TAMPA, Fla. (June 19, 2017) — The Rowdies U23s defeated Weston FC 2-1 at home on Monday night in front of a home crowd at Ed Radice Field
After a 2-1 victory on the road, Tampa Bay looked to win the reverse match against the PDL team from Weston.
With that being said, Weston aimed to turn those fortunes around almost right from the starting whistle.
In just the second minute, a Weston attacker was fouled making a run into the box and drew an early penalty kick. The Rowdies keeper Sean Caufield, in his return to game action, came up huge as he did most of the night by stopping the golden chance.
Again the Weston attack looked like they’d broken through for an opening goal in the 11th minute yet a Zack Jones goal was disallowed due to an offsides call.
In the 24th minute, however, the Rowdies defense finally broke as Weston’s Jones snuck a ball past a rushing Caufield to give the visitor’s an early 1-0 lead.
Already leading, Weston continued to apply pressure over the next 15 minutes of play until the game took a drastic turn.
On a 50-50 ball, Rowdies midfielder Daniel Ribas was fouled hard by Weston’s Alessandro Campoy who was then sent off with an immediate red card leaving Weston shorthanded for the final 50 minutes of play. This closely mirrors what happened in the season opener when Weston goalie Evandro Rachoni was called for a red card near the end of the first half as well.
Weston finished up the first half leading, yet it was clear that the second half would be played mostly in their half of the field. As the teams took the field for the final 45 minutes, this theory was confirmed.
The Rowdies were keen to score as quickly as they possibly could in the second half applying constant pressure on the Weston defense. At the beginning of the half, the Rowdies subbed in two attackers for defenders which made it clear that scoring was the absolute priority for Tampa Bay.
With that being said, the Weston backline played strong enough to make up for the man disadvantage. That, however, only lasted for about twenty minutes until the Rowdies finally broke through.
Gonzalo Rodriguez put the Rowdies U23’s on the board in the 69th minute with a free kick that found its way through a number of defenders and into the side netting.
Almost immediately after, as has been the case with much of the U23’s scoring runs this season, Tampa Bay struck again from a volleyed shot by Mac Curran to give the team the lead.
Confident and in control, the Rowdies looked to take advantage of the earlier red card and control the clock and pace of play through the final twenty minutes. Thanks to an incredible save by Sean Caufield on the restart after the Curran goal, the Rowdies were able to shut down Weston’s attempts at equalizing.
From there, Weston still had a few solid chances but nothing that truly threatened the Rowdies defense who was able to run down the clock and finish off the game with a win.
Monday’s victory is the third on the season for the U23’s and second coming against Weston while the visitor’s drop their eighth straight match on the season and still remain winless.
Speaking on the victory, coach Keith Fulk was impressed with the Rowdies ability to “win challenges and apply consistent pressure [on the Weston defense.]”
The Rowdies U23’s are back in action again on Thursday on the road against the undefeated SIMA Aguilas at Montverde Academy.
Scoring Summary
Weston: Zack Jones – 24th minute
Rowdies: Gonzalo Rodriguez – 69th minute
Rowdies: Mac Curran – 72nd minute (assisted by Tosan Popo)
Caution Summary
Weston: Adam Hassan – 32nd minute
Weston: Andres Cepeda – 34th minute
Weston: Alessandro Campoy – 39th minute (red card)
Rowdies: Daniel Ribas – 45+ minute
Weston: Sebastian Garcia – 81st minute
Weston: Zack Jones – 83rd minute
Rowdies: Preston Kilwien – 84th minute
Weston: Max Stiegwardt – 90th minute
Starting Lineups
Rowdies U23 XI (4-4-2): GK Sean Caufield; D Melvin Boateng (Gabriel Fernandes 89′), Gabriel Pfeffer (Gustavo Fernandes 77′), Andre Lowe (Kendan Anderson 46′), Preston Kilwien; M Daniel Ribas (Mac Curran 46′), Gonzalo Rodriguez, Morgan Hackworth, Ivan Castro; F Tosan Popo (Pico Espinal 82′), Kevin Varela (Morgan Shepherd 77′)
Weston FC XI (4-4-2) — GK Joseph Ghitis; D Sebastian Garcia, Adam Hassan, Cody Cochran, Juan Benedetti; M Max Stiegwardt, Andres Cepeda, Mattias Tomassino, Alessandro Campoy; F Ricardo Olivieros (Ligeti 46′), Zack Jones
