A Home Game Away to North Carolina

Date: Saturday October 19, 2024
Kickoff Time: 5:00 pm EST at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC
Records: Tampa Bay Rowdies (46 pts 13W-7D-11L); North Carolina FC (42 pts 11W-9D-12L)
Standings: The Rowdies are 6th in the East and NCFC are 7th.
This past week was marked by yet another hurricane – and yet another loss for the Rowdies. It is a dire time for the team as the postseason keeps getting closer and closer. From a hosting position in the playoff standings to hanging on for dear life, Tampa Bay need a result. Another problem from this hurricane is that a host game turns into another away game. Tune into the RBLR online watch party this Saturday as the boys take on North Carolina from that state!
Let’s look at the Rhode Island and Louisville City games together.
Due to Hurricane Milton, there was no preview column ahead of the match this past weekend. I apologize; but, I truly could not get it out. I had no power and no way of getting to a reliable source for that or the internet. We’ll have to look at the Rhode Island game as well in the review section of this week’s column to make up for it.
Sadly, that only makes this less fun. At least the LouCity loss had some bite and excitement to it. The defeat from the week before was one of the weakest games the Rowdies have put out this season, in this writer’s opinion. The first goal should never have happened. The fact that a former Rowdie put it away, as well as Rhode Island’s second, only makes it hurt all the more.
Taken together, these matches present two options for Rowdies fans: the positive and negative. To get the latter out of the way first, one could view two losses as a continuation of a rotten season since the end of July. It’s just more reason to expect the playoffs will be short for Tampa Bay – if we make it there at all at this point. That is not looking like such a guarantee anymore.
The other option, slightly rosier, is that the loss against Louisville was actually an improvement. The Green and Gold took the lead over their ever-present Purple rivals with a very nice goal from a future legend in Lewis Hilton. The goals conceded were frustrating, to be sure. But, they were also a little flukey. The penalty decision will divide opinion and inflame the mood for some.
One of those was manager Robbie Neilson, who was sent off for the second time this season. The Rowdies of 2024 are a team that looks capable of winning many games. They fall short mostly on execution. Many have pointed out the statistics as the league leader in Big Chances missed. That has impacted players’ mentality, even visibly so at times.
Now, as October comes to a close, Neilson and his staff will have to consider some things. His team are dropping points left and right. Consequently, they are dropping down the Eastern Conference table. Additionally, the region surrounding the club has just suffered the devastating effects of two major hurricanes. It could have the makings of a major downturn.
On the other hand, perhaps the Louisville City loss is a turning point. The club has been searching for one for a while now. If the boys can rally around each other, and the region at large, they can take the positives from the last game and make them even better. Confidence is what will turn those missed chances into real goals. Restoring that could take some attitude first.
Two away games in North Carolina?!
Another way to build a chip on the shoulder of Rowdies players is to focus on what has not been fair for them. While some problems are of their own making, one could fairly say some part of the universe is against them. The Soccer Gods are not shining down on their attacks, while the forces that control the weather seemingly also want to disrupt the team.
This is, of course, simplistic. However, the hurricanes have rendered Al Lang Stadium unusable for the immediate future. When they might have access again is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, they will be forced to travel to Cary, North Carolina for the second time this regular season to take on the former RailHawks. Whatever advantage home field gives has evaporated.
That’s worth the team focusing on. That’s a rally point. While the Green and Gold couldn’t muster enough to get past league-leading Louisville, NCFC are not that caliber of opponent. If the Rowdies can take the lead here, they should have belief in their own ability to keep it. Should they go down a goal, they can also bet on themselves to pull level and then go ahead.
North Carolina defensively are not top notch. They are low to middle of the pack on all relevant stats, except perhaps clean sheets and penalties, for which they are sixth and eighth in the league, respectively. In May, June, or July, Rowdies goal scorers Cal Jennings and Manuel Arteaga would be salivating at an opponent like this. They are vulnerable.
On the other side of things, North Carolina are somewhat similar to Tampa Bay. They have the fourth most Big Chances created, according to FotMob, while also having the fifth highest missed Big Chances. Strikers Evan Conway and Rodrigo da Costa have both scored against the Rowdies for other clubs in the past. They lead the team with eleven and eight goals, respectively.
In between them, though, is another striker on ten goals. Vincentian and Grenadian international Oalex Anderson, nicknamed Bounty, has just returned from duty with his national team. While he didn’t score, Anderson captained his country in two games against El Salvador, nominally a much better group, in a loss and a win. Both matches were hosted in Kingstown, his country’s capital.
While the Rowdies will think they can score this weekend, NCFC seems just as capable of putting the Green and Gold under pressure. Bounty and his swashbuckling partners up top will want to take advantage of a team struggling for form to boost their own hopes in the playoffs. They sit just one spot and four points back of the visiting “home team” from Florida.
Much of this game will ride on vibes. North Carolina have made tickets to the match this weekend free, as they did not intend to host it before now. Whether or not that draws a large home crowd is yet to be seen. What type of Rowdies team shows up, similarly, is unknown. They need to play with a chip on their shoulder – and lord knows there are plenty of chips to go around in Tampa Bay right now.
Score Predictions from the RBLR Rowdies Podcast:
Carlos: 2-0 W
James: 3-1 W
Yurika: 1-1 D
Guest: 2-1 W (Ben Wilcox @rwilco110720)