The Basics
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Saturday, May 19, 7:30 p.m. ET
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Follow us for live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday
Tickets
Tickets for Saturday’s match are available by calling (727) 222-2000 or clicking here. Gates open at 6 p.m.
How to Watch
The match will be broadcast locally on thisTV Tampa Bay and online on ESPN+ (subscription required), the official streaming partner of the USL, here. International viewers in regions where ESPN+ is not offered can watch the match here.
Parking
There are several options for parking at Al Lang Stadium and around downtown. Parking in Lot A, right in front of the stadium, is for PASS HOLDERS ONLY and opens at 4 p.m. For more parking options, click here.
Records
Tampa Bay: 4-5-0 (W-L-T), 12 points, 7th place, Eastern Conference
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC: 4-0-4 (W-L-T), 16 points, 4th place, Eastern Conference
Rowdies Notes
New Tampa Bay Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins will take charge of his first-ever match after being appointed to the position Friday. Former Head Coach Stuart Campbell departed by mutual consent Thursday. Collins joined the Rowdies as a center back in 2016 and ultimately made 67 appearances for the club as a player. He wore the captains’ armband in what would ultimately end up as his final match as a player. Collins’ playing career spanned 18 seasons with 10 different clubs, totaling 598 professional matches. He holds a UEFA A coaching license.
Tampa Bay returns home after a difficult month away from St. Petersburg. While the Rowdies are unbeaten and yet to even concede a goal at Al Lang Stadium in three matches so far in 2018, Tampa Bay has now lost six consecutive road matches in all competitions without scoring a goal.
The Rowdies were eliminated from the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night by the NPSL’s Jacksonville Armada FC with a 1-0 loss in Jacksonville. JC Banks scored the only goal of the match in the 58th minute and the Rowdies were unable to respond. Their streak without a road goal has now reached 540 minutes. In comparison, the Rowdies average a goal every 30 minutes at home.
This match is the first of a stretch where the Rowdies will play four of their next five games at home, offering a decent chance to move back up the table from seventh place where they currently sit. Tampa Bay has played six of its first nine league matches away from home in an unusually unbalanced schedule.
Georgi Hristov tied the Rowdies’ all-time scoring record with his 57th goal for the club in Tampa Bay’s 2-0 win over Real Monarchs SLC, tying Derek Smethurst’s 40-year scoring record. Hristov would have been expected to break the record on the road, but now has the chance to break it at home. He has scored in each of the Rowdies’ three home games so far.
Scouting the Hounds
Pittsburgh comes to St. Petersburg as the lone unbeaten team in the USL with a record of four wins, four draws and no losses in 2018 under the direction of new Head Coach Bob Lilley. The Hounds drew 0-0 at home against Indy last weekend and beat the Erie Commodores (NPSL) 2-1 in Open Cup on Wednesday night.
Midfielder Nico Brett leads the Hounds in scoring with five goals this season, including a hat trick against Toronto FC II on April 7. No other Hound has managed multiple goals for one of the lower-scoring teams in the USL.
Pittsburgh has excelled defensively in 2018, conceding only three goals (the fewest in the league) in eight USL matches so far, including six clean sheets. That defensive record isn’t solely down to the performance of goalkeepers either, as Daniel Lynd and Kyle Morton have combined for only eight total saves this season as Pittsburgh rarely even allows scoring opportunities. By comparison, Rowdies goalkeeper Cody Mizell has tallied 28 saves.
