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The Basics
2012 Rowdies Rush Preseason Tour

Preseason match: Tampa Bay Rowdies at Florida Gulf Coast University

Date: Saturday, March 17, 2012

Kickoff: 2:00 p.m.

Location: FGCU Soccer Complex (10501 FGCU Blvd., Fort Myers, FL 33965)

Admission: Free of charge

Roster
The Rowdies will have 13 signed players available for Saturday’s match, as well as eight trialists.

Last Time Out
The Rowdies continued their 2012 Preseason Tour last Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory against the University of Tampa at the Walter Fuller Complex. The match was hosted by the Azalea Youth Soccer League as part of the 2012 Rowdies Rush.

The Rowdies opened the scoring when forward Luke Mulholland scored his second goal in two matches as he chipped the ball over UT goalkeeper David Niepel in the 33rd minute after a feed from Takuya Yamada. Trialist Ogi Perucica extended the lead to 2-0 in the 82nd minute after a perfect lead pass from midfielder Shane Hill. Perucica deposited his shot in the bottom right corner of the net for the goal.

Scouting FGCU
The Eagles had a successful season in 2011 as they won both the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season and postseason titles. Florida Gulf Coast is coached by Bob Butehorn, who is heading into his sixth season at the helm. The Eagles are led by forward Xavier Silva, who posted six goals, including four game-winners, and three assists last season. Goalkeeper Nathan Ingham returns after starting eight games a year ago and posting a 1.10 goals against average. Midfielder Andres Navas saw action in 19 games with 16 starts in 2011 and totaled four goals and two assists.

Last Meeting
Tampa Bay used goals by defender Frankie Sanfilippo and forward Aaron King to post a 2-0 preseason victory against Florida Gulf Coast University on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at Brandon Area Youth Soccer League’s soccer complex.

Quotable
Rowdies Head Coach Ricky Hill on the match:
“We are looking forward to the match. We played Florida Gulf Coast last year and they were a highly resilient bunch of players. We have a few injuries that we are nursing and we are going to mix and match some of our players into the lineup tomorrow.”

Up Next
The Rowdies Rush Preseason Tour continues this Wednesday, March 21st at 7:00 p.m. when Tampa Bay United North hosts a match between the Rowdies and UCF. The Knights reached the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament before falling in overtime to USF. The exhibition match will be played at the Ed Radice Complex in Citrus Park. The complex is located on 14720 Ed Radice Drive, Tampa, FL 33626. Admission is free.