Matchday 13 Info:
Tampa Bay Rowdies at FC Tulsa
Wednesday, June 1, 8:30pm ET
Oneok Field, Tulsa, OK
Watch: Stream the match here on ESPN+
Follow Along: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday
After sitting idle over the weekend, the Tampa Bay Rowdies resume the USL Championship campaign this week with a slate of two matches. They first take the field this Wednesday on the road against FC Tulsa before returning for a showdown with Louisville City FC on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium. Coincidentally, Tulsa and Louisville met this past Saturday, with the latter claiming a 4-1 win.
Tulsa will be feeling the squeeze to pick up a positive result at home after dropping the first meeting with the Rowdies at Al Lang 3-1 back in April. In fact, Michael Nsien’s side has won just once in their last seven league matches.
From Tampa Bay’s perspective, it’s all about maintaining the momentum from the two meaningful victories posted by the club in May. The Rowdies took down Phoenix Rising 5-1 on the road before knocking off Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 3-1 at Al Lang. The victories were much-needed after a difficult April, but the Rowdies will need to maintain that level of consistency to jump back into the top four of the Eastern Conference over the coming weeks. Taking the maximum points off a struggling Tulsa and taking advantage of home field advantage against Louisville will be of utmost importance this week.
“Tulsa will be looking to make that place a fortress, but we know we can go anywhere and win,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. “We just need to do certain things very well, so we’ll be focusing on that. Tulsa will be eager to put things right against us but we just want to carry on this momentum that we’ve had from these previous two results and go and pick up another three points with a positive performance.”
Defensive Reinforcement
After weeks of searching, the Rowdies have secured a center back to replenish the defensive unit. Tampa Bay acquired USL veteran Thomas Vancaeyezeele in a transfer from fellow Eastern Conference side Birmingham Legion FC. Since Robert Castellanos went down with injury 12 minutes into the season opener, the Rowdies have made do with a few different combinations on the three-man back line. Conner Antley has filled the central anchor position most often, but with Antley out for the last two matches Jordan Scarlett and Laurence Wye have split that role.
“Thomas is a player we’re very familiar with,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. “He’s been in the Eastern Conference for a large part of his career and I feel we’ve been a little bit short with a couple of the injuries we’ve had. Thomas will certainly help address that but also, in the long term, he’s a very versatile player that can play all across the back three and he can play in midfield. All around he’s just a good footballer who knows his way around this league. It’s been very difficult to find a player that makes us better and I think Thomas does that.”
Team of the Week Streak
The Green & Gold graced the USL Championship Team of the Week twice in May. Lewis Hilton and Laurence Wyke both earned the league-wide honor, Hilton for his shift against Phoenix and Wyke for his performance versus Pittsburgh. Typically, players who score goals are voted on to the Team of the Week, but the hard and gritty work of both Hilton and Wyke in Tampa Bay’s last two matches won over the voters.
Chasing Rowdies History
With 59 total goals for the Rowdies across all competitions, Sebastian Guenzatti is one more tally away from matching the club record currently held by Rowdies legend Georgi Hristov.
Injury Report:
OUT: Robert Castellanos
QUESTIONABLE: Conner Antley, Dayonn Harris
