Local collegiate stars added to Tropics roster; season starts Thursday in Miami (watch it live!)

LAKELAND – The Lakeland Tropics not only will feature a number of players from their sister franchise Florida Tropics of the Major Arena Soccer League, they will also have a healthy dose of local college talent on the field this year at Bryant Stadium.

The Tropics have announced the signing of Florida Southern's  Hassirou Diakite and University of Tampa's Ramzi Toure to their roster which will debut May 11 at Miami City FC before returning to Lakeland for the home opener May 20 against The Villages SC.

Southeastern University will also be strongly represented on the roster, including standouts Pedro Ivo Dias who was the Fire's leading scorer in his sophomore and junior years (22 goals overall in three years) Jake Van Der Luit, the team's leading scorer this year, Tauan Salgado who was the team's second-leading scorer last fall joined by his brother Caue on defense.

“We're very excited to have some of the to local college soccer talent come be a part of the Tropics,” Majority owner Dr. Panos Iakovidis said. “One of the most important thing about being involved in our community is providing local players a place to showcase their talents, represent the city, and get the opportunity to play soccer at higher and higher levels.”

Last year, Toure played in nine games for the PDL Long Island Rough Riders, and was a teammate of Florida Tropics player Alexi Cortez. This past season as a sophomore at Florida Southern, he earned first-team all Sunshine State Conference honors and was a second team all NSCAA selection for the South Region. He was a key defender for the Spartans who allowed just 1.15 goals a game and reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in the postseason.

The 6-5, 190 pound defender is a native of Norway, where he played in a number of prestigious international tournaments. In two years as a starter for UT, he has also contributed two goals.

“He's very technically and tactically sound, a player who wants to go on to the next level,” head coach Eoghan Conlon said. “He's definitely got the ability to do so.”

Diakite, a senior midfielder for the Mocs, has been at the Lakeland school for the past two seasons. As a junior, he started all 14 games and played the second most minutes on the team, with one goal. In his senior season, he netted four goals on 22 shots including one game winner. Florida Southern won all four games in which he scored.

He was a two-year starter at the University of District of Columbia before transferring. He is a native of Trappes, France, and graduated Dumont D’Urville in Maurepas, France, in 2012.

“He's a big, strong, athletic player, but can also distribute the ball very well,” Conlon said. “He can get up and down the field, kind of a box-to-box midfielder with tons of talent, tons of character.”

Eight players from this past season's Florida Tropics team in the Major Arena Soccer League are expected to suit up for Lakeland this summer, including Ricardo Diegues and Victor Parreiras – the team's second and third leading scorers – along with Victor Rojas, Maycon Franca, J.P. Reyes, Johnathan Valerio, Julian Pavlovski and Cortez.

Ivo Dias has also signed already to play for the Florida Tropics in their second season in the MASL which will kick off in November. He is the first ever soccer player from Southeastern to sign a professional soccer contract.

The Lakeland Tropics will kick off its season May 11 in Miami, and then will be back at Bryant Stadium for its home opener Saturday, May 20 against The Villages SC. Tickets start at just $5, and are available at www.lakelandtropics.com. Both games, and all seven of Lakeland's home games, will be webcast live on YouTube.