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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 24, 2019) — Tampa Bay Rowdies forward Malik Johnson was named to the USL Championship Team of the Week on Tuesday for the first time this season.

Johnson recorded a hat trick of assists in Tampa Bay’s 6-1 win over Bethlehem Steel FC on Saturday night. He created five total chances.

The full Team of the Week is below.

GK – CJ Cochran, Fresno FC: Cochran made seven saves across two contests – including a penalty kick save in each – as the Foxes took victories against Rio Grande Valley FC and Phoenix Rising FC.

D – Bryam Rebellon, El Paso Locomotive FC: Rebellon scored the opening goal, completed 53 of 62 passes and made one interception and six recoveries in Locomotive FC’s victory against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.

D – Michael Orozco, Orange County SC: Orozco recorded the assist on Orange County’s late game-winner, had three chances created overall and completed 42 of 48 passes against Tulsa Roughnecks FC.

D – Justin Davis, Nashville SC: Davis contributed to back-to-back shutouts for NSC over the week, making nine recoveries, winning 12 of 20 duels and recording seven chances created against Birmingham Legion FC and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.

M – Napo Matsoso, Louisville City FC: Matsoso scored a pair of goals, went a perfect 24 of 24 passing and made three interceptions and five recoveries in LouCity’s 5-3 victory against the New York Red Bulls II.

M – Felipe Hernandez, Swope Park Rangers: Hernandez had one assist, eight chances created and completed 37 of 43 passes while winning 7 of 8 duels in the Rangers’ 3-0 win against the Charlotte Independence.

M – Dairon Asprilla, Portland Timbers 2: Asprilla scored two goals, added one assist and completed 31 of 36 passes to lead T2 to a 6-3 victory against Tacoma Defiance on Friday night.

M – Malik Johnson, Tampa Bay Rowdies: Johnson recorded three assists as the Rowdies romped to victory against Bethlehem Steel FC while completing 22 of 25 passes and 13 of 15 dribbles and winning 16 of 22 duels.

F – Kleber, Austin Bold FC: The Brazilian recorded a hat trick and completed 41 of 51 passes overall to lead Bold FC to a 4-1 victory in its home finale against Las Vegas Lights FC.

F – Hadji Barry, Ottawa Fury FC: Barry scored a hat trick, twice converting from the penalty spot, as Fury FC wrapped up a two-win week with a 4-1 win against Hartford Athletic at TD Place on Sunday.

F – Jaime Chavez, Fresno FC: Chavez recorded three goals – including the game-winner against Phoenix Rising FC on Saturday – and one assist and had five chances created over two contests as the Foxes clinched a playoff place.

Bench: Kyle Morton (PIT), Prosper Kasim (BHM), Luiz Fernando (ATL), Maikel Chang (SLC) Cam Lindley (MEM), Eric Bird (RGV), Corey Hertzog (RNO)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 23, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies won in dominant fashion Saturday night, brushing aside Bethlehem Steel FC in a 6-1 victory to move into a tie on points for first place in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference with less than a month left in the regular season.

Here’s Three Things from the match…

1. An offensive show
Saturday’s six-goal outburst from the Rowdies was rarity. Tampa Bay has become somewhat accustomed to scoring four or more goals recently. Three times already this year the Rowdies have scored exactly four goals in a match. Even five goals is sort of familiar. The Rowdies scored five goals in a match twice in August alone, 5-0 victories over the Charleston Battery and Memphis 901 FC.

But six? Six is rare.

Tampa Bay hadn’t score six goals in a match since August 3, 2013, a 7-4 win over the San Antonio Scorpions. Prior to that, the only other time the Rowdies had scored six was in a 6-3 win over Crystal Palace Baltimore to close the inaugural 2010 season.

The Rowdies have played 297 league matches in nearly 10 seasons on play in the Modern Era. They have only scored six or more goals thrice. What the fans saw Saturday night occurs just 0.01% of the time, historically.

Beyond just scoring six goals, the nature of the goals themselves was spectacular. The opening goal was officially credited as an own goal against Bethlehem’s Ben Ofeimu, but these purposes let’s consider it a Juan Tejada goal because his header was on target. Of the six goals, four came with the first touch and the other two were with the second touch.

2. Wingbacks run rampant
In a team filled with remarkable performances from top to bottom, special consideration must to be given to Tampa Bay’s wingbacks. Right wingback Malik Johnson was unstoppable, tallying three assists in maybe his best performance of the season. Left wingback Leo Fernandes racked up two assists himself and could have had a third had Tejada’s header not been ruled an own goal. Afrim Taku came off the bench to play the right wingback position and scored Tampa Bay’s sixth goal of the night on an assist from, you guessed it, the left wingback.

Johnson and Fernandes combined to create 10 chances for the Rowdies on Saturday night.

3. The ever-tightening top
With another weekend in the books, the situation at the top of the table is only getting tighter and tighter. The top four teams in the Eastern Conference are separated by just one point with a three-way tie on points for first place between the Rowdies, New York Red Bulls II and Indy Eleven.

Indy has two games in hand on the Rowdies, as does Pittsburgh in fifth place, but there are no guaranteed wins at the top of the table. Each of the top four teams have at least one loss in their last three games. Pittsburgh and Louisville are unbeaten in five and eight matches, respectively. The Rowdies will go head-to-head with Louisville this weekend.

The Rowdies couldn’t really have asked for a better weekend with a Tampa Bay win, losses by both Indy and New York, plus a draw between Nashville and Pittsburgh that saw both teams drop points.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 21, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies steamrolled to a 6-1 victory over Bethlehem Steel FC on Saturday night to move back into third place in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference with four games left in the regular season.

Five different players scored for the Rowdies (16-6-8, 56 points), plus a Bethlehem own goal, as Tampa Bay bounced back from a midweek defeat in Ottawa.

“It was a joy to watch the first-half performance,” Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins said. “I think that’s what we promised our fans at the start of the season. We certainly said we’d endeavor to try. We’ve done it in patches, we’ve had some great scorelines here, but I thought tonight in the first half, we were excellent. We were in complete control and it was fantastic football to watch. I was delighted for the team.”

On this night, Bethlehem (8-15-6, 30 points) was overmatched from the opening whistle.

While it took the Rowdies 20 minutes to get on the board, the result was never really in doubt.

Juan Tejada played a major role in the opening goal, putting a header on target that Steel FC defender Ben Ofeimu put into his own net for a 1-0 Rowdies lead in the 20th minute.

In the 25th minute, Sebastian Guenzatti was the recipient of a pass from Malik Johnson to double Tampa Bay’s lead from close range. It was Guenzatti’s team-high 16th goal of the season.

By halftime, the Rowdies would extend the lead to 4-0, with Kwadwo Poku scoring in the 40th minute and Andrew Tinari scoring in stoppage time. The goals were their third and fifth, respectively.

In the first half, Tampa Bay outshot Bethlehem 18-0 with six shots on target and four goals.

Tampa Bay conceded a penalty kick that Bethlehem converted in the 69th minute, but the Rowdies would add another pair of goals by the time the match finished.

Lucky Mkosana netted his fourth goal of the season in the 71st minute and newly-acquired Afrim Taku completed the scoring in stoppage time with his first of the year.

Malik Johnson didn’t score in the match, but he tallied three assists in an incredible performance. Leo Fernandes assisted two Tampa Bay goals.

“I think the whole team did well,” Johnson said. “We bounced back from a disappointing loss in Ottawa on a quick turnaround. We got the job done.”

Tampa Bay now sits in third place, tied on points with both the New York Red Bulls II and Indy Eleven at the top of the Eastern Conference. The Rowdies trail both teams on the total wins tiebreaker but have the best goal different in the East at +31. Their 56 points are a new Modern Era club record.

The Rowdies will visit Louisville City FC next weekend and Loudoun United FC before playing their regular season home finale against Indy on Saturday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available here.

Scoring Summary
Tampa Bay: Own Goal – 20th minute
Tampa Bay: Sebastian Guenzatti – 24th minute (assisted by Malik Johnson)
Tampa Bay: Kwadwo Poku – 40th minute (assisted by Leo Fernandes)
Tampa Bay: Andrew Tinari – 45+2 minute (assisted by Malik Johnson)
Bethlehem: Faris – 69th minute (penalty kick)
Tampa Bay: Lucky Mkosana – 71st minute (assisted by Malik Johnson)
Tampa Bay: Afrim Taku – 90+2 minute (assisted by Leo Fernandes)

Caution Summary
Tampa Bay: Tarek Morad – 42nd minute
Bethlehem: Walter Cortes -54th minute
Bethlehem: Chavany Willis – 65th minute
Tampa Bay: Lucky Mkosana – 74th minute

Starting Lineups
Rowdies: GK John McCarthy; D Shawn Barry, Tarek Morad, Caleb Richards; M Malik Johnson (Afrim Taku 73′), Kwadwo Poku, Andrew Tinari (Lucky Mkosana 59′), Dom Oduro (Jordan Doherty 82′), Leo Fernandes; F Sebastian Guenzatti (c), Juan Tejada

Bethlehem: GK Todd Morton; D Walter Cortes (c), Cole Turner, Ben Ofeimu, Nathan Harriel; M Chavany Willis (Luis Flores 73′), Zachary Zandi, Axel Picazo (Shanyder Borgelin 63′), Issa Rayyan; F Faris, Michee Ngalina (Saed Diaz 77′)

The Basics
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Bethlehem Steel FC
Saturday, September 21, 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 will open at 6:30 p.m., 60 minutes before kickoff. 

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

Records
Tampa Bay: 15-6-8 (W-L-T), 4th place; 7-3-5 at home 
Bethlehem: 8-14-6 (W-L-T), 12th place; 4-6-3 on road

Rowdies Notes
The Tampa Bay Rowdies return home following a disappointing 1-0 road defeat to Ottawa Fury FC in the middle match of a three-game week. Tampa Bay was beaten by a controversial penalty kick scored by Wal Fall in the first minute of added time.

Neill Collins opted for heavy rotation in Ottawa, with six changes from the team that had been held to a draw by Atlanta United 2 on September 14. Mohamed Kone, Zach Steinberger, Kwadwo Poku, Lucky Mkosana and Jaime Siaj were all restored to the Starting XI in Ottawa, while Afrim Taku made his second Rowdies debut as a starter just one day after being acquired by Tampa Bay. None of Tampa Bay’s top four scorers started the match in Ottawa.

Despite the defeat, the Rowdies have officially clinched their spot in the 2019 USL Championship Playoffs due to the Charleston Battery’s 3-1 defeat in Atlanta on Wednesday night.

Pape Diakite will be unavailable for the Rowdies tonight as he serves a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.

It has been a record-setting season for the Rowdies already with more room for improvement. Tampa Bay’s 15 wins this season are a Modern Era (2010-current) club record for wins in a season. The 2019 Rowdies are currently tied with the 2017 team for most points earned in a season with 53. If Tampa Bay avoids defeat tonight, that record will fall.

Sebastian Guenzatti leads the Rowdies in scoring this season with 15 goals, good for third-best in the USL Championship and a new Modern Era Rowdies regular season record. He scored Tampa Bay’s gamewinner in the first match against Ottawa this season and scored the Rowdies lone goal last Saturday night against Atlanta.

The Rowdies made one transaction this week, acquiring midfielder Afrim Taku from the Charlotte Independence on Tuesday. Taku played 15 matches for the Rowdies in 2018. He is only the second addition to the roster since opening day. Lucky Mkosana is the other midseason acquisition, having joined the Rowdies from Louisville City FC in a June trade. Taku played 62 minutes against Ottawa on Wednesday night.

Injury Report
QUESTIONABLE – Yann Ekra (leg)

Suspended
Pape Diakite (yellow card accumulation)

Suspension Warning
Dom Oduro (yellow card accumulation)

OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada (September 19, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies fell to a 1-0 defeat in Ottawa on Wednesday night, but also had reason for celebration as they officially clinched their spot in the USL Championship Playoffs.

Here’s Three Things from the match…

1. Playoffs secured
While the on-field result Wednesday night was poor, the Rowdies still qualified for the USL Championship Playoffs thanks to the Charleston Battery’s 3-1 loss to Atlanta United 2 in Georgia on Wednesday night.

The Rowdies are one of four teams to book their spot in the Eastern Conference, alongside New York Red Bulls II, the Indy Eleven and Nashville SC.

This is the fourth time in 10 years of Modern Era play that the Rowdies have qualified for the postseason. The focus now turns to seeding as Tampa Bay is in a tight battle for a place in the top four and a potential home game in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Tampa Bay is currently three points out of first place but just two points ahead of fifth-place Pittsburgh.

2. Out of sync
There’s no question about it that Wednesday’s match was not very easy on the eye. The Rowdies and Ottawa slogged through a match that was short in quality from both sides. Ottawa completed only 66 percent of its passes, 12 percent worse than its season average of 78 percent. Tampa Bay completed just 53.6 percent of its passes, 24 percent than its season average of 77.2 percent. The 53.6 percent completion rate was, by far, Tampa Bay’s worst of the year.

The Rowdies recorded only three shots over the course of the 90 minutes, a new season-low. None of the shots were on target. The Rowdies had previously failed to record a shot on target just once this season, a 0-0 draw on the road against the Indy Eleven on May 1.

The Rowdies were on course to match that 0-0 draw and escape Ottawa with a point until a controversial late penalty decision went against the Rowdies and doomed them to defeat.

Now, the question is how quickly can the Rowdies recover from this performance to start building momentum for the postseason. The result is done and in the books and the Rowdies need to move past it quickly.

3. Heavy rotation
With a midweek flight out of the country sandwiched between home games, Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins opted for a heavily-rotated side for the match in Ottawa. Tampa Bay made six changes for the lineup that played against Atlanta last Saturday night. Jaime Siaj, Lucky Mkosana, Zach Steinberger, Kwadwo Poku and Mohamed Kone were all restored to the starting lineup, while Afrim Taku started for the Rowdies just one day after being acquired by the club Tuesday.

None of the top four scorers on the team started the match. Leading scorer Sebastian Guenzatti didn’t make the trip at all.

The Rowdies will likely make a number of changes to the team again for Saturday’s game against Bethlehem Steel FC. Defender Pape Diakite will sit out as he serves a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 18, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies will play for a trophy this fall with a spot in the USL Championship Playoffs now secure.

The Rowdies secured their spot Wednesday night defeat a 1-0 defeat to the Ottawa Fury FC due to the Charleston Battery’s 3-1 defeat to Atlanta United 2.

This is the second time in three seasons the Rowdies have qualified for the postseason. Tampa Bay was eliminated by New York Red Bulls II in extra time in the 2017 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Four Eastern Conference teams have now booked their postseason ticket. The Rowdies will be joined in the playoffs by New York Red Bulls II, Indy Eleven and Nashville SC, plus the six other teams to qualify.

Ten teams from each conference will reach the playoffs. The top six teams in each conference will advance directly to the quarterfinals. The No. 7 seed will meet the No. 10 seed in the Play-In Round, as will the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds.

The Play-In round of the playoffs is slated for October 23 with the Conference Quarterfinals set for the weekend of October 25-27. 

The Rowdies will host a quarterfinal if they finish in the top four. Tampa Bay currently sits in fourth place with five matches remaining.

All matches in the USL Championship Playoff will be single elimination. If the match is tied after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time will be played in their entirety. If the match still hasn’t produced a winner, it will be decided by penalty kicks.

OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada (September 18, 2019) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies fell to a bizarre 1-0 defeat to the Ottawa Fury FC on Wednesday night after a severely delayed call gave the home team a penalty kick in stoppage time.

Neither side look sharp on the TD Place turf with the Rowdies completing only 54 percent of their passes and Ottawa completing only 66 percent.

The decisive moment came in the 90th minute of play when Ottawa’s Chris Mannella went down in the box on a challenge from Leo Fernandes. Neither the center referee nor the assist referee signaled for a foul as the Rowdies broke on a counter attack in the other direction.

Fury FC forward Wal Fall aggressively protested the decision, confronting the referee and stomping on the ground and the referee whistled for a foul when the Rowdies were already nearly to the halfway line.

Fall converted the ensuing penalty before being ejected from the match barely a minute later in a chaotic finish.

The Rowdies (15-6-8, 53 points) never looked likely to win the match on a sloppy night, but will likely feel pretty unlucky how it ended.

Head Coach Neill Collins heavily rotated his side with six changes from Saturday’s draw against Atlanta United 2 as the Rowdies play three matches in eight days. None of the Rowdies top four scorers this season started the match.

Tampa Bay failed to register a shot on target, while Ottawa (11-8-9, 42 points) only managed two beside the penalty kick.

Despite the result, the Rowdies clinched their berth in the USL Championship Playoffs on Wednesday night as the Charleston Battery fell to a 3-1 defeat to Atlanta United 2.

Tampa Bay will now return home to continue the fight for seeding against the Bethlehem Steel FC on Saturday night at Al Lang. Tickets are available here.

Scoring Summary
Ottawa: Wal Fall – 90+ minute (penalty kick)

Caution Summary
Tampa Bay: Pape Diakite – 56th minute
Ottawa: Wal Fall – 56th minute
Ottawa: Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare – 62nd minute
Tampa Bay: John McCarthy – 90+ minute
Ottawa: Wal Fall – 90+ minute (second yellow, red card)
Ottawa: Carl Haworth – 90+ minute

Starting Lineups
Rowdies: GK John McCarthy; D Mohamed Kone (Leo Fernandes 81′), Pape Diakite, Tarek Morad; M Afrim Taku (Juan Tejada 62′), Kwadwo Poku, Zach Steinberger, Dom Oduro, Caleb Richards; F Lucky Mkosana (Malik Johnson 74′), Jaime Siaj

Ottawa: GK Callum Irving; D Jamar Dixon (Kevin Olivera 66′), Thomas Meiller-Giguere, Robert Boskovic, Onua Obasi (Maxim Tissot 52′); M Charlie Ward, Thiago De Freitas (Chris Mannella 68′), Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare; F Carl Haworth (c), Hadji Barry, Wal Fall

The Basics
Ottawa Fury FC vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies
Wednesday, September 18, 7 p.m. ET
TD Place, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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: 15-5-8 (W-L-T), 3rd place; 8-2-3 on road 
Ottawa: 10-8-9 (W-L-T), 8th place; 3-6-5 at home

Playoff Clinch Scenarios
The Rowdies will clinch a berth in the USL Championship Playoffs on Wednesday with a victory over Ottawa Fury FC OR a Charleston Battery loss to Atlanta United 2 in Georgia. The Charleston match kicks off 30 minutes later than the Rowdies match in Ottawa.

Rowdies Notes
The Tampa Bay Rowdies head to Ottawa for the second match of a three-game week that opened in St. Petersburg with a 1-1 draw against Atlanta United 2 on Saturday night. The Rowdies will return home to host Bethlehem Steel FC this coming Saturday night to finish the week.

The Rowdies are in 3rd place in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference and would clinch a berth in the playoffs with a victory over Ottawa Fury FC on Wednesday night or a Charleston Battery loss in Atlanta on Wednesday night (7:30 p.m. kickoff).

It has been a record-setting season for the Rowdies already with more room for improvement. Tampa Bay’s 15 wins this season are a Modern Era (2010-current) club record for wins in a season. The 2019 Rowdies are currently tied with the 2017 team for most points earned in a season with 53. If Tampa Bay avoids defeat tonight, that record will fall.

The Rowdies were mired in a slump from the end of July all the way through August, but have started to right the ship so far this September. Tampa Bay lost four of six matches between July 26 and August 31 after losing just once in the 20 matches prior to July 26. That slump saw Tampa Bay drop from first place to as low as fourth.

Sebastian Guenzatti leads the Rowdies in scoring this season with 15 goals, good for third-best in the USL Championship and a new Modern Era Rowdies regular season record. He scored Tampa Bay’s gamewinner in the first match against Ottawa this season and scored the Rowdies lone goal Saturday night against Atlanta.

Tampa Bay has been very good away from home this season, posting an 8-2-3 (W-L-T) record away from Al Lang Stadium so far, good for 1.9 points per game. The Rowdies have only earned 1.7 point per game at home.

The Rowdies made one transaction this week, acquiring midfielder Afrim Taku from the Charlotte Independence on Tuesday. Taku played 15 matches for the Rowdies in 2018. He is only the second addition to the roster since opening day. Lucky Mkosana is the other midseason acquisition, having joined the Rowdies from Louisville City FC in a June trade.

Injury Report: 
QUESTIONABLE – Yann Ekra (leg)
QUESTIONABLE – Zach Steinberger (leg)

Suspension Warning:
Pape Diakite (yellow card accumulation)
Dom Oduro (yellow card accumulation)