and Axel Gravel (Georgia Southwestern University), five, are among Pensacola’s scoring threats.
Kickoff is at 6 p.m. Sunday at Ashton Brosnaham Stadium. The winner will play the Texas Conference champions Saturday or Sunday at the home field of the higher-seeded team. Austin United FC will play FC Dallas U23s this weekend to determine the Texas champion.
Union 10 FC 3, Tallahassee 1
This semifinal between the West Division-champion Union and East runners-up Tallahassee ended regular time at Village Park in Daphne tied 1-1 and went to extra time. Albert Kidomo (United States Sports Academy) scored the eventual game-winner for the Union in the 105th minute and Jeffrey Girukwishaka (Southern Union State Community College) added one for good measure in the 120th minute.
Bynoe put the home team ahead in the 19th minute, but the Battle Lions got an equalizer from Braeden Paul (Enterprise State Community College) 15 minutes later.
Union midfielder Noah Miller earned yellow cards in the 50th and 57th minutes, earning a red card and automatic ejection, leaving U10FC shorthanded the remainder of the match.
The Battle Lions finished the season 8-2-1.
UNION 10 FC — Sam MacDonald; Guido Solaro, Austin Davis, Calum Kearney, Justin Long; Alejo Binaghi, Kipper Miller; Noah Miller; Jeb Scarbrough, Josh Bynoe, Lucas Ros. BENCH — Albert Kidomo, Grantham Morgan, Jameson Bryant, Jeffrey Girukwishaka, Lucas Joiner, Mauricio Valdes Miranda, Maximillian Reger, Ramez Hasan
TALLAHASSEE — Allbranly Gue, Austin Jepson, Bennett Mitchell, Braeden Paul, Connor Parry, Diego Sanchez, Dillon Hunter, Jakob Santiago, Julian Marcos. BENCH — Aaron Sindhar, Caleb Elistene, Erik De Kok, Jiang Ziyue, Mirai Sato, Mounir Guebre, Zuri Robertson.
GOALS — Bynoe, U10, 19’; Paul, TSC, 34’; Kidomo, U10, 105’; Girukwishaka, U10, 120’
YELLOW CARDS — U10: Davis, N. Miller (2), Kearney. TSC: Parry, Paul, Mitchell
RED CARDS — N. Miller, U10, 57’
Pensacola 3, Gaffa FC 0
The Pelicans almost casually dispatched Gaffa FC in its conference semifinal Wednesday at Ashton Brosnaham Stadium. PFC beat the Mississippi team twice in the regular season, 4-2 in the Magnolia State and 3-0 in Florida, so confidence wasn’t an issue. Elliott Rimmer (Mississippi College), a veteran center back for Gaffa, was ejected in the 19th minute for hitting a Pensacola player while fighting for position on a corner kick. That left the visitors to play a man down for more than 70 minutes, and the Pelicans noticeably played with less urgency. Logan said they seemed less aggressive because they were patiently trying to find a way through Gaffa’s condensed defense.
“Every game and opponent will always be different,” he said. “The opponent will present different challenges that you have to be able to deal with and manage. Our goal is to always control the tempo of the game. That will mean at times being patient and waiting for the right moments to execute. Gaffa in particular was playing in a low defense block, so it wasn’t always easy to penetrate. The guys were really disciplined and had to pick the right opportunities during the game.”
Midfielder Campbell Young (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) scored the eventual game-winner for Pensacola in the 14th minute, captain Michael Lightbourne (Missouri State University) converted an assist from Baylen Young (Davidson College) in the 40th and Axel Gravel (Georgia Southwestern University) made it 3-0 in the 90th minute with another assist from Baylen Young.
Gaffa ended its season with 6-5 overall record.