Matchday 23 Info:
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Monterey Bay FC
Saturday, August 12, 7:30 p.m. ET
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, FL
Fireworks Night: Following the final whistle, fans will be invited down onto the field to watch a postmatch fireworks show.
Tickets: Fans can purchase tickets for the match by clicking here or by visiting the stadium box office starting at 4 p.m. on matchday.
Watch: Stream the Match on ESPN+.
Postmatch Party: Join us at the Postmatch Party at The Avenue in Downtown St. Pete. Specials include $3 Kick Grass Green Tea shots and $6 select local drafts.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are set for their lone home match of August this Saturday as they take on Monterey Bay FC. Both sides are eager to get back in the win column. Tampa Bay wants all three points in order to keep pace with first-place Pittsburgh, who just handed the Rowdies a 1-0 defeat last week. Meanwhile, Monterey are desperately in need of a win after going winless in their last seven outings, putting them just outside of the playoff picture in the Western Conference.
Saturday is only the second competitive meeting between the Rowdies and Monterey. The Rowdies pulled off a 2-1 comeback win on the road toward the end of last year’s regular season. Rowdies Head Coach Nicky Law scored the first of Tampa Bay’s goals that night.
“Monterey pose a big threat with some really good attacking pieces, some quick players, dynamic players that can hurt you,” said Law. “There’s going to be no complacency from us. We know the job at hand. We know they have good players, good players who can hurt us.” It’s going to be tough but I think at home we fancy ourselves against anybody and this weekend will be no different. But if we drop anywhere below the level and think it’s going to be easy then it could be a long night for us. So, focus has to be there. I’m convinced it will be and it will be a good game, two good sides.”
Finding the Belief
One point of concern for Law after the loss in Pittsburgh was a lack of belief he saw in the squad after conceding an early goal at Highmark Stadium.
“If your confidence or belief is just not right there at the top it can be tough to find,” said Law. “It just takes doing the right things every single day and these boys are doing that. I don’t think confidence is low to be honest. I think it was just in that particular game away at Pittsburgh when you know it’s difficult to create chances and score goals. I think the early goal knocked us a little bit and after that we really struggled to find that rhythm in our game and that little bit of belief to think that we were going to score. The guys look great this week and they’re really looking forward to the game this weekend at home in front of our fans. I think it’ll be a great crowd there so we can’t wait to get out there and put on a show.”
Availability Report
Suspended: None
Out due to injury: Lewis Hilton, Zach Herivaux, Sebastian Dalgaard
Questionable: Dayonn Harris
