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ST. PETERSBURG, FL (August 11, 2012) -- The Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Atlanta Silverbacks played to a scoreless draw Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium.

With the tie, Tampa Bay remains unbeaten in its last five matches overall. The Rowdies are also undefeated in their last seven league matches at home. Rowdies goalkeeper Jeff Attinella earned his seventh shutout this season and the 12th of the career.

"We came out with the shutout but unfortunately we could not get the win," said defender Andres Arango. "We created a lot of chances and we have a lot of faith in the guys up top and in the midfield and we showed it today by creating quite a bit of chances. We want to keep building on the fact that we did not give up any goals and had a lot of opportunities."

”The Rowdies had the first chance of the night in the fourth minute with a shot that went wide left by forward Luke Mulholland after a great feed by forward Matt Clare. Tampa Bay controlled possession for most of the half trying to create an opportunity on Atlanta’s goal.

In the 43rd minute the Rowdies had an opportunity after a corner kick by Mulholland. Defender Andres Arango closed in on the far post and tried to push it in, but his shot went wide right.

The Rowdies were awarded a penalty kick in the 45th minute of the first half after a handball was called on Atlanta. Clare took the penalty shot, but Atlanta goalkeeper Daniel Illyes dove to his left and made the save. 

Tampa Bay continued to dominate the match, pushing for a goal and in the 52nd minute, defender Frankie Sanfilippo crossed a low ball from the right side to forward Fafa Picault but his shot was contained by Illyes.

The Rowdies had another opportunity in the 79th minute with Mulholland delivering a corner kick, but his cross was inches away from second half substitute forward Daniel Antoniuk at the far post, and he could not push the ball into the net.

As the game came to an end, Tampa Bay had one last chance to get the win after midfielder Keith Savage made a great run and placed a through ball to second half substitute Evans Frimpong into the 18-yard box. Frimpong’s shot went over the crossbar for a goal kick.

"We played well at times, and there were also instances where we let them play their game," said Rowdies Technical Director Perry Van Der Beck. “In the second half the game wore on a little bit, and it seemed like they were waiting for the counterattack especially on our set pieces. We need to be aware of these types of situations, where the other team might play three or four touches and be right outside our box. As a team we played well defensively and made it difficult for them."

Up next, the Rowdies travel to league leaders San Antonio for the final regular season meeting between the clubs on Sunday, August 19 at 8:30 p.m. ET at Heroes Stadium.

Scoring Summary
None

Caution Summary
Atlanta: Jahbari Willis - 54th minute
Atlanta: Mike Randolph - 71st minute
Tampa Bay: Luke Mulholland - 84th minute
Tampa Bay: Andres Arango - 90th minute

Tampa Bay Rowdies
GK Jeff Attinella, D Frankie Sanfilippo (Captain), D Andres Arango, D Takuya Yamada, D JP Rodrigues, M Stuart Campbell, M Luke Mulholland, M Keith Savage, F Matt Clare (Evans Frimpong 66'), F Mike Ambersley, F Fafa Picault (Daniel Antoniuk 66')

Atlanta Silverbacks
GK Daniel Illyes, D Martyn Lancaster (Captain), D Chris Klute, D Beto Navarro, M Mike Randolph, M Milton Blanco, M Ciaran O'Brien (Nico Colaluca 66'), M Paulo Mendes (Pablo Cruz 81'), M Tony McManus, F Pedro Mendes, F Jahbari Willis (Horace James 61')

Final Statistics
Tampa Bay: 11 shots (4 shots on goal), 1 save, 12 fouls, 7 corners, 2 offsides
Atlanta: 7 shots (1 shot on goal), 4 saves, 15 fouls, 2 corners, 3 offsides