ST. PETERSBURG, Fla – The Tampa Bay Rowdies survived a ten-goal thriller in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night at Al Lang Stadium, prevailing 6-4 over Birmingham Legion FC after extra time. Tampa Bay will now host FC Dallas in the Round of 16, with the date and kickoff time for that match set to be confirmed on Thursday afternoon.
“It was an entertaining game, a stressful game at the end for sure, but we managed to get over the line and we’re now on to the next round of the cup, which is the important thing,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “We’ve now got an MLS team to play, which will be a great night for everyone here at Al Lang.”
It was smooth sailing for the Rowdies through the first half and most of the night. In the 79th minute, forward Cal Jennings was subbed off the field after completing a hat trick and increasing Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-0. But Birmingham did not go down lightly. The visitors scored in the 82nd minute, 89th minute, the third minute of stoppage, and then finally converted from the penalty spot in the sixth minute of stoppage time to send the match into extra time.
“I was getting in some dangerous spots, and maybe I could’ve come away with even some more,” said Jennings. “I think for 70 minutes, 75 minutes of that game we really were creating a lot of chances. We just, you know, kind of took our foot off the pedal.”
Damian Rivera opened the scoring for the Rowdies in the 25th minute. Receiving a ball from Blake Bodily on the left flank, Rivera slipped into the box and shook off a defender before firing a shot past keeper Fernando Delgado. Rivera was also involved in Tampa Bay’s second tally in the 34th minute. The young Rowdies attacker lunged out as Delgado was attempting a clearance at the top of the box, getting just enough of the ball to redirect it to an unmarked Jennings to finish.
Jennings nabbed his second deep into first half added time. A nifty passing combination of the left wing freed Bodily for a run down the field and he made the most of it with a cross right on the mark for Jennings to head home. Jennings notched his third of the evening in the 79th minute, benefiting from a slick back heel pass from teammate Danny Crisostomo to spring him into the box.
Birmingham’s rally started only three minutes later through a strike from Enzo Martinez. Kobe Hernandez-Foster then cut the lead to two goals with a left-footed strike from outside the box that beat Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr to the far post. Tyler Pasher put the visitors back on level terms with a finish in the box and then a second from the penalty spot after Tampa Bay’s Eddie Munjomas was whistled for a controversial penalty.
“We can’t take our foot off the gas,” said defender Jordan Doherty. “For 70 minutes, we played really well and I think we just came off what was working for us. So it’s about keeping our foot on the gas and seeing these games out like we should. We’ll learn from it.”
Needing something special to regain some momentum in the match, the Rowdies found just that with a miraculous strike from Manuel Arteaga in the 102nd minute of extra time. Munjoma provided the assist with a dangerous cross from the corner and Arteaga took it from there with a sizzling overhead kick to put the Rowdies back in front. Seven minutes later, Arteaga sealed the result with a second goal.
“I thought it was a fantastic finish,” said Neilson. “He tried it last week as well. For all the excitement of the game, that goal will steal the limelight. It was a brilliant finish. Sometimes when you get in these situations you need big players to step up to the plate. Manu and Cal did that tonight.”
Arteaga’s night ended on an unfortunate note as he was shown a red card after picking up a second yellow card moments before the final whistle. With that card, Arteaga will miss Tampa Bay’s matchup with Dallas in the next round of the Open Cup.
Next up, the Rowdies stay at Al Lang Stadium to face Birmingham yet again in league action. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Tickets for the match can be purchased here.
Scoring Summary
TBR – Rivera (Bodily), 25’
TBR – Jennings (Rivera), 34’
TBR – Jennings (Bodily), 45+6’
TBR – Jennings (Crisostomo), 79’
BHM – Martinez (Murana), 82’
BHM – Hernandez-Foster (Pasher), 89’
BHM – Pasher (Hernandez-Foster), 90+3’
BHM – Pasher (Penalty), 90+6’
TBR – Arteaga (Munjoma), 102’
TBR – Artega, 109’
Caution Summary
TBR – Dennis, Yellow Card, 23’
BHM – Nyarko, Yellow Card, 42’
BHM – Paterson, Yellow Card, 50’
TBR – Munjoma, Yellow Card, 82
TBR – Arteaga, Yellow Card, 90+3’|
BHM – Crognale, Yellow Card, 91’(Extra Time)
BHM – Rufe, Yellow Card, 120+1’ (Extra Time)
TBR – Arteaga, Red Card (Second Yellow Card), 120+3’
Lineups
Rowdies: Farr, Munjoma, Doherty, Guillen, Niyongabire, Hilton, Dennis, Bodily, Jennings, Rivera
Rowdies Bench: Breno, Dezart, Lasso, Crisostomo, Moon, Ortiz, Arteaga
Birmingham: Delgado, McCartney, Kavita, Paterson, Nyarko, Martinez, Kassim, Pasher, Pinho, Nwegbo, Preston
Birmingham Bench: Van Oekel, Hamouda, Hernandez-Foster, Rufe, Crognale, Murana, Perez
