CHARLESTON, S.C. (April 29, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies opened a three-game USL road swing with a narrow loss to the Charleston Battery on Saturday night at MUSC Health Stadium.
Ataulla Guerra scored the only goal of the match in first-half stoppage time, swerving a shot past Tampa Bay goalkeeper Cody Mizell from the top of the box for the decisive strike.
The Rowdies fought hard to equalize, but fell short in the end.
Here’s Three Things from the match…
1. Rozeboom’s steady hand
Rowdies midfielder Lance Rozeboom made third start of the season in Charleston and offered plenty of evidence as to why he may be a key player in the defensive midfield role. According to Opta, the USL’s stats partner, Rozeboom had a pretty good passing night.
In fact, he had a perfect passing night, completing all 33 passes he attempted, including two long passes. Add in that he won more than 50 percent of his duels, had three tackles and one clearance and it was a pretty effective night overall.
With Marcel Schäfer completing 93 percent of his own passes in the center of midfield, it’s an effective platform for the Rowdies both defensively and in getting the ball to the attackers.
2. Creating enough chances
The Rowdies did more than enough offensively to get something out of Saturday’s match. Tampa Bay created 10 shots, but only two reached the target after four were blocked.
Charleston goalkeeper Joe Kuzminsky’s two saves were both on great opportunities, particularly on Leo Fernandes’ clever movement in the 23rd minute. Neill Collins also had a header save in second-half stoppage time that would have tied the match in the final seconds.
The Rowdies should have had a goal to show for their efforts, but were left without a goal for the third time this season.
3. All-out attack
As the second half progressed with the Rowdies chasing a 1-0 deficit, Tampa Bay Head Coach Stuart Campbell turned to his bench earlier than usual and put on as many attackers as he could.
First, Jochen Graf replaced Leo Fernandes in the 62nd minute. Forward Georgi Hristov moved from the center to the left, with Graf playing in the middle of the front three. Then, Sebastian Guenzatti replaced Michael Nanchoff at the right forward spot in another offensive-minded substitution in the 68th minute. Finally, Junior Flemmings replaced Joe Cole in the 81st minute, meaning the Rowdies would play the final nine minutes plus stoppage time with four forwards on the field.
After the match, Campbell said the Flemmings substitution came about five minutes later than planned due to concerns over the ability of Zac Portillos to play the full 90 minutes after picking up a slight knock around the 75th minute.
If Campbell made the substitution when he planned and then Portillos was unable to continue, the Rowdies would have been out of subs and been forced to finish the match down a man. Ultimately, Portillos was able to continue and and Flemmings entered the fray a little later than planned in the 81st minute.
With how dangerous the Rowdies looked in their four-forward configuration in the final minutes of the match, you have to think those extra five minutes of all-out attack just may have made the difference.
