ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (May 31, 2017) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies U23 squad dropped their home opener 2-1 against IMG Academy on Wednesday at Al Lang Stadium.
To begin the game, both sides were having difficulty stringing together runs and putting shots on net. In nearly 25 minutes of play, neither side had recorded a proper shot on net until Morgan Hackworth’s try from the right side was stopped by IMG keeper Evan Finney. This would certainly not be the last time that the Penn State goaltender would stand in the way of Rowdies attackers and the back of the net.
After another 15 minutes of back and forth action between the two sides with chances going either way, the Rowdies seemed to settle into a rhythm.
However, in the 41st minute IMG midfielder Antonio Colacci found space well outside the Rowdies box and struck a hard and true ball that found the back of the net. The thirty-plus yard shot off a counter-attack seemed to catch the defense and goalie Christian Knight off guard as they didn’t react quickly enough.
Following the score, the Rowdies worked desperately to equalize prior to halftime but to no avail due to the strength of IMG’s keeper.
Coming out of the halftime break, it seemed like a switch had flipped for the Rowdies as the pace of play was ramped up considerably. As a result, more and more chances were had on net and the pressure was beginning to put strain on a tired IMG backline.
This strain produced a golden opportunity for the Rowdies as, in the 56th minute, one of the IMG backs was called for a handball in the box leading to a penalty kick for Melvin Boateng. Although striking the ball hard and in a solid location, Boateng was bested by the IMG keeper who had picked his side correctly.
Even though the failed PK was difficult, it did not take the wind out of the sails of the Rowdies attack who continued to push hard for a tying goal.
After a bevy of incredible stops by the Academy’s keeper Finney, the Rowdies finally got on the board in the 71st minute. After sending in half a dozen strong crosses through 70 minutes of play, Jordan Day finally found success off the foot of striker Arion Sobers-Assue who put in the equalizer for Tampa Bay.
This was a shining moment in an already impressive game for Day who had a number of key tackles and blocked shots that kept the IMG attack in check.
From that point on, the Rowdies played with even more tenacity and began to riddle IMG with relentless shots and crosses. With fresh legs in and all the momentum in the game, the Rowdies peppered shots on net from all locations in and outside of the box.
With that being said, Finney continued to stand tall heading into stoppage time.
The referee deemed that five minutes were going to be added on in stoppage before the final whistle blew which was initially met with opposition by the IMG coaching staff. I didn’t take long for this dispute to be quelled as IMG’s Gianluca Carbone gave his side the game winner on a 25 yard hit that just beat U23 goaltender Christian Knight.
There was hardly enough time for the Rowdies to recover from the late game strike although continuing to send chances on net. As a result, the end of stoppage came and the Rowdies dropped their first home game of the PDL season.
Speaking on his team’s performance, U23 Head Coach Keith Fulk said that he is “impressed by [the U23’s] number of chances but [the squad] needs to do a much better job finishing plays.”
Additionally, Fulk was concerned about the “lax mentality” that his team started with at the beginning of the match but found that his team was “incredibly resilient in the second half.”
Coming up for the U23’s is a match Saturday in Lakeland against the Lakeland Tropics. In speaking about that match, Fulk was excited to take them on and will look forward to “establishing the right mindset.”
Scoring Summary
IMG: Antonio Colacci – 41st minute
Rowdies: Arion Sobers-Assue – 71st minute (assisted by Jordan Day)
IMG: Gianluca Carbone – 90+’ (assisted by Danny Avila)
Caution Summary
IMG: Matthew Lieshout – 51st minute
IMG: Ian McCauley – 88th minute
Starting Lineups
Rowdies (4-1-4-1) – GK Christian Knight; D Jordan Day, Ryan Gallagher (C) (Gabriel Fernandes 61′), Gustavo Fernandes (Pico Espinal 87′), Caleb George; CDM Andrew Samuels (Kendan Anderson 59′); M Mac Curran (Tosan Popo 67′), Morgan Hackworth, Daniel Ribas (Kevin Varela 67′), Melvin Boateng; F Arion Sobers-Assue (Kamar Marriot 78′)
IMG Academy (4-3-3) — GK Evan Finney; D Joaquin Peluffo (Angel Ferias 75′), Ian McCauley, TC Anderson, Michael Cormack (Logan Moriarty 87′); M Bay Downing (Patrick Kibler 67′), Matt Lieshout (C), Antonio Colacci; F Hesham Hammouda (Gianluca Carbone 61′), Bernard Yaboah, Danny Avila
