LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (October 3, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies fell just a minute short Wednesday night at Coolray Field, dropping points in a 1-1 draw against Atlanta United 2 that puts a major dent in the Rowdies’ playoff hopes.
The Rowdies led 1-0 after Sebastian Guenzatti’s go-ahead goal in the 68th minute, but Atlanta’s Miles Robinson scored a scrappy equalizer in the third of four minutes of stoppage time in a major gut punch to the Rowdies.
Tampa Bay (11-13-8, 41 points) is now three points below the playoff line, but needs to jump three teams that also have a game in hand on the Rowdies. With just two games remaining in the regular season, the Rowdies’ maximum point total is now 47 points. The current playoff line is at 44.
It was a match that the Rowdies appeared to be in full control of, particularly after halftime
For the first 10 minutes of the second half, Atlanta (5-17-9, 24 points) could hardly get across the halfway line as Tampa Bay piled on the pressure.
The Rowdies took 23 total shots on the night, but time after time Atlanta found a way to block a shot or goalkeeper Paul Christensen would make the big save to deny the Rowdies.
Tampa Bay’s breakthrough came from an unlikely sequence, with goalkeeper Daniel Vega booting a long free kick that was headed into Guenzatti’s path by an Atlanta defender. Guenzatti took a few helpful touches before firing a low shot inside the far post for his fifth goal of the season.
After taking the lead, the Rowdies seemingly lost some of their urgency, with Atlanta slowly finding its way back into the proceedings.
The home team was dealt a blow in the 92nd minute when Andrew Kendall-Moullin was shown a straight red card for pulling down Junior Flemmings from behind as he raced toward goal in a potential one-on-one situation.
Atlanta showed great resiliency, though, with Andrew Carleton sending in a free kick with just seconds left to play that ultimately found its way to Robinson at the back post for the game-tying goal.
The Rowdies now have to pick themselves up for a home game against the Charlotte Independence on Saturday night in their final match of the season at Al Lang Stadium. For tickets, call (727) 222-2000 or click here.
Scoring Summary
Rowdies: Sebastian Guenzatti – 68th minute
Atlanta: Miles Robinson – 93rd minute
Caution Summary
Rowdies: Tarek Morad – 20th minute
Atlanta: Miles Robinson – 60th minute
Atlanta: Andrew Kendall-Moullin – 62nd minute
Atlanta: Oliver Shannon – 65th minute
Rowdies: Dominic Oduro – 75th minute
Atlanta: Andrew Carleton – 83rd minute
Atlanta: Andrew Kendall-Moullin – 92nd minute (Red Card)
Starting Lineups
Rowdies XI (3-5-2): GK Daniel Vega; D Hunter Gorskie, Papé Diakité, Tarek Morad; M Afrim Taku, Kwadwo Poku (Joe Cole 75′), Dom Oduro, Martin Vingaard, Zac Portillos (c); F Jaime Chavez (Junior Flemmings 75′), Sebastian Guenzatti (Leo Fernandes 86′)
Atlanta XI (4-4-2): GK Paul Christensen; D Andrew Wheeler-Ominu, Miles Robinson, Andrew Kendall-Moullin (Christopher Goslin 64′), AJ Cochran (c); M Shawn Nicklaw, Oliver Shannon, Kevin Barajas, Andrew Carleton; F Jackson Conway, Rodolfo Freitas Da Silva (Devon Sandoval 62′)
