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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (October 24, 2019) — Sebastian Guenzatti has led the way for the Tampa Bay Rowdies all season. If the Rowdies want to extend their season and play in an Eastern Conference Semifinal next weekend, they’ll likely need another big performance from Guenzatti in Saturday night’s showdown with Louisville City FC.

Wearing the captain’s armband as one of Tampa Bay’s most experienced players, Guenzatti had an excellent regular season. Guenzatti finished third in the USL Championship Golden Boot race with 18 goals in 33 matches this year, a new Modern Era Rowdies scoring record. 

But he’ll have his work cut out for him this weekend going against a Louisville defense that has played together for a long time and a potential centerback partnership of Paco Craig and Sean Totsch. With the teams evenly matched statistically, the player who wins the Guenzatti vs. Craig matchup could very well secure a victory for his team.  

Craig has been one of the most consistent and dominant defenders in the USL Championship for the last few seasons, helping Louisville City FC to back-to-back championships and back-to-back all USL Championship First Team recognitions for himself along the way.

Craig scored on a set piece against the Rowdies in the last meeting between the sides. Guenzatti netted a penalty kick later in the match.

Age: 28

Appearances: 33

Starts: 33

Minutes Played: 2,912

Goals: 18

Assists: 6

Conversion Rate: 28.1%

Age: 27

Appearances: 27

Starts: 26

Minutes Played: 2,317

Tackle Success Rate: 80.6%

Clearances: 108

Interceptions: 47

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (October 22, 2019) — The challenge for the Tampa Bay Rowdies is clear. If they hoped to ease into the postseason with a relatively friendly matchup, they’re out of luck. To extend their season, they must go to Louisville and knock off the defending two-time champions in their house.

In recent years, Slugger Field has become the stuff of USL lore. Louisville fans thought they were saying goodbye to Slugger Field on October 12 when Louisville beat Swope Park Rangers 8-3. At that time, it looked like Louisville would enter the USL Championship Playoffs seeded no higher than fifth, which would mean opening on the road and only hosting in the later rounds if some early upsets went their way.

Instead, Louisville earned the fourth seed on the final weekend of the regular season and Slugger Field’s life as a soccer stadium was extended.

With good crowds and its non-uniform playing surface where roughly three quarters of the field is natural grass but one quarter is artificial turf, Slugger Field been a house of horrors for visitors. Louisville has won eight consecutive playoff matches and has never lost a postseason game at Slugger Field.

For the Rowdies, this is the kind of matchup you get extra excited for. If you want to be challenged, this is the game for you. If you want to win the USL Championship trophy, knocking out the two-time champions on their field is a great first step.

“It’s the type of game that you want to play in in your career,” Rowdies defender Tarek Morad said. “There’s a lot on the line. It’s going to be a tough atmosphere to play in but it’s something we’re going to enjoy. We look forward to playing there Saturday night and putting our best foot forward.”

In 2018, the No. 5 seed went on the road and beat the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals in both the Eastern and Western Conferences. In 2017, both No. 4 seeds won their opener, though one needed extra time and one needed penalty kicks.

The Rowdies can win Saturday night’s match. In the regular season, Tampa Bay scored more goals and allowed fewer than its opponent Saturday night did. When these teams last met, the Rowdies trailed 2-0 and were playing with 10 men with three minutes left in the match. But the Rowdies didn’t give in.

They rallied to score twice in the final moments of the match and earn a point against the odds. With that experience fresh in their memory, they’ll have the confidence to keep fighting no matter how Saturday night’s match develops.

“That was a good challenge for us to have at that point in the season and that’ll leave us in good stead for this visit,” Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins said. “We’ve got players now going in there and knowing what to expect. … Games like this are what you want to be involved in football for. Going to Louisville, there’s going to be a great crowd and a great environment to play in so we’re all excited and looking forward to it.”

Saturday’s match kicks off at 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+. The Rowdies are hosting a watch party at Al Lang Stadium with gates opening at 6:30 p.m. Fans are invited to bring in food and blankets to enjoy the match from the pitch.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (October 22, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies kick off what they hope will be a lengthy postseason campaign Saturday night in Louisville in a showdown of Eastern Conference heavyweights.

Louisville City FC, the two-time defending USL Championship winners, won’t be an easy out. Louisville’s postseason pedigree is unmatched at this level, with 12 players that have been around since 2017 or earlier, all of whom lifted the USL Championship trophy in purple twice.

In comparison, the Rowdies have just two former champion on their roster in Tarek Morad, who won the league with Louisville in 2017, and David Najem, who won it in 2016 with New York Red Bulls II.

It must be said, though, that for the majority of this season, Louisville City did not look like the Louisville City of the last two seasons. For most of the year, Louisville hovered around seventh place before a 10-game unbeaten run between August 3 and October 8 gave them the footing to eventually climb to fourth place on the final weekend of the regular season.

With the Rowdies and Louisville City squaring off this season, let’s do a little advance scouting ahead of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Louisville Head Coach John Hackworth is likely to deploy a four-back formation against the Rowdies this weekend. He tested a three-back set a few times this season, but opted for four defenders in 29 of 34 matches this season.

Louisville typically likes to play a 4-1-4-1 defensively with either Devon Williams or Paolo Del Piccolo sitting deep just behind a flat line of four midfielders and then a lone striker, usually either Abdou Thiam or Luke Spencer.

In the attack, the wide midfielder get forward and present more of a 4-3-3 look with Brian Ownby, George Davis IV, Niall McCabe and Antoine Hoppenot some of the candidates in those positions.

Here’s how Louisville lined up in its two previous matches against the Rowdies this season. On the left is the 1-1 draw at Al Lang Stadium on April 13 and on the right is the 2-2 draw at Slugger Field on September 28.

With Louisville expected to pick a 4-1-4-1/4-3-3 this weekend and the Rowdies likely to stick with the 3-5-2 they’ve used all season, it will present another interesting tactical battle between the sides. Here’s how the teams have stacked up in some of the key statistics this season. 

While the two matches this year have both been draws, it’s fair to say Louisville had the better of the play in the first meeting and the Rowdies looked more dangerous for most of the second meeting before falling behind 2-0 and rallying for a 2-2 draw late. Highlights of both of those matches are below.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (October 21, 2019) — After 34 matches, the 2019 USL Championship regular season ended with a whimper for the Tampa Bay Rowdies as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to the Hartford Athletic on Saturday night.

That defeat cost the Rowdies a home game in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, but the task at hand remains unchanged. The postseason is a new season and Tampa Bay is four wins away from winning hardware.

Here’s Three Things from the match…

1. On the road again
The Rowdies knew going into Saturday night’s match against the Hartford Athletic that a win would secure them a home game in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals next week. If they dropped points, they would need both the New York Red Bulls II and Louisville City FC to similarly drop points at Loudoun United FC and Memphis 901 FC, respectively.

Tampa Bay and Hartford were still tied 0-0 at halftime with it all to play for in the second half. That second period got off to a rough start, with Hartford scoring in the 47th minute to take a 1-0 lead.

While the players on the field likely wouldn’t have had much understanding of the situation in other matches, if any, for fans at home, it was an interesting night of scoreboard watching. Tampa Bay fell behind at 8:10 p.m., but by that time, New York already trailed Loudoun 3-0 on the way to a 7-3 defeat.

Rowdies fans received a morale boost at 8:16 when Memphis took an early 1-0 lead over Louisville. At that point in the night, things were basically as they started. The Rowdies were in line to finish fourth and play at home next weekend despite a loss.

Things continued to get brighter for the Rowdies when Lucky Mkosana pulled Tampa Bay level at 8:36 p.m. in Hartford. Even Louisville’s game-tying goal seven minutes later at 8:43 didn’t do much to dampen hopes. At that point, the Rowdies were set to host Louisville in the quarterfinals next weekend.

After the Rowdies conceded at 8:56 to lose in Hartford, all eyes turned to Memphis. If 901 FC could find a way to win, or hold on for a draw, the Rowdies would be at home next weekend. If Louisville won, the match would flip to Slugger Field.

It was none other than Antoine Hoppenot, who the Rowdies traded to Louisville in June, that sealed Tampa Bay’s fate with a game-winner for Louisville in the 78th minute, ensuring his old club would visit his current club in the opening round Saturday night. The other end of that trade, Lucky Mkosana, had scored for the Rowdies about an hour earlier.

2. Seeing red
The Rowdies ended the match with 10 men after Malik Johnson was shown yellow cards in the 62nd and 68th minutes, earning himself a red card and a dismissal from the match. Tampa Bay fought back to tie the match while playing with 10 men and looked the far better side as it chased a late winner, but ultimately conceded in the final minute of added time.

Johnson is now suspended from next weekend’s visit to Louisville City, creating a sudden lack of depth at the wingback position. Tampa Bay was short one wingback in Hartford as Leo Fernandes missed out due to a hamstring injury, but the Rowdies could now be down two wingbacks for the biggest match of the year.

3. The records fall
While the regular season ended on a downward trend after Tampa Bay’s hot start to the season, all things are still possible in a single-elimination tournament like the USL Championship Playoffs. If the Rowdies can erase from their minds the inconsistent results of the last few months, they can draw confidence from the Modern Era team records they set this regular season.

Tampa Bay set new records in wins (16) and points earned (58) this year, as well as goal difference (+28) and goals scored (61). Additionally, the Rowdies set the Modern Era team record for road wins (8) and conceded just 33 goals in 34 games, good for a goals-against-average of 0.97, the first time in 10 seasons it has been below 1.00.

Whatever happens over the course of the next month, whether the Rowdies are knocked out in the first round or go all the way to win the USL Championship, this has already been one of the best seasons in modern Rowdies history and the foundation is set for even more fun next year.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (October 19, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies will enter the USL Championship Playoffs as the No. 5 seed and play their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal next weekend on the road against Louisville City FC.

The Rowdies entered Saturday night’s regular season finale in fourth place and in line for a potential home game in the quarterfinals, but a 2-1 defeat against the Hartford Athletic, paired with Louisville City FC’s 2-1 win over Memphis 901 FC, saw Tampa Bay slip to the fifth seed.

Next weekend’s match is slated for Saturday, October 26 at Slugger Field with a 7 p.m. kickoff. Louisville is the two-time defending USL Championship Winners.

The teams drew both of their previous matches this season, finishing 1- 1 at Al Lang Stadium on April 13 and 2-2 in Louisville on September 28. The meeting at Slugger Field last month was particularly entertaining as the Rowdies trailed 2-0 and were playing down a man with three minutes to go in the match but rallied for a dramatic 2-2 tie.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (October 19, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies ended the 2019 USL Championship regular season in defeat, falling 2-1 on the road to the Hartford Athletic and now face the prospect of opening the USL Championship Playoffs away from home.

The Rowdies (16-8-10, 58 points) opened the night in fourth place and in line to host its quarterfinal match with a victory, but Tampa Bay’s loss, paired with Louisville City FC’s 2-1 win over Memphis 901 FC, saw the Rowdies slip to fifth place.

The Rowdies will visit the two-time defending champion Louisville City next Saturday night. That match is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Slugger Field.

Tampa Bay started its match against Hartford (8-21-5, 29 points) well, but neither side was able to break through in the opening 45 minutes.

Hartford broke the deadlock just two minutes in the second half when Ryan Williams received a cross and fired a shot from the corner of the box that hit the far post and caromed into Tampa Bay’s net to put the hosts up 1-0 in the 47th minute.

The match took a turn for the worse in the 68th minute when Rowdies midfielder Malik Johnson was shown his second yellow card in six minutes and dismissed from the match, leaving Tampa Bay shorthanded for the remainder of the night.

With a lot on the line, the Rowdies continued to fight through the adversity.

Second-half substitute Lucky Mkosana gave the Rowdies a lifeline in the 73rd minute, receiving a pass from Sebastian Guenzatti and firing it past Hartford goalkeeper Cody Cropper to tie the match at 1-1.

From there, the Rowdies controlled much of the match despite their man disadvantage. Tampa Bay controlled the possession in the final 15 minutes and had a couple of scoring chances come up short.

With the Rowdies pressing hard for a second goal and a home game next weekend, Hartford delivered the fatal blow in the third minute of added time as Wojciech Wojcik headed in a Raymond Lee cross to doom the Rowdies to a 2-1 defeat.

Scoring Summary
Hartford: Ryan Williams – 47th minute (assisted by Elliot Hord)
Rowdies: Lucky Mkosana – 73rd minute (assisted by Sebastian Guenzatti)
Hartford: Wojciech Wojcik – 90+3 minute (assisted by Raymond Lee)

Caution Summary
Hartford: Ryan Williams – 40th minute
Rowdies: Malik Johnson – 62nd minute
Hartford: Logan Gdula – 62nd minute
Rowdies: Malik Johnson – 68th minute
Rowdies: Pape Diakite – 80th minute

Starting Lineups
Rowdies: GK John McCarthy; D Tarek Morad, Pape Diakite, Caleb Richards; M Shawn Barry, Kwadwo Poku (Jaime Siaj 86′), Andrew Tinari (Yann Ekra 63′), Jordan Doherty, Malik Johnson; F Sebastian Guenzatti (c), Juan Tejada (Lucky Mkosana 63′)

Hartford: GK Cody Cropper; D Elliott Hord, Logan Gdula, Alex Davey (Nicky Downs 84′), Raymond Lee; M Ryan Williams, Sem De Wit, Danny Barrera, Daniel Bedoya (Philip Rasmussen 78′); F Sebastian Dalgaard, Jose Angulo (Wojciech Wojcik 78′)

The Basics
Hartford Athletic vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies
Saturday, October 19, 7 p.m. ET
Dillon Stadium, Hartford, Conn.
Follow us for live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday

How to Watch
The match will be broadcast online on ESPN+ here. International viewers can watch online here.

Records
Tampa Bay: 16-7-10 (W-L-T), 4th place; 8-4-4 on road 
Hartford: 7-21-5 (W-L-T), 17th place; 5-7-4 at home

Rowdies Notes
The Tampa Bay Rowdies head to Connecticut to close the 2019 USL Championship regular season. This will be the Rowdies first-ever match in Connecticut.

The Rowdies officially clinched their spot in the USL Championship Playoffs on September 18 but the battle for seeding remains tight. Tampa Bay controls its own destiny for a potential home game in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. If the Rowdies win in Hartford, they will secure the No. 4 seed and host the No. 5 seed at Al Lang Stadium next Saturday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m. If the Rowdies fail to win in Hartford, their fate will depend of the result of New York (at Loudoun) and Louisville City FC (at Memphis). Tampa Bay holds a one-point edge on both teams for the No. 4 seed. New York kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and Louisville kicks off at 8 p.m.

Since winning three-straight matches from June 22 to July 7, the Rowdies have struggled for consistency. In its last 16 matches, Tampa Bay has only posted the same result in consecutive matches twice, losses to Birmingham on August 10 and North Carolina on August 21. In those 16 matches, the Rowdies have posted a record of 6-6-4 (W-L-T). Tampa Bay lost just once in the previous 17 matches.

Tampa Bay boasts the second-best goal differential in the Eastern Conference, and third-best in the USL Championship overall, at +29. Amongst teams in the East, only Nashville’s mark of +30 is better heading into the final weekend of the regular season. In the Eastern Conference, only New York (71) has scored more goals than the Rowdies (60.)

It has been a record-setting season for the Rowdies already with more room for improvement. Tampa Bay’s 16 wins this season are a Modern Era (2010-current) club record for wins in a season. The 2019 Rowdies have earned 58 points so far, surpassing the 53 points won by the 2017 Rowdies for the most in a Modern Era season.

Sebastian Guenzatti leads the Rowdies in scoring this season with 18 goals, good for third-best in the USL Championship and a new Modern Era Rowdies regular season record. Guenzatti has scored in five of his last seven starts.

Injury Report
QUESTIONABLE – Dom Oduro (ankle)
QUESTIONABLE – Leo Fernandes (hamstring)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (October 17, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies are back in control of their playoff destiny after getting a little bit of help Wednesday night in action elsewhere in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference.

With one match to go, the calculation is simple.

If the Rowdies earn a win Saturday night against the Hartford Athletic, they will host a quarterfinal match on Saturday, October 26 at 7:30 p.m. If the Rowdies fail to win, the results of other matches will determing if Tampa Bay plays its quarterfinal at home or on the road.

Tampa Bay currently sits in fourth place and can finish in either fourth, fifth or sixth place. Finishing in fourth would secure a home game in the quarterfinals, while finishing in fifth or sixth would see the Rowdies travel for their playoff opener.

The math for a fourth place finish gets a little trickier if the Rowdies fail to win in Hartford. Tampa Bay currently leads both New York Red Bulls II and Louisville City FC by one point. If the Rowdies draw their match in Hartford and either New York or Louisville win their matches (at Loudoun and at Memphis, respectively), the Rowdies will fall to fifth or sixth place. If the Rowdies lose, they will need both New York and Louisville to lose to hold onto fourth place and the home quarterfinal.

Hartford currently sits in 17th place in the Eastern Conference after struggling through its inaugural season. The Athletic is 4-4-1 (W-L-T) at home since moving into its permanent venue of Dillon Stadium. The Rowdies beat Hartford 4-0 in St. Petersburg on April 6 in the first meeting between the teams.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (October 15, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies USL Championship Playoffs path could start to come into better focus tonight as a handful of Eastern Conference teams will be in action.

In particular, the Rowdies will have their eyes on the Indy Eleven vs. Swope Park Rangers match (7 p.m. kickoff) and the Birmingham Legion FC vs. New York Red Bulls II match (8 p.m kickoff).

As a reminder, Tampa Bay could finish anywhere between third and sixth place in the Eastern Conference. A finish of third or fourth will see the Rowdies host their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, while finishing fifth or sixth will see Tampa Bay open on the road.

Here’s tonight’s key matches and the impact they’ll have on the Rowdies.

Indy Eleven vs. Swope Park Rangers
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
This is Indy’s final match of the regular season. The Eleven is currently in third place and cannot reach first or second. Should the Eleven win, it will move to 61 points and guarantee itself a higher seed than the Rowdies. If New York wins both of its remaining matches, the Red Bulls could finish third and bump Indy down to fourth via tiebreakers.

Rowdies fans should be hoping for an Indy Eleven loss. That would open the door for Tampa Bay to finish above the Eleven with a win in Hartford on Saturday night. If Indy and Swope Park tie, Indy will finish above Tampa Bay no matter what.

Birmingham Legion FC vs. New York Red Bulls II
BBVA Compass Field, Birmingham, Alabama
Kickoff: 8 p.m.
The Rowdies need Birmingham to get a result and should be encouraged by the fact that Legion FC has a lot to play for. Birmingham currently holds the 10th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference via tiebreakers over the Charleston Battery. Charleston hosts Memphis tonight, so Legion FC needs to match or better Charleston’s result to retain control of its own destiny.

New York trails the Rowdies by just one point but will play its game in hand tonight. If the Red Bulls fall to defeat in Alabama, the Rowdies regain control of their destiny. If New York ties or wins, it will move ahead of Tampa Bay heading into the final weekend of the regular season. New York plays at Loudoun United on Saturday, while the Rowdies visit Hartford.