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ST PETERSBURG, FL (November, 13 2021) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies are set to defend their Eastern Conference title next Saturday At Al Lang Stadium after edging out Birmingham Legion FC 1-0 through a second-half strike from Yann Ekra.

“Everyone played their role tonight and we ended up with a 1-nil win, and it was well deserved against a really tough side,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins.

Tampa Bay came out with a level of intensity that nearly earned them a goa-ahead goal in the first 5 minutes. Ekra probed Birmingham’s net in the 4th minute, firing a shot that required keeper Matt Van Oekel to parry it out for a Rowdies corner kick. On the ensuing set piece, Van Oekel punched the service out of the box and the ball sailed to Laurence Wyke. The Rowdies midfielder scuffed a volley off the grass that bounced over Van Oekel but was headed off the line by JJ Williams.

After that early stretch of pressure, the match evened out as both sides produced a spare amount of half chance in the first half. A tame effort Prosper Kasim at a tight angle was handled by Rowdies keeper Evan Louro in the 11th minute. In the 23rnd minute, Leo Fernandes had a strike from the left edge of the box thwarted by Van Oekel.

Collins held off from making any changes through the first hour and his patience paid off in the 57th minute.

“Even for myself tonight, I kept telling myself you’ve got to be patient with our subs because we might have to go into overtime,” said Collins. “Just keep going, if we need to add on fresh legs we have Dayonn Harris, Lucky Mkosana.  But we got the breakthrough and I know when we go ahead we can do a great job.”

Tampa Bay’s breakthrough finally came in the 57th minute, with Ekra and Conner Antley combining to swiftly move the ball down Birmingham’s half. Ekra initiated the sequence by shielding the ball away from a defender and slipping a pass to Antley out onto the right wing. Antley then drove toward the box before picking out Ekra in the middle of the box. Ekra deftly trapped the ball with his first touch before turning to deposit the ball into the bottom left corner.

“I asked Yann for 10 percent more at halftime because we think so highly of him. He told me that was about 10 percent more,” said Collins. “What a player, and he and Conner combined so well for the goal. It was a goal worthy to win the game.”  

The visitors pushed for a late equalizer yet were only able to produce a header lacking power in the 73rd minute off a corner kick which Louro was easily able to handle. Fernandes came close to doubling the lead shortly after that, but Van Oekel made an outstanding diving stop to keep the match within reach.

Ultimately, though, the Rowdies closed the match out on top without allowing any serious threats to their net.

Next up for the Rowdies is an Eastern Conference Final showdown with Louisville City FC, the team the Rowdies bested in last year’s Conference Final. However, this year the Rowdies will enjoy home field advantage and hope to celebrate back to back conference titles in front of their home supporters.

“It’s a great advert for the league, two fantastic teams go head to head,” said Collins. “We’re happy to be at this stage, we’re happy to have the game at our stadium. We’ll prepare like we have for every team. We’ll go through the same processes. The players are bought in to doing the same.”

Scoring Summary
TBR – Yann Ekra (Conner Antley) 57’

Gameday Info
USL Championship Eastern Conference Semifinal
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Birmingham Legion FC
Saturday, November 13, 7:00pm ET
Al Lang Stadium, St Petersburg, FL

Tickets: Tickets for the match can be purchased here.

Bud Light Happy Hour: Arrive early for $5 12oz Bud Light beer from when gates open at 5:30pm to kickoff at 7:00pm.

Watch: The match can be stream on ESPN+ here.

Follow Along: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday

The Tampa Bay Rowdies continue their quest for a USL Championship title this Saturday in the Eastern Conference Semifinal versus Birmingham Legion FC. This will be the first meeting of the year between the two sides, but it won’t be the first time they have met in the playoffs.

Birmingham arguably gave the Rowdies their toughest test of the 2020 playoffs. After jumping out to a two-goal lead at Al Lang Stadium, the Rowdies conceded twice to allow the visiting Legion a chance at coming out on top.  Ultimately the Rowdies ran away in the latter stages to win 4-2, though.

“They gave us a big scare being two-nil up and they came back and got two goals,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. “At that point you’re fearing the worst. (Birmingham Head Coach Tommy Soehn) of course has looked at that and made adjustments, but of course they’re a different team this year. They’ve progressed, they’ve grown, they’ve added players.”

Collis added that while last year’s playoff game isn’t “irrelevant,” the truth is both teams have progressed since then. Like the Rowdies, Birmingham has built on the success of last season to grow into an even stronger side this season. Birmingham pushed Louisville City FC for the top spot in the Central Division until the very last match of the regular season. After the disappointment of losing out on a home playoff game due to the cancellation of their match against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC in last week’s Quarterfinal round, Birmingham will be eager to get out on the field.

“They’re a very well organized team and I think since last year they’ve improved and added some really good attacking players,” said Collins. “They’ve kept good continuity in their squad and then they’ve added at the back end of the field with Phanuel Kavita and Thomas Vancaeyezeele. They’re a top USL roster and a well-coached team as well. It’s gonna be a really difficult team at both ends of the field for us. We’re gonna have to defend the way we have all season and we’re gonna have to be creative to break them down.”

Keying in on Brett

An important piece for Birmingham and a familiar one to the Rowdies will be unavailable for Saturday’s match. Former Rowdies attacker Junior Flemmings won’t be with his Birmingham teammates and instead will be with Jamaica’s national team for FIFA World Cup Qualifying. The visitors still have a potent option up top in Neco Brett, though. Brett currently leads Birmingham with 18 goals this season, a career best for the veteran striker.

“Neco is someone we’ve played a lot over the last four or five years,” said Collins. “He’s deadly in the box. Him and Sebastian Guenzatti and probably Cameron Lancaster in the Eastern Conference have probably been three of the most consistent scorers. The good thing is our center backs have played against him. They know how effective he is as a forward. Birmingham have done a great job adding players like that over the last two years. We’ll need to be at our best in the back.”

A different Challenge

The Rowdies will need to carry the momentum from last week’s lopsided 6-2 win over FC Tulsa if they hope to get past a defensively strong Birmingham side. While the Rowdies conceded a league-low 23 goals, Birmingham ranked second best in the league by only allowing the ball into the back of the net 31 times.

Wingback Conner Antley, who assisted on the opening goal in the win against Tulsa, expects to see a well-organized Birmingham side this weekend.

“I think getting a 6-2 result against Tulsa shows the chances are there and the quality of work we put in every week,” said Antley. “We know it just comes down to putting that little moment of putting the ball in the back of the net. We go up against our own team in training every week and we like to think we train harder than any other team is going to go up against us. If we can do it in training against our own team, we have confidence we can do it on the weekend.”

Patience will be key for the Rowdies if it takes longer than hoped for to find a goal.

“I think it’s also important that if the goals don’t come, that we don’t panic,” said Antley. “And that we don’t lose our style of play, that we don’t become frantic or try to force things, then we continue to play our game and even if it’s 0-0 in the 70th, 80th minute, keep playing our game and the chances will come and eventually we’ll get a goal.”

Multidimensional Rowdies

As last week’s playoff matches showed, things won’t always go your way, even if you are the odds on favorite to win. For Collins, though, what his squad has shown is a determination to adapt to any challenges thrown at them by an opponent.

“The challenge is trying to figure out what someone’s going to do to stop you,” said Collins. “Can you prepare for that? Can your players adapt to that? Our guys have been really good at finding a way. Birmingham under Tommy I’ve always found really shrewd and makes adjustments accordingly, so I’m sure they’ll have a game plan. Equally, the games that we’ve won, we’re not one dimensional. We’re not one dimensional and we’d like to think we can hurt teams in different ways.”

Injury Report:
OUT: N/A
QUESTIONABLE: N/A

The Tampa Bay Rowdies may have been the favorite in the matchup with FC Tulsa, but that by no means guaranteed they would come out on top. Just ask El Paso Locomotive FC and Phoenix Rising, the Western Conference’s top seeds who were both bounced out of the playoffs this weekend.

“It’s playoff soccer,” said Rowdies midfielder Leo Fernandes. “You’re not fighting for ties anymore, you’re fighting to win.”

Getting past that first playoff match can be so vital for teams in establishing confidence in this single-elimination environment.

“The first playoff game is never easy,” said Fernandnes. “Some players get tight and don’t want to make any mistakes but I thought the team really put out a great overall team performance. In the first half we were on it, we thought we could have scored more goals. At halftime we just said keep doing what you’re doing and we’ll get more goals.”

Winning comes first and foremost in the postseason. When the final whistle blows, that is all that really matters in this stage of the year. It goes without saying that Rowdies are happy to be the team to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinal, but head coach Neill Collins was also pleased with the showing his side put in to earn the win.

“The ability to be able to play some great football under pressure, being able to take the ball, go past people, commit people. I thought that was all impressive,” Collins noted. “Then just the relentless nature of it. Coming out at halftime, where we probably felt we should have been two ahead at halftime, to come out straight away like that is a credit to the players.”

Driving the Rowdies to victory at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night was an energized crowd of 6,262 fans. The Rowdies were fortunate to be able to host two postseason games last year, but capacity for those games were limited due to the pandemic. Now, with no capacity limits in place, the storied waterfront venue has a totally different atmosphere, one that the players feed off of.

“It was amazing,” said Fernandes. “It pushed us the whole game. Whenever you play in games like that, there’s no better feeling as a professional soccer player. The fans were on it tonight. I couldn’t say many better things about it. It was so fun to play here tonight.”

Lucky’s Playoff Magic

If not for the impact of Lucky Mkosana, the Rowdies may have come away with a much more narrow margin of victory. In just 7 minutes of play, Mkosana accounted for 3 Tampa Bay tallies. A minute after coming on in the 88th minute, Mkosana slipped behind the back line before slipping a pass to an unmarked Fernandes for the finish. Then in the second minute of stoppage time, Mkosana cleaned up in front of goal after a shot by Sebastian Dalgaard was deflected into his path. And then finally in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Mkosana set Fernandes up for another goal in the box.

Rowdies fans have become accustomed to Mkosana contributing well off the bench, especially in the postseason. In last year’s playoffs, Mkosana scored the winning goals in the first two rounds at Al Lang.

Collins and his staff held Mkosana out down the stretch of the regular season, knowing the savvy veteran would be ready to come through when it matters most.

“We had him in cold storage for the playoffs,” Collins joked. “Everyone knows Lucky’s the best in the business coming off the bench and he’s trained well. Obviously we’re mindful that if we need a goal he’s a good person to bring on, but he’s also a good person if you’re leading because he occupies defenders. All the subs that came in tonight helped take that game on and actually punish Tulsa.”

Up Next

Up next for the Rowdies is Birmingham Legion FC, a team the Rowdies have not faced this year but one they took on in last year’s playoffs. The Rowdies prevailed that night in 2020, knocking off Birmingham at home with a 4-2 result. Birmingham will come into Al Lang on an unexpected break after having their Conference Quartefinal match against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC cancelled due to positive COIVD cases within Pittsburgh’s organization. In their most recent match, Birmingham lost a heartbreaker to Louisville City FC, which cost them the top spot in the Central Division.

Fans can purchase tickets for next Saturday’s match here. 

ST PETERSBURG, FL (November 6, 2021) – A five-goal second half in front of a raucous 6,262 fans at Al Lang Stadium saw the Tampa Bay Rowdies comfortably notch a win over FC Tulsa in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round of the USL Championship playoffs. The Rowdies finished 6-2 against Tulsa, securing a matchup versus Birmingham Legion FC in the conference semifinal next Saturday at Al Lang.

The Rowdies started strong and found their breakthrough goal in the 21st minute. Driving in from the right flank, Connery Antley whipped in a lethal cross which found Sebastian Guenzatti in front of goal. Guenzatti’s first attempt was blocked, but he made sure to bury the follow up attempt. 

A second goal eluded the Rowdies the rest of the first half, but they didn’t have to wait long in the second half. Pressuring the visitors into a turnover, the Rowdies charged into the final third to double the lead. Laurence Wyke fed Steevan Dos Santos in the box and the striker put some power behind a cross attempt that ended up clippin the foot of a defender and redirecting into the back of the net.

Dos Santos then grabbed an outright goal for himself 10 minutes later when Lewis Hilton delivered a pin-point corner kick to the far post for the imposing attacker to drive home with a header.

Tulsa grabbed one back in the 67th minute, as Joaquin Rivas tucked a low strike past Evan Louro. Their comeback effort hit a snag, though, when substitute Eric Bird picked up a second yellow card in the 73rd minute.

The floodgates eventually opened as the match reached the final stages. In the 89th minute, substitute Lucky Mkosana broke through Tulsa’s back line and slipped a pass over to Leo Fernandes, who deposited the ball past Austin Wormell.

Tulsa immediately responded with a wonder strike from way out by substitute Dario Suarez that dipped down under the crossbar.

Rather than fall back and ride the result out, the Rowdies pounced on two more scoring chances. First, Mksoana bagged a goal of his own as he cleaned up a rebound off a Fernandes shot. Then Fernandes grabbed one to close the night out, receiving another assist from Mkosana.  

Scoring Summary
TBR – Sebastian Guenzatti (Conner Antley) 21’
TBR – Kembo Kibato (Own Goal) 46’
TBR – Steevan Dos Santos (Lewis Hilton) 56’
TUL – Joaquin Rivas (Modou Jadama) 67’
TBR – Leo Fernandes (Lucky Mkosana) 89’
TUL – Dario Suarez (Bradley Bourgeois) 90’
TBR – Lucky Mkosana 90+2’
TBR – Leo Fernandes (Lucky Mkosana) 90+5’

Lineups
Rowdies: Louro; Scarlett, Lasso, Guillen; Antley, Hilton, Ekra, Wyke, Fernandes; Dos Santos, Guenzatti

Tulsa: Wormell; Bourgeois, Jadama, Fenwick, Sheldon; Santos, Moloto, Rivas, Kibato, Johnson; Costa

Gameday Info
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs FC Tulsa
Saturday, November 6, 7:30pm ET
Al Lang Stadium, St Petersburg, FL

Tickets: Fans can purchase tickets for the match here.

Pre-game: Catch the pre-game hosted by The Unused Substitutes podcast for a chance to win a signed Evan Louro jersey. The show kicks off at 6:30pm ET, live on the Rowdies Gaming Twitch channel here. 

Watch: Stream the match on ESPN+ here.

Follow Along: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday

The Tampa Bay Rowdies open the playoffs this Saturday with the first of what they hope will be four straight postseason matchdays at Al Lang Stadium. Flying in to face the Rowdies for Saturday’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round is FC Tulsa, who finished fourth in the USL Championship’s Central Division.

As the top overall seed with the best regular season record in the league and as the top team to emerge from a tough Atlantic Division, the Rowdies are heavy favorites this weekend. Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins, though, has no fear of his team stumbling due to overconfidence against Tulsa.

“One thing these guys don’t need to assure our fans about is their attitude,” said Collins. “I think they’ve shown their work week after week. I think our record against bottom teams is probably the best in the league. I think that shows they never take anyone lightly. They didn’t take their foot off the pedal when they wrapped the division up with five games to play because these guys are holding each accountable to a higher standard. If we weren’t to be at our best, it certainly wouldn’t be because of the players’ attitude. This week in training again the attitude’s been fantastic.”

The Rowdies need to bring the same level that earned them a regular season crown when they face Tulsa, a team that fared well against the top two teams in its division. Tulsa went on the road and beat both Birmingham Legion FC and Louisville City FC.

“Based on what they’ve done this year, they’re a very good football team with a lot of good technical players that can take the ball,” said Collins. “They like to build through the thirds and they like to pass it. They have some pace out wide and they’ve had two or three really good results on the road in a tough conference, going to Louisivlle and Birmingham winning, so we know that they’re more than capable of winning.

Tampa Bay and Tulsa Have a History

The Rowdies and FC Tulsa may be meeting for the first time in the USL Championship this Saturday, but the two markets have a shared history from the North American Soccer League days. Back in the 1970s and 80s Tulsa’s team was known ast the Tulsa Roughnecks. The Roughnecks met the Rowdies 14 times in the NASL, with the former holding an 8 to 6 edge in the series. Like the Rowdies, the Roughnecks returned in for a modern incarnation, but the club rebranded to FC Tulsa ahead of the 2020 season.

For Collins, the focus is solely on FC Tulsa this weekend. As it will be his side’s first time matching up with Tulsa, he and his coaching staff have a little extra homework to do this weekend. Still, he believes the Rowdies’ record against opponent outside of their division this year shows the system for preparation they have in place will put them in good standing on Saturday.

“I’ve got no experience with Tulsa and they’ve got no experience with us, but I believe having the cross-division games this year has been great to expose us to that,” he said. “I think I might be right in saying we’re the only team to win all four of thos cross-conference games. So I think very much the same type of recipe going into this one. Do our scouting on the opponent and then see how our style matches up, and I don’t think there’s one specific thing to do. It’s about implementing all the things that we’ve seen through the last 32 games.”

Breaking the Trend

USL regular season champions do not have the best record when it comes to hoisting the ultimate prize of lifting the trophy in the championship final. In fact, no regular season championship has ever come out on top in the postseason. Collins is not interested in comparing his Rowdies to those past regular season winners, though.

“This team’s never been regular season champs before, so you can’t put us in that category with others,” he said. “It’s like comparing apples with oranges. You know, we’ve got a game to win on Saturday. Like last year, we take it a game at a time as it comes. We know how the playoffs work. It’s a different format, but the players all believe in what we do together. They believe in each other. They believe in how we play. So it’s just a case of getting ready to perform and going out to do that. We always know there’s someone out there trying to do the same and we’ll adapt accordingly during the game.”

The Collective

One player on the Rowdies who has the experience of winning a regular season championship and then crashing out in the playoffs is defender Forrest Lasso. Cincinnati was the class of the league in 2018 and Lasso won Defender of the Year that season. As a longtime veteran in American soccer, Lasso knows well how rare it is to get a real shot at a title.

“The journey to get here speaks for itself,” Lasso said. “It’s tough, man. It’s tough winning a championship. It’s tough lifting a trophy. It’s tough winning a regular season. But in all my years of experience, it’s really easy to think like that. The hard thing is to focus on what you need to do. For us today, it’s just focusing on training and focusing on Tulsa. Of course I think about what could be at the end of the road, but I do know in order to get there we’ve gotta go step by step. It’s really easy to miss a step if you’re not focused on that one individual step.”

One thing that has stood out for Lasso in the last two seasons in Tampa Bay has been the mentality forged across the organization from top to bottom.

“Over the last 45 or 50 games, you can see it’s not just individual performances that are getting these results,” said Lasso. “… I mean, of course you have guys that are doing phenomenal things in a particular 90 minutes, but when you look at the whole collective group and what we’ve achieved over the last season and a half, it’s a collective mentality.”

Injury report:
OUT: None
QUESTIONABLE: None

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (November, 4, 2021) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies are entering into futsal with the announcement today that the club will participate in the United Futsal Champions Cup Series. The Rowdies will compete in the Eastern Conference Finals, which is set to be played December 18-20 at the Greensboro Coliseum Convention Center in Greensboro, NC. 

Two teams will wear the Rowdies’ Green and Gold colors at the tournament, a boys’ team and a girls’ team competing in the 2007/2008 age division. The rosters for both teams will be made up of players selected by invitation only.

“It is clear that the Rowdies have a vision and want to meet a certain standard in this new adventure,” said Rob Andrews, President of United Futsal. “They see the growth that futsal offers, leading them to make the decision to be a part of the Champions Cup Series. We are excited to see how the top talent from the Rowdies’ network stacks up against the world’s best futsal teams.”

The Rowdies have been following the rapid growth of futsal in the U.S. and view the potential addition of the game to the club’s youth network initiatives as an opportunity to expand engagement with young players throughout the region. Through futsal, players can learn fundamental skills of soccer in a fun, competitive and organized environment.

“We are excited to bring this program to the community and grow the game of futsal in Tampa Bay,” said Rowdies Youth Development Coordinator Samantha Ishee.

Full details on the Champions Cup Series™ competition calendar, program details and information for clubs wishing to apply for membership are now available at www.unitedfutsal.com.

ABOUT TAMPA BAY ROWDIES:
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are a professional soccer club and a member of the USL Championship, beginning with the 2017 season. The Rowdies’ home stadium is Al Lang Stadium in downtown St. Petersburg, Fla. The Rowdies were reborn in 2010 and quickly reestablished themselves as one of the United States’ premier soccer clubs, winning the North American Soccer League’s Soccer Bowl Champions in 2012. The original Rowdies were born in 1975 as an expansion team in the first NASL. From 1975-1984, the Rowdies were one of the most successful teams in the NASL, winning the Soccer Bowl Championship in 1975 and reaching the final again in 1978 and 1979.

ABOUT UNITED FUTSAL:
UNITED FUTSAL is the industry leader in providing the highest level tournaments and events for youth and amateur futsal players in the world. Since 2010, over 100,000 athletes, coaches, fans and referees representing 25 countries have participated in its World Futsal Cup, World Futsal Championships and Futures™ programs and precursory events. For more information unitedfutsal.com.

ST PETERSBURG, FL (November 2, 2021) – Tampa Bay Rowdies forward Steevan Dos Santos has been named to the USL Championship Team of the Week for his two-goal performance to lift the Rowdies to a 2-1 victory over Las Vegas Lights FC in the final week of the regular season.

This is Dos Santos’ third time earning the league-wide honor this season and his first selection since returning from a broken bone in his foot that sidelined him for most of the summer. The Cape Verde attacker also recorded Tampa Bay’s winner in the previous match at Loudoun United FC. He appears to have found his stride heading into the playoffs, finding the back of the net five times in October.

“I think Steevan’s goals per game will be pretty good considering how much time he missed,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. “It’s nice to see him score. We could have scored more tonight, but it’s always great to see your strikers score. I always like to have the strikers scoring because I think that gives the team more confidence.”

In Las Vegas, Dos Santos took advantage of a chance in each half to ensure the Rowdies came home with all three points and the best record in the regular season. When a long ball over in the final third slipped between Sebastian Guenzatti and the keeper at the top of the box, Dos Santos in the middle of the box to clean up. Las Vegas equalized later on in the first half, but Dos Santos managed to put the Rowdies ahead again in the 61st minute when he received a pass from Laurence Wyke in the box, quickly turned and fired into the bottom left corner.

This Saturday, November 6, Dos Santos and the Rowdies face FC Tulsa in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round of the USL Championship Playoffs, presented by TwinSpires. As the number one overall seed in the playoffs, the Rowdies hold home field advantage over every other potential playoff opponent.

Fans can purchase tickets for Saturday’s playoff match here.

LAS VEGAS, NV (October 30, 2021) – Steevan Dos Santos scored twice to lift the Tampa Bay Rowdies to a 2-1 victory at Las Vegas Lights FC’s Cashman Field on Saturday night. With the win, the Rowdies secured the USL Championship regular season championship, guaranteeing home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Rowdies finished the season with 71 points, a new club record in the USL Championship and four points clear of second place Phoenix Rising FC. It is only the second time in Rowdies history that the club has finished as the top side in the regular season. The 1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies are the only other Rowdies squad to have accomplished the same.

“For me, this was a big thing,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. “Coming from Europe, where being top of the regular season standings is so important, I think this is an important moment in getting the club to where we want to be. We want to be number one. We know that it doesn’t bring us the championship, but it gives us the best possible chance. So for me, it’s a step toward where we want to be as a club.”

Tampa Bay jumped out to an early lead over Las Vegas on Saturday. In the 12th minute, a pass from Leo Fernandes deflected off a defender but fell in a dangerous spot in Las Vegas’ defensive third. Rowdies captain Sebastian Guenzatti advanced on the ball, forcing keeper Alex Rando off his line. The ball ended up bouncing right in between both players but rolled directly into the path of Dos Santos, who buried the simple finish with Rando out of his net.

Two minutes after Guenzatti had a promising header tipped over the bay by Rando in the 22nd minute, Las Vegas found the back of the net through a bit of individual brilliance. A long ball over the top fell perfectly for forward Danny Trejo, who struck the ball off the bounce at the top of the box and sent it just over the fingertips of Rowdies keeper Evan Louro.

The hosts came close to taking the lead in the 56th minute, as Cal Jennings cut inside the box to draw Louro out before slipping a pass to Trejo. The attacker fired off a shot, but Rowdies defender Jordan Scarlett was in position to make a vital goal line clearance.

Just five minutes after Scarlett’s stop, the Rowdies went back out in front as Dos Santos netted his second. Geunzatti and Wyke combined for a give and go, springing Wyke into the box, where he centered to Dos Santos. The imposing striker quickly turned and deposited the ball into the bottom left corner.

Saturday was the second time Dos Santos has notched a brace since returning from a broken bone in his foot at the end of the summer.

“I think Steevan’s goals per game will be pretty good considering how much time he missed,” said Collins. “It’s nice to see him score. We could have scored more tonight, but it’s always great to see your strikers score. I always like to have the strikers scoring because I think that gives the team more confidence.”

The Rowdies now return home and intend to stay there throughout all of November for the playoffs. They host the Central Division’s fourth-place finisher FC Tulsa in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round of the USL Championship postseason at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday, November 6. Kick off is set for 7:30pm ET.

Fans can purchase tickets for the match here. 

“We always try to follow these teams, but I think the real work on (Tulsa) starts now,” said Collins. “Honestly, once you get ahead of the game that you’ve got, you’re in trouble. We wanted to win tonight because confidence comes from winning.  Tulsa have shown they can win home and away. They’ve beat Louisville. They’ve beat Birmingham. So they’ll be a real threat.”

Scoring Summary

TBR – Steevan Dos Santos 12’
LV – Danny Trejo (Mohamed Traore) 24’
TBR – Steevan Dos Santos (Laurence Wyke) 61’

Lineups
Rowdies: Louro; Scarlett, Lasso, Guillen; Antley (Harris 61’), Hilton, Wyke (Dalgaard 67’), Fernandes; Guenzatti (Tejada 79’), Dos Santos (Mkosana 79’), Ekra (Doherty 61’)

Las Vegas: Rando; Preston, Traore, Leone, Weber; Jennings, Daroma, Torres (Sepulveda 72’); Molina (Avila 45’), Trejo, Vazquez (El Mesmari (72’)

Gameday Info
Tampa Bay Rowdies at Las Vegas Lights FC
Saturday, October 30, 10:00pm ET
Cashman Field, Las Vegas, NV

Watch: The match can be stream on ESPN+ here. 

Follow Along: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday

The Tampa Bay Rowdies head west for the first time in the Neill Collins era this Saturday as they travel to face the Pacific Division’s Las Vegas Lights FC at Cashman Field. This will be the first meeting between the Rowdies and Las Vegas, who joined the USL Championship in 2018.

Having to fly across a few time zones is not the most ideal way to end your regular season when you have a playoff match the next weekend to prepare for. To make the adjustment, the Rowdies departed Tampa Bay a day earlier than they typically do for road trips. The team arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday, giving them all of Friday to adjust to the time change. Saturday will be another good road test for the Rowdies, who have a chance at finishing with the best road record in club history if they can claim a win at Last Vegas. Heading into the weekend, the Rowdies have a road record of 8W-5L-1D.

One Result Away

The Rowdies a win or a draw away from claiming the USL Championship’s top overall seed as the team with the best record in the regular season. With that achievement under their belt, the Rowdies would guarantee home field advantage over any opponent they come up against in the playoffs.

A loss or draw for Phoenix Rising FC would also lock up the top spot for the Rowdies, regardless of how they finish in Las Vegas. However, the Rowdies want to be in a position where they are ending the regular season on a high note.

“We want to win,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. “We want to give ourselves the best possible chance moving forward. So no question we’ll want to get the points to do that. I think that would be a great achievement for the club. But by the same token, we’ve shown in the past that no matter what seed you are, you can go and do well in the playoffs. Whatever happens on Saturday, the next week will be a challenge, but it would definitely be a great achievement for the club to win the number one seed.”

Las Vegas sits last in the Pacific Division, but the team’s attacking style poses a threat to any team coming into Cashman Field. Cal Jennings, a loanee from Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC, leads the club in both goals and assists. The 24-year-old strikers heads into the finale with 11 goals and 5 assists. 

“Certainly their home form is much stronger than their road form,” said Collins. “So coming here straight away is a tough challenge. They’re a real attacking side with attacking players that play with no fear. They’ve scored a decent amount of goals and that’s certainly a challenge when you come against an attacking team like that at their home ground.”

Finding the Balance

In their last two outings, the Rowdies made several key rotations to the squad in order to rest certain players and give others an opportunity at minutes. The Rowdies were nearing the end of a busy stretch of five straight matches without getting a full week’s rest. Now that the team has finally gotten a full week to prepare for Las Vegas, Collins has the choice of continuing to rest players or start regulars in order to ensure they have some momentum going into the playoffs. 

“Players have stepped up and done well,” said Collins. “Other players had the opportunity that I feel needed the rest. Now we’ve got almost a full squad to choose from and we’ll pick the squad with the best chance to win on Saturday, but then what’s also going to give us the best chance to win in the playoffs. Hopefully the benefits of this stretch will show at the end of the year if the boys look fresh and ready to go in the playoffs.”

Hristov and history within Seba’s Sights

After beating his own single-season scoring record to bring his total on the year to 21 goals, Sebastian Guenzatti has another milestone in his sights. Next up is Georgi Hristov’s all-time Rowdies scoring record of 60 goals. With Guenzatti currently at 57 goals for the Rowdies, a deep playoff run this year could be enough to lift him past Hristov and cement his place in Rowdies history. The fact that Las Vegas has allowed a league-worst 75 goals this seasons also suggest Saturday is a good chance for Guenzatti to add to his total.

It’ll Be Tulsa

This week the Rowdies learned their opponent for the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal at Al Lang on November 6 will be FC Tulsa, who locked up the fourth seed in the Central Division.

“I think it says a lot about the league that that’s the first matchup confirmed with all the clubs having just one match to play,” said Collins. “It shows you how tight the divisions are and what there is to play for. The fact that it’s Tulsa, someone that we’ve not played, probably makes it more interesting for everyone at both clubs. They’ve had some fantastic runs this season, so they’ll be a tough team. But right now we’re not thinking about them because on Saturday we have another team we haven’t played before.

Injury Report
OUT: N/A
QUESTIONABLE: MAX LACHOWECKI