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The Basics
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Ottawa Fury FC
Saturday, April 7, 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 the USL’s official YouTube channel 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: 2-1-0 (W-L-T), 6 points, 2nd place, Eastern Conference
Ottawa Fury FC: 0-1-0 (W-L-T), 0 points, 15th place, Eastern Conference

Rowdies Notes
The Tampa Bay Rowdies return home following their first loss of the 2018 season, a 1-0 defeat in Louisville to Louisville City FC last Saturday afternoon. Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell made two changes to his team, inserting Lance Rozeboom and Sebastian Guenzatti into the starting lineup in place of Joe Cole and Junior Flemmings, respectively.

Tampa Bay returns home hoping to continue its impressive form at Al Lang Stadium. Since the start of 2017, the Rowdies have only lost one regular season match at home. The Rowdies haven’t been shut out at home since August 20, 2016, a span of 26 matches that predates the Rowdies’ tenure in the USL.

Before being kept off the scoresheet last weekend in Louisville, Leo Fernandes and Georgi Hristov had scored a goal in each of the Rowdies matches so far this season to lead the team in scoring.

With two goals to his name so far in 2018, Georgi Hristov is now just two goals short of tying Rowdies legend Derek Smethurst for the all-time franchise scoring record of 57 goals. Hristov has scored six career goals against Ottawa.  

Lance Rozeboom could have the opportunity to face a former club Saturday night. He played the previous two seasons for Ottawa, including serving as captain in 2017.

Tampa Bay made one transaction this week, signing forward Leon Taylor as a depth option. Taylor trained with the Rowdies for several weeks before signing. He is not expected to be included in Tampa Bay’s squad this weekend.

Scouting Ottawa
Ottawa arrives in St. Petersburg seeking shelter from cold weather. Due to a frigid spring season so far in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa only began training outdoors this week. The Fury FC has only played once this season. After opening the year with a loss on the road in Charlotte, Ottawa had a scheduled bye in week two. In week three, Ottawa road match in Toronto was postponed due to poor field conditions, meaning by the time Saturday’s match kicks off, it will have been three weeks since Ottawa last played.

Ottawa has a new look this year with new Head Coach Nikola Popovic, who joined the Fury FC this winter after guiding the Swope Park Rangers to a Western Conference Championship last season.

The Fury FC’s only match this year wasn’t an ideal one, with Ottawa falling to a 4-1 defeat in Charlotte on opening weekend, including an unlucky own goal from Kyle Porter, who played for the Rowdies last season. Sito Seoane scored Ottawa’s only goal.

TAMPA, Fla. – The United Soccer League (USL) announced today the expansion of its broadcast agreement with ESPN for the 2018 and 2019 seasons that will bring more regular-season games to linear networks and make ESPN+ the league’s streaming subscription service in the United States.

“We are thrilled to expand our valued relationship with ESPN through the 2019 season,” said USL Chief Executive Officer Alec Papadakis. “Our collaboration has grown organically over the last few years, as we’ve worked closely to continually enhance our broadcasts. In addition, our investments into USL Productions and partnership with VISTA Worldlink – now in its second season and under the visionary guidance of industry veteran Michael Cohen – has built the league into a premier television sports property which delivers engaging, exciting and unique content for fans all season long. Our clubs and players will benefit from the significantly increased exposure across ESPN’s linear networks, ESPN3, and our presence on ESPN+ alongside Major League Soccer, the English Football League and UEFA Nations League, and other top international soccer leagues and tournaments.”

“We have worked in great collaboration with the USL to leverage numerous ESPN touch points to reach fans, and will continue to do so through this latest agreement,” said Scott Guglielmino, Senior Vice President, ESPN Programming. “We look forward to our expanded relationship as we serve fans across our platforms in new and engaging ways.”

Now in its third season, the USL’s agreement with ESPN will see six USL regular season games and the 2018 USL Cup aired on linear networks, a major increase from a season ago. The full 2018 Game of the Week schedule will be released in the coming weeks.

In addition to the USL Game of the Week on ESPN3, the league’s regular-season contests will be available in the United States through ESPN+ after its launch on April 12, where the league will reside alongside Major League Soccer, the English Football League and UEFA Nations League on the new direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer and International group in partnership with ESPN.

Prior to the launch of ESPN+ on April 12, all USL regular season contests will be available through the league’s YouTube channel.

Games will be produced by USL Productions, the league’s state-of-the-art broadcast production, broadcast and distribution facilities with VISTA Worldlink in south Florida. Now in its second season, USL Productions produces and distributes more than 500 league matches and more than 1,000 hours of original content to national partners and local affiliates. The USL Match Center will also return for the 2018 season, with up-to-the-minute match statistics provided by industry leader Opta.

About USL
The USL is one of the most prominent professional soccer leagues in North America, reaching a population of more than 75 million people to fuel the growth of professional soccer across North America. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida., the USL provides unparalleled club support with a growing team of more than 50 professionals across 17 departments, ranging from operations to marketing, communications and sponsorship.

The USL has national media partnerships with ESPN and operates USL Productions, which includes a state-of-the-art facility that will produce and distribute more than 500 league matches and more than 1,000 hours of original content to national partners, local affiliates, the USL’s Match Center and international markets over the 2018 season.

About ESPN+
ESPN+ will be the first-ever multi-sport, direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer and International group in partnership with ESPN. It will offer fans thousands of additional live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks. This includes hundreds of MLB, NHL and MLS games, Grand Slam tennis, Top Rank boxing, PGA Tour golf, college sports, international rugby, cricket, the full library of ESPN Films (including 30 for 30) and more. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and cancel at any time.

Launching April 12, ESPN+ will be an integrated part of a completely redesigned ESPN App. Already the leading sports app, the new ESPN App will be the premier all-in-one digital sports platform for fans and is a showcase of the company’s culture of innovation. With a richer, increasingly more personalized experience, the new ESPN App will curate all of ESPN’s incredible content into an experience unique to each fan’s individual tastes. ESPN+ will also be available through ESPN.com.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 5, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies have made an addition to their roster, signing forward Leon Taylor to their 2018 roster. Per club and league policy, further contract details were not disclosed.

Taylor, 24, has trained with the Rowdies for the last several weeks before earning a contract.

The dynamic forward is capable of playing from either a central or wide position. He played college soccer at Midwestern State in Texas after transferring from Oral Roberts. 

After his college career, Taylor made the jump to Europe with Bodens FK in the Swedish Division 2.

Taylor returned to the United States to play with Premier Development League sides Laredo Heat and Midland-Odessa Sockers FC in his native Texas.

This year, Taylor spent preseason with defending USL Western Conference Champion Swope Park Rangers but did not sign.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (April 1, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies fell to their first defeat of 2018 on Saturday afternoon, falling 1-0 to the defending USL Cup champions Louisville City FC at Slugger Field.

Louisville midfielder Oscar Jimenez scored the only goal of the match in the 69th minute. Neither team looked particularly dangerous on the day, with both sides being limited by field conditions that were not conducive to playing the ball along the ground as both teams prefer to do.

Here’s Three Things from the loss…

1. The end of streaks
Two noteworthy streak ended Saturday afternoon in Louisville. Coming into the match, the Rowdies had scored at least one goal in every match they played since July 1 of 2017, a streak of 19 consecutive matches with at least one goal. That was the longest streak in modern Rowdies history.

Georgi Hristov also had a personal streak snapped in the way. Through last weekend’s win over Bethlehem, Hristov had scored a goal in six consecutive matches. He had only one shot on Saturday afternoon and it missed the target.

New streaks can begin this weekend when the Rowdies try to get back to winning ways against Ottawa Fury FC at home.

2. An even match
Though the match wasn’t even in the one place it truly mattered — the scoreboard — the Rowdies and Louisville City stood toe-to-toe Saturday night in a very even contest.

Neither team established a real edge in possession or passing accuracy. Louisville claimed a slight edge in shots (11 to 10) and shots on target (3 to 2.) The decisive moment of the match, Jimenez’s goal, came in the seconds immediately following Rowdies defender Neill Collins’ cleat falling off, sending Tampa Bay’s backline into panic mode as Lance Rozeboom dropped back to fill in at center back.

The match was so even that had Collins not suffered an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, we probably would have been looking at a scoreless draw.

3. Lance’s first start
Tampa Bay Head Coach Stuart Campbell made two changes to his starting XI, handing starts to midfielder Lance Rozeboom and forward Sebastian Guenzatti in place of Joe Cole and Junior Flemmings, respectively.

For Rozeboom, it was his first start since joining the Rowdies this winter.

Playing as the natural holding midfielder to keep things controlled on the road, Rozeboom put in a good shift. He completed 88 percent of his passes and intercepted four Louisville passes. He also tallied two tackles and one clearance.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 31, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies were defeated 1-0 by Louisville City FC on Saturday  at Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky.

A second-half goal by midfielder Oscar Jimenez was the deciding factor in what was a very entertaining match.

“I am gutted for the players as I believe they had a great performance and deserved at least a point,” said Rowdies head coach Stuart Campbell. “It was another good performance on the road by the Rowdies which is a ver positive takeaway.”

It was a busy first half for Rowdies goalkeeper Cody Mizell, who made two great saves to keep the match scoreless.

The first of the two came in the 15th minute, when Mizell was able to get his left foot on a Luke Spencer shot that was destined for the back of the net.

His second stop would also be on Spencer, but this time Mizell would come off his line to close down the angle and deny the forward any chance at scoring.

Despite a good first half, the Rowdies were not able to create any dangerous chances on Greg Ranjitsingh’s goal.

That would change in the second half, with the Rowdies creating an early chance in the 52nd minute. Forward Sebastian Guenzatti received a through ball from Jack Blake and fired a shot on goal, but the ball struck Lou City keeper Greg Ranjitsingh in the face, denying the equalizer.

Despite getting several shots off in the ensuing minutes, the Rowdies would give up the only goal of the night in the 69th minute. Jimenez received a lovely ball from Paolo Delpiccolo, and slotted it past Mizell to make it 1-0.

“When the ball goes out of bounds prior to the goal, Neill was on the floor trying to get his boot back on but the referee claimed he didn’t see it,” said Campbell. “It’s a frustrating way to concede a goal, but it’s done and dusted now.”

The Rowdies continued to push for the equalizer with the clock winding down, but it wouldn’t be enough to leave Louisville with a point. The best chance came in the final minute of the match as forward Georgi Hristov made a run into the box and when the shot looked like it would go on frame, Louisville’s defender was able to dive in front to send it out for a corner.

“We turn the page to our next match, which is in front of our amazing fans at Al Lang Stadium,” said Campbell. “We’re looking forward to playing at home and putting this loss behind us.”

The Rowdies return home to Al Lang Stadium to face Ottawa Fury FC this Saturday, April 7, presented by Teknia Logistic. For tickets, call 727-222-2000 or click here.

Scoring Summary
Louisville: Oscar Jimenez – 69th minute (assisted by Paolo DelPiccolo)

Caution Summary
Louisville: Pat McMahon – 26th minute
Tampa Bay: Georgi Hristov – 60th minute
Tampa Bay: Neill Collins – 72nd minute

Starting Lineups
Rowdies XI (4-3-3): GK Cody Mizell; D David Najem, Hunter Gorskie, Neill Collins, Zac Portillos; M Jack Blake (Joe Cole 80′), Lance Rozeboom, Marcel Schäfer; F Sebastian Guenzatti (Jochen Graf 68′), Georgi Hristov (c), Leo Fernandes (Junior Flemmings 75′)

Louisville City FC XI (4–5-1): GK Greg Ranjitsingh; D Kyle Smith, Sean Totsch, Paco Craig, Pat McMahon; M Oscar Jimenez, Shaun Francis (Speedy Williams 66′), Magnus Rasmussen, Paolo DelPiccolo (c), George Davis IV (Niall McCabe 86′); F Luke Spencer (Ilija Ilic 80′)

The Basics
Tampa Bay Rowdies at Louisville City FC
Saturday, March 31 – 3 p.m.
Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, Kentucky
Follow us for live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday

How to Watch
The match will be streamed live on the USL’s YouTube page here. You can follow live stats and watch the game in the USL Match Center here.

Watch Party
Head to Big Storm Brewing Co.’s taproom on Saturday afternoon for the Rowdies’ official watch party. If you wear Rowdies gear, you’ll get $1 off all pints AND enjoy a free pint every time the Rowdies score. The taproom is located at 12707 49th St. N, Clearwater.

Records
Louisville City FC: 1-0-0, 3 points, 4th place
Tampa Bay: 2-0-0, 6 points, 2nd place

Series History
The Rowdies and Louisville have met only twice, with the home team winning on both occasions last year. Louisville won 2-1 in Louisville on April 15, while the Rowdies won the return fixture 2-0 on May 13. Of the three Rowdies to score against Louisville last season, only Georgi Hristov remains. Martin Paterson and Deshorn Brown were the others.

Rowdies Notes
The Rowdies have opened the year in strong form, earning wins in both trips out so far, topping North Carolina FC 3-1 away from home on opening weekend and then following that up with a 2-0 home win over Bethlehem Steel FC last week.

Tampa Bay Head Coach Stuart Campbell made only one change to his team last week, handing a start to Junior Flemmings on the right wing in place of Michael Nanchoff. Flemmings’ Rowdies debut was short-lived as he exited the match in the 33rd minute with a minor injury. Flemmings is expected to be available this weekend.

Leo Fernandes and Georgi Hristov have scored a goal in each of the Rowdies matches so far this season to lead the team in scoring. Fernandes was perhaps unlucky to not score twice last week, with an apparent goal being called off by the match officials for not fully crossing the line. He was named to the USL Team of the Week on Tuesday afternoon.

With two goals to his name so far in 2018, Hristov is now just two goals short of tying Rowdies legend Derek Smethurst for the all-time franchise scoring record of 57 goals. Smethurst played for the Rowdies from 1975 to 1978. Hristov has scored at least once in the Rowdies’ last six matches dating back to the end of the 2017 season.

Goalkeeper Cody Mizell has been impressive in his second stint with the Rowdies, having won the starting goalkeeper position in a tight preseason battle and making the most of his chance through the first two weeks. Mizell has 11 saves to his name in 2018, including four last week to pick up his first clean sheet. He previously played for the Rowdies in 2014, though he made only four appearances that year.

Scouting Louisville City FC
Louisville City FC had a fairly quiet offseason after winning the 2017 USL Cup, keeping things consistent for the most part. The champions opened the season as home two weeks ago, beating expansion side Nashville SC 2-0 with goals from Luke Spencer and Niall McCabe after halftime.

Louisville had the weekend off last week after its scheduled match against North Carolina FC was called off Saturday morning due to unplayable conditions following heavy rains in the area. LCFC hasn’t played since March 17 due to that unplanned bye week.

Slugger Field is notoriously tough to play in for opposing teams due to its unique set-up. Louisville posted 11 wins and only two losses at home in the regular season last year en route to earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. In four postseason matches at Slugger Field last season, Louisville conceded only one goal.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 25, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies continued their hot start to the USL regular season Saturday night, overcoming a bit of adversity to beat Bethlehem Steel FC 2-0 at Al Lang Stadium to pick up their second win in two matches to start the season.

Georgi Hristov and Leo Fernandes scored within six minutes of one another in the second half to carry the Rowdies to victory.

Here’s Three Things from a successful home opener.

1. Home sweet home
Last season, the Rowdies were nearly unbeatable at Al Lang Stadium, posting 11 wins, four draws and only one loss in 15 regular season contests. This year, the goal is to be even better in downtown St. Petersburg.

Things are off to a good start after an absolutely electric night at Al Lang in the 2018 home opener. A crowd of 7,368 joined the Rowdies and provided an incredible atmosphere from start to finish.

“(The players) just love playing in this stadium in front of the fans,” Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell said. “The fans are great. They support us in a great, great way and we appreciate it.”

Saturday’s win extends the Rowdies’ unbeaten record in home openers in the Modern Era. Tampa Bay is now 4-0-5 in those matches.

2. Two is the magic number
Tampa Bay scored two goals in Saturday night’s match and won by two. The Rowdies have now played two matches in the regular season and have two wins. Both wins were by a two-goal margin. This is the second time the Rowdies have started a season with two wins in two matches. The first time was last season.

Georgi Hristov and Leo Fernandes each scored their second goal of the season in the win over Bethlehem last night. With three more points in their pocket, the Rowdies moved up to No. 2 in the early Eastern Conference Standings, just behind Charlotte on goal difference.

Need one more two to believe that two is the magic number? Georgi Hristov is now just two goals shy of tying Derek Smethurst’s all-time Rowdies scoring record.

3. Beating Bethlehem
Saturday night was the first time the Rowdies have found a way to beat Bethlehem. Both meetings last season were contentious and both ended in draws.

After earning their first playoff berth last season, the Steel FC looks like it will be competitive once again in 2018. Bethlehem posted a 4-1 win over Richmond on opening weekend, a statement of intent for this year.

Head Coach Brendan Burke’s starting lineup against the Rowdies included six players signed to Major League Soccer contracts with the Philadelphia Union, who were on a bye week this weekend. Those players were John McCarthy, Derrick Jones, Anthony Fontana, Marcus Epps, Fabian Herbers and Cory Burke.

McCarthy and Fontana were opening day starters for the Union earlier this month, with Burke and Jones both entering the match off the bench.

With all those Philadelphia Union first-teamers on the field at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night, the Rowdies’ win may end up looking even better by the end of the season.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 24, 2018) — For a moment or two early in the second half, the crowd gathered inside Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night may have wondered if it was going to be one of those stubborns nights where the Tampa Bay Rowdies outplay their opponent but don’t get the result they deserve.

With Bethlehem Steel FC John McCarthy racking up the saves and a controversial decision having gone against the Rowdies just before halftime, it was starting to feel like it wasn’t Tampa Bay’s night.

But then, a pair of quick-fire goals from Georgi Hristov and Leo Fernandes in the 62nd and 68th minutes, respectively, puts those fears to bed and sent the 7,368 Rowdies fans home happy with a 2-0 Tampa Bay win.

With the result in the books, the Rowdies (2-0-0, 6 points) preserve their unbeaten record in home openers in the Modern Era.

“I thought it was a real good performance,” Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell said. “I thought we defended really well as a team and attacked really, really well as a team. … We started the second half really well and got a couple of goals.”

Coming off a 4-1 win last weekend, Bethlehem (1-1-0, 3 points) looked sharp in the early going with Tampa Bay forced onto the back foot a bit. Rowdies goalkeeper Cody Mizell made a pair of early saves, including a nice tip over of the crossbar from a Cory Burke header in the 6th minute.

Once the Rowdies clicked into gear, though, Tampa Bay looked like too much for Steel FC to handle.

Tampa Bay’s first great scoring chance came in the 20th minute when David Najem slipped a through ball in for Joe Cole to shoot on the spin, but McCarthy made an excellent kick save to deny Cole the opening goal.

A controversial moment arrived in the 45th minute when McCarthy made back-to-back saves to deny Leo Fernandes twice, only for Fernandes to take a third shot that forced Steel FC defender AJ Paterson to clear the ball as he fell into his own net. The Rowdies felt the ball crossed the line and began to celebrate, but the goal wasn’t given.

The Rowdies took 16 shots (eight on target) in the first half, but were unable to break through officially and put a goal on the board.

With it all to play for in the second half, the Rowdies put Bethlehem to the sword.

A Jack Blake free kick in the 62nd minute proved dangerous, with Hristov heading past McCarthy to put Tampa Bay up 1-0. It was Hristov’s second goal in as many matches and leaves him just two goals short of tying Derek Smethurst for Tampa Bay’s all-time goalscoring record.

Just six minutes later, Fernandes took a defender on one-on-one and fired a low shot to the far post to double the lead. It was Fernandes’ second goal in as many matches as well.

“I thought we responded really well in the second half,” Fernandes said. “We came out firing and Georgi scored a really nice goal. It was a relief that we finally got one because we had pressed so hard in the first half.”

With a two-goal lead, the Rowdies closed the match out professionally to secure the victory.

Mizell made four saves to pick up his first clean sheet of the young season.

The Rowdies are on the road next week for an early season showdown with defending champion Louisville City FC before returning home to host Ottawa Fury FC on Saturday, April 7. For tickets, call (727) 222-2000 or click here. 

Scoring Summary
Tampa Bay: Georgi Hristov – 62nd minute (assisted by Jack Blake)
Tampa Bay: Leo Fernandes – 68th minute (assisted by David Najem)

Caution Summary
Bethlehem: Fabian Herbers – 54th minute
Tampa Bay: David Najem – 90th minute

Starting Lineups
Rowdies XI (4-3-3): GK Cody Mizell; D David Najem, Hunter Gorskie, Neill Collins, Zac Portillos; M Joe Cole (c) (Lance Rozeboom 74′), Jack Blake, Marcel Schäfer; F Junior Flemmings (Sebastian Guenzatti 33′ (Jochen Graf 86′)), Georgi Hristov, Leo Fernandes

Bethlehem Steel FC (4-2-3-1): GK Tomas Romero; D Matt Mahoney, Brandon Aubrey, AJ Paterson, Prosper Chiluya (Mike Catalano 82′); M Derrick Jones, James Chambers (c); M Anthony Fontana, Marcus Epps, Fabian Herbers (Santi Moar 67′); F Cory Burke (Brandon Allen 75′)