Matchday 28
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Louisville City FC
Saturday, September 9, 7:30 p.m. ET
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, FL
Tickets: Click here to purchase tickets or visit the stadium box office starting at 4 p.m. on matchday.
Superhero Cape Giveaway: The first 1,000 kids to arrive through gates on Saturday will receive a Rowdies Superhero cape presented by Bayfront Health.
Superhero Card Giveaway: Visit the Pre-game Fan Zone outside of Gate 2 to pick up limited edition superhero cards of some of your favorite Rowdies players. Limited supplies available.
Watch: Stream the match on ESPN+
The Tampa Bay Rowdies look to bounce back from a tough loss in Memphis on Wednesday with a home matchup against Louisville City on Saturday. It’s Tampa Bay’s first meeting with Louisville this year, but there is plenty of history between the two sides. Tampa Bay and Louisville have faced in the last three Eastern Conference Finals. Louisville claimed victory in last year’s conference final, but the Rowdies came out on top in the two previous finals.
“Every game is worth the same three points,” said Rowdies midfielder Lewis Hilton. “We also know Louisville are a top team. Every year their near the top of the table. We always know going into these ones that it’s going to be a tough game. But we approach it the same way we do all games.”
The Rowdies will need to shake off a bitter loss from Wednesday. Despite holding a 2-1 lead for most of the second half, the Rowdies gave up a goal in the 88th minute and then another in the final moments of stoppage time. A win would have moved the Rowdies to first place in the conference over Pittsburgh. Instead, the Rowdies remain a point behind in second place but still have a crucial game in hand on Pittsburgh.
Home Cooking
Fortunately, this weekend the Rowdies are at Al Lang Stadium, where they have proven to be unstoppable over the last couple months. The Rowdies have now taken all three points from their last five outings at Al Lang, which is one match short of the club’s longest home winning streak. In fact, the Rowdies have not lost a league match at Al Lang since April 12.
Cal’s Scoring Streak
Forward Cal Jennings has now found the back of the net four in four straight matches, bringing his season total to 12 goals. Jennings sits just three goals back of the current USL Championship Golden Boot leader, Phoenix Rising FC’s Danny Trejo. With seven matches left to play, Jennings has already set a career high for goals in a season.
“I’ve been trying to do the little things right,” said Jennings. “Continue to be aggressive, continue to run at defenders and get myself in the box and shoot. You can’t score goals if you don’t shoot. That’s what I’m doing. A lot of times once you get confidence in your scoring it starts to come a little more naturally.”
Spreading the Scoring
For the first time in club history, the Rowdies have three players with double digit goals on the season. Charlie Dennis bagged his tenth of the year in Memphis, joining JJ Williams (10 goals) and Cal Jennings (12 goals) in the double digit club.
Connor Sparrow Assists
Connor Sparrow isn’t just capable of stopping goals. He can set them up too.
Sparrow recorded his first career assist in Memphis, perfectly placing a long ball over the back for Charlie Dennis to collect and sprint forward into the final third. Sparrow’s remains a contender for the USL Championship Golden Glove award with the league’s second best Goals Against Average
(0.87) heading the match this weekend.
Injury Report
OUT: Leo Fernandes, Sebastian Dalgaard, Zach Herivaux, Abel Caputo
QUESTIONABLE: Jake Areman
SUSPENDED: Assistant Coach Stuart Dobson
