ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (August 12, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies didn’t get the bounces Saturday night as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of North Carolina FC on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium.
1. Missed chances
The Rowdies find themselves mired in a scoring slump at a difficult time of year to stomach it. It’s been 351 minutes since Tampa Bay last scored a goal, just short of four matches. Stefano Bonomo scored two goals in two minutes against New York Red Bulls II on July 28, but haven’t managed a goal since.
In their last three matches without a goal, the Rowdies have taken a total of 41 shots, but only seven have been on goal. With that relative lack volume of shots on target, Tampa Bay really can’t afford to be inefficient.
In the two matches before falling into this slump — a 3-1 win over the Indy Eleven and a 2-2 draw against New York — the Rowdies managed a total of seven shots on goal, but they got results because five of those seven resulted in a goal.
The Rowdies have a week-and-a-half to prepare for their next test, a midweek visit to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on August 22, and they must figure out how to be more efficient in front of the net to give themselves a better chance to win.
2. Fading away
Tampa Bay started the match brilliantly Saturday night, threatening North Carolina’s goal and forcing a ton of turnovers with a high defensive press, but they just didn’t have it in their legs to do it for the full 90 minutes.
“I’m not going to be too hard on the players in terms of them giving their all and they were dead on their feet. In the last 15 minutes, we looked like a team that played Wednesday night and we played a high press in the first half.”
You can only get so used to playing in the heat and humidity of an August evening in St. Petersburg, especially when it rained pretty much all day. North Carolina, playing on a full week’s rest, looked the much fresher side after the hour mark and it used that advantage to its benefit with two second-half goals.
In Head Coach Neill Collins’ words, the Rowdies just didn’t have it in their legs to claw back into the match.
“I know physically we’re not fit enough,” he said. “We’ve not been fit enough from the first day of the season. We just don’t have players that are able to do it week after week after week. You look at the top teams in this league and the same players play all the time, give or take. Charleston very rarely changes its team. We have to change because we just don’t have players that are robust enough to go.”
3. The stretch run approaches
With only one point picked up from the last nine available, the Rowdies have their backs against the wall in terms of finishing the season strong and earning a postseason berth. Luckily, Tampa Bay has some time now to think about that and get ready for the stretch run of the season.
Eleven games remain on the Rowdies’ regular season schedule and Tampa Bay is five points behind the Indy Eleven in eighth place. Despite the scoring slump, the Rowdies have looked much better defensively in recent weeks, so if the offense picks back up, there is reason to believe the Rowdies can make a run.
“I don’t think a whole lot needs to change,” Rowdies defender Zac Portillos said. “I don’t think we’re playing poorly. We just need to start putting the ball away and sure up the defense just a little bit more. I think we’re close.”
Tampa Bay has only four home games left this season, so those should all be considered must-wins and the Rowdies need to start picking up more points on the road.
With 33 points left on the table, there is plenty of opportunity to climb if the Rowdies are ready to take advantage.
