Matchday 3 Info:
Tampa Bay Rowdies (1-0-1, 4pts, 4th place) at Atlanta United 2 (0-2-0, 0pts, 13th place)
Wednesday, March 23, 7:30pm ET
Fifth Third Bank Stadium, Kennesaw, GA
Watch: Stream the match on ESPN+ here.
Follow Along: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday
Injury Report: None
Next Home Match: Saturday, March 26 vs Hartford Athletic. Tickets.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies face their first test on short rest of the season this Wednesday as they travel to take on Atlanta United 2 at Fifth Third Back Stadium. Coming off their first win of the season this past Saturday over Indy Eleven, the Rowdies will look to continue their momentum before returning to Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night to battle Hartford Athletic.
Fortunately for the Rowdies, they’ll be dealing with this busy week with a full contingent of healthy players. Longtime Rowdies midfielder Leo Fernandes returned from his small knock that took him out of the season opener and put in the kind of quality shift on the left wing that fans have come to expect.
“We’ve got so many great partnerships that are developing right now and it’s up to us to develop that,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. “So it’s just about picking the team to try and win the game against Atlanta and then reassessing for Atlanta, but this is why we’ve got such a strong squad.”
Two players who did not feature prominently in the Rowdies season opener both made a major impact in the 2-0 win versus Indy. Both Juan Tejada and Rowdies newcomer Jake LaCava started up top for the Rowdies against Indy and both performed at a high level. Tejada earned a spot on the USL Team of the Week for his goal and assist, while newcomer LaCava bagged his first Rowdies goal.
“Juan Tejada and Lake LaCava bring that energy and desire that we just need in our team at all times,” said Collins. “We’ve had it for the past four years from different people at different times, and I felt we just needed that in there and that those two would bring it. Training matters, and those two have been doing it in training so they go in. I’m glad they proved their selections this week.”
Tejada’s goal ended a long scoring drought for the Panamanian attacker, who had not recorded a goal since August of 2020. Nagging injuries toward the end of 2020 and through nearly two thirds of the 2021 season prevented Tejada from contributing regularly as he had in his first season in 2019 when he scored 10 goals. With a clean bill of health and a full preseason to prepare, Tejada is proving he’s still a threat for the Rowdies in the box.
Versatility Paying Off
The Rowdies depth was tested in week 2 with the loss of center back Robert Castellanos, who fractured his ankle 12 minutes into the season opener. While midfielder Laurence Wyke was asked to drop back and fill that central role on the back line that day, Conner Antley was tapped to take on the position against Indy.
“A big thing I’ve learned, especially in 2019, is that we need more players that are versatile,” said Collins. “We don’t carry a big squad because I want to keep the quality as high as possible. That means we signed someone like Conner because he can play at the back and he can play right wingback. Last year we felt we needed him more at right wingback because the back three kind of picked itself. This year’ we’re obviously shorter at center back and we’ve got four great options at wing back. It’s a constant balance. If you every get the formula right, tell me.”
Antley was one of the club’s leader in assists last season from his regular right wingback role. As things stand, he could be asked to take on new responsibilities as the central anchor of the back line. His first start last week went well, as the Rowdies limited Indy to few quality chances and recorded their first clean sheet of the year. It was a good first showing for a group that had extremely limited time together in the preseason.
“I thought the back three should take a lot of credit from Saturday,” said Collins. “They looked as if they’d played together lots of times. That’s only going to get better the more times play together. I think Conner had a very good performance at center back tonight. Our defense is all about our team, it’s all about our team. We are a collective. Conner’s definitely got the potential to play there, but being a good center back is about doing it consistently over 10 or 30 games. But he’s had a good start. They just need to build that continuity. Certainly a lot of promising signs there.”
