Game day: Tropics look to take first place again with road trip to North County United

The Lakeland Tropics will look to regain first place in the USL Premier Development League's southeast division tonight when they hit the road to take on North County United.

The two teams played to a 3-3 tie several weekends ago at Bryant Stadium in Lakeland, with Ricardo Diegues getting a goal in the 88th minute to salvage a point, one minuter after the United had gone up 3-2.

The Tropics are 4-1-1 with 13 points, trailing just the SIMA Aguilas who are 4-0-2, in first with 14 points. The Aguilas defeated Lakeland 2-0 last Friday, and the two will rematch on Saturday, June 30 on SYKES Field at Bryant Stadium.

North County is 2-1-1 in fourth place in the division, and come in after a 1-0 home win against The Villages SC, who were undefeated going into that match. The Buffalo are 3-1-1 and in third place in the division.

Diegues and Juan Tejada continue to lead the Tropics in scoring with four goals each. They both had goals in the tie against the United. Ramzi Toure had the third Lakeland goal.

Next up for Lakeland is a visit by The Villages SC to SYKES Field this Saturday for a 7 p.m. start. Miami City FC will be in town June 23 before the showdown with SIMA concludes a three-game home stand on June 30. For more information, go to www.tropicssoccer.com.