ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 23, 2018) — The Tampa Bay Rowdies are right in the thick of the USL Cup Playoffs race after picking up their third win in a row Saturday night, downing the Richmond Kickers 3-0 at Al Lang Stadium.
Hunter Gorskie, Jaime Chavez and Junior Flemmings all scored in the victory.
Here’s Three Things from the match…
1. A bonafide winning streak
For the first time this season, the Rowdies are on a three-game winning streak, having beaten Atlanta United 2 1-0, Nashville SC 2-1 and the Richmond Kickers 3-0 their last three times out. Tampa Bay has only strung together two consecutive wins twice this season. This is the first time it has extended that streak to three since 2017.
What makes this winning streak all the more incredible is that the three wins came in only eight days as the Rowdies fought through fatigue and a midweek road trip to build their momentum. The last time Tampa Bay won three league matches in a single eight-day stretch was way back in May of the inaugural 2010 season. If Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches are included, the Rowdies had a nine-point week in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
The wins give the Rowdies major confidence and have brought them right back into the fight for a spot in the playoffs. Tampa Bay opened September nine points behind the eight-placed team, but after four wins in five matches this month, the Rowdies are now just one point behind eighth place with a game in hand.
While the Rowdies have steadily closed the gap to one point, they’ve done a great job of focusing only on themselves and not worrying about whether they were getting help from any other results around the league.
“We’ve been in such a poor position for a variety of reasons that I’ve not bothered with anybody but ourselves because without us winning, it’s not we’re in the playoffs and if other teams’ results go for us, we can stay in,” Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins said. “We need to win to get in there. The players have done a fantastic job of taking it one game at a time.”
2. Poku’s starring role
Rowdies midfielder Kwadwo Poku has come into his own in the last month for Tampa Bay as he plays in a relatively free No. 10 role. While he only has one goal and one assist officially on his stat sheet in 12 appearances, but his impact has been impossible to ignore.
Take last night for instance, when Poku didn’t notch either a goal or an assist, but completely dominated Richmond’s midfield and created numerous chances for the Rowdies. Neill Collins heaped praise on Poku in his postgame press conference, saying he “looked like the best player in the league” Saturday night.
For example, look at this play from last night. Poku wins the ball 30 yards from the Rowdies’ own goal and carries it up field, single-handedly, for about 60 yards, fighting through multiple fouls to keep possession. While he ultimately gets caught between two minds between shooting early or passing to Jaime Chavez, that run demonstrates something no one else on the Rowdies’ roster can do. His physical dominance makes him, at time, impossible to defend.
3. The matches just keep coming
Once again in this busy month, the Rowdies must move on quickly from Saturday night’s victory as they prepare for another massive match in Indianapolis on Wednesday night. It will be the Rowdies’ fourth match in 12 days, including two separate road trips. It’s a particularly unforgiving stretch of the schedule, but one Tampa Bay has managed well so far.
Sebastian Guenzatti, who has four goals this month, was rested Saturday night after playing the full 90 against both Atlanta and Nashville. Joe Cole played only 110 minutes out of the available 270. Kwadwo Poku was subbed out of all three matches to try and keep him fresh.
It’s a tricky balancing act the Rowdies have been executing as they try to keep players as fresh as possible.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to get as consistent as possible but keep fresh legs. We have a lot of conversations about whether a play can go again or if we can replace them without dropping the standard.”
Once the Rowdies get through Wednesday’s visit to Indy, they will finally get a chance to take full rest as they have next weekend off.
