RICHMOND, Vir. (June 18, 2017) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies were seconds away from a road win on Saturday night, only for Richmond Kickers forward Franck Tayou to score an acrobatic equalizer deep into stoppage time and force the Rowdies to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Here’s Three Things from the match…
1. Schafer’s goal
Rowdies midfielder Marcel Schäfer moved back into midfield for the Rowdies last night after spending last weekend at left back, the position he played for Germany’s VfL Wolfsburg. Along with moving further up the pitch, Schäfer was also tasked with taking many of the Rowdies’ set pieces in the absence of the suspended Michael Nanchoff.
One of those set pieces led to the Rowdies’ goal, with Schäfer blasting a free kick from just outside the box and benefitting from a helpful deflection from the Kickers wall.
It was Schäfer’s second goal of the season, and while it may not have been exactly how he planned to score it, a goal is a goal.
2. Another draw
Saturday night’s 1-1 draw against Richmond was Tampa Bay’s fourth-consecutive draw in USL action, tying a Modern Era club record set in 2013 for most consecutive draws. In 2013, the Rowdies broke that streak with a 3-2 win against the Carolina RailHawks. Let’s hope for a similar result this coming Thursday night when the Rowdies visit the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
3. Suspension streak ends
Tampa Bay has received more than its fair share of yellow cards this season, resulting in having a player suspended due to yellow card accumulation in each of the last four matches. Damion Lowe, Darnell King, Georgi Hristov and Michael Nanchoff, all regular starters for Tampa Bay have each served a one-game suspension in the last four matches, meaning it’s been a while since the Rowdies could field a full first-choice lineup.
The cycle may start anew in the coming weeks though, with Luke Boden receiving his fourth yellow card last night, putting him one more card away from a suspension. Keith Savage and Neill Collins have three cards each.
