Rowdies Win 4-0 vs Monterey Bay FC
In a beautiful night in Al Lang Stadium, the Rowdies ran rampant with a four-goal performance in a vital game to secure points in a playoff push.
The Rowdies dominated the game from the first minute, requiring multiple acrobatic saves from Monterey Bay FC goalkeeper Nico Campuzano.
The scoring would open as Woobens Pacius would receive a brilliant ball from Thomas Vancaeyezeele, dribbling a couple of yards, and shooting the ball near post.
The second goal would come from Danny Crisostomo in the 61st minute. Midfielder Alex Mendez would shoot outside of the box, and the ball would pinball around in the box. The ball would drop to Crisostomo, who had no issue calmly slotting the ball away from about the six-yard box. While Mendez officially is not credited with the assist, he helped set up the goal.
The third goal of the night would be a Woobens’ Pacius brace as he scored a rebounded shot to get his 12th goal of the USL Championship Regular Season. After a long throw into the box, and a missed clearance from a Monterey Bay FC defender, Woobens would find themself at the six-yard box. His initial shot was saved, but he would convert the rebounded effort tripling the lead for the hosts.
The final goal came from the right boot of Manuel Arteaga in the 88th minute. Paul Marie would play Arteaga into open space, who chested the ball and started to drive to the corner of the box. He would shoot from out of the box, going through the legs of a defender, and burying the shot in the bottom left corner. This would be the fourth and final goal of the night for the Rowdies, and would be the 8th goal for Manuel Arteaga in this season’s USL Championship campaign.
This would be the second clean sheet for the Rowdies in league play, and is the second time this season that the Rowdies would score four goals.
Around The League:
7th place Detroit City FC hosted 3rd place North Carolina FC in the early kickoff on Saturday. Detroit City would take the lead in the 44th minute after a Jeciel Cedeño penalty. Detroit would double their lead after Alassane Diouf would convert a header off a corner kick. The final score would be 2-0 with the hosts taking all three points.
8th place Indy Eleven would travel to their rivals 1st place Louisville City FC. Louisville would open the scoring through Amadou Dia being unmarked at the back post, tapping in a well-placed cross in the 36th minute. Taylor Davila would double the advantage for the hosts after stealing the ball from an Indy player and scoring a goal from outside of the box. This would result in dropped points for Indy.
The final match of the weekend (Eastern Conference teams) was 9th place Rhode Island FC hosting Las Vegas Lights FC on Sunday night. This was the most important game for the Rowdies, as in both playoff position and because the Rowdies travel to Rhode Island FC on October 11th.
Las Vegas, who is last place in the Western Conference, took the lead in the 46th minute right after a goal from Stefan Stojanovic. Rhode Island FC would even up the score after Hugo Bacharach would convert a redirected shot past former Rowdies goalkeeper Raiko Arozerena. Rhode Island FC would take the lead in the 90th minute after Noah Fuson was open back post. Former Rowdie JJ Williams would put the nail in the coffin as he scored in the 94th minute.
With these matches concluding, the table is shaping up as playoffs are on the horizon. Detroit City FC sits in 7th place with 35 points, and Rhode Island FC jumped over Indy Eleven to hold onto the final playoff spot with 34 points (8th place). Indy Eleven sit in 9th place with 32 points, and that leaves the Rowdies in 10th place with 30 points.
All hope is not lost as the Rowdies do still have to play Rhode Island FC and Detroit City FC.
The Bigger Picture:
The Good: Honestly, I don’t even really know where to begin. This is easily the best performance of the year.
I thought we looked really well on both sides of the ball. We looked confident when going forward. RBLR Reporter Carlos Rueda picked Woobens Pacius to be his Man of the Match. Woobens knocked in a couple of goals taking advantage of his trademark dribbling and finishing. Manuel Arteaga scored again, making it four goals in four games for the Venezuelan striker. It is really nice to see him hit his form, especially in a crucial part of the season.
I thought that Paul Marie looked solid again, gaining an assist with the Arteaga goal. That takes him to six goal contributions in the seven games that he has played for Tampa Bay.
I think the major improvement was the defense. Bill Hamid had a great game in between the sticks, and I really hope this means that we are done with this weird rotating goalkeeper game that we have been playing this season.
RBLR Reporter James Knowles has picked Thomas Vancaeyezeele gets his Man of the Match honors. Vancaeyezeele put in a shift in the backline, scoring a stat in every defensive category. He had two tackles, one block, four clearances, two interceptions, and one recovery. Vancaeyezeele also contributed in the attack. He assisted Woobens Pacius’ first goal. Also, he had an accurate passing rate of 93% and had a long pass rate of 100%.
I think the most important part to highlight is just how together the team looked. Since Coach Casciato has taken control, I have noticed more fluidity in the team. While the team has been battling injuries, it seems that something has just clicked. In the beginning of the season (and really up until mid-August), it seemed like we had a game plan, but we weren’t entirely sure on how to accomplish it. I truly believe that these small tweaks that have been made here and there have had a great impact on the team. I think this game against Monterey Bay FC was a solid example of the team finally being a unit.
The Bad: To be honest, I don’t really know if I can think of a bad. I think I am blinded by the fact that we went out and fully dominated the game. The defense has been my point of conversation in the past, and we were really, really solid when shutting down Monterey Bay’s attack. I guess the one criticism I do have is letting them get into open shooting lanes, but that is going to happen in a game of football. I thought we did well to attempt blocks (many of which were successful), and goalkeeper Bill Hamid did a good job saving the shots that did get past the defense.
Final thoughts: Tampa Bay Rowdies came out swinging in this game. The final was 4-0, but we really could’ve had five or six goals, if not for Campuzano’s heroics in the first couple minutes for Monterey Bay FC. In a performance that I really can only describe as flat out dominant, the Rowdies picked up three valuable points in a playoff race.
The tough part is that I think the most important part of the weekend did not happen at Al Lang Stadium, but rather in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Las Vegas Lights FC gave up two goals in stoppage time and gave Rhode Island FC three valuable points. When in a playoff race, you want to be in control of your destiny. Unfortunately, that scenario is out of the window for the Rowdies.
The brutal truth of the fact is that we need to get nine out of nine points from our remaining last three games. Of course, these last games are not easy. Rhode Island FC away, USL Jägermeister Cup winners Hartford Athletic, and Detroit City FC. Rhode Island and Detroit are both fighting for playoff soccer themselves, and these games are going to be a fight for any sort of result.
Hartford, on the other side, have been playing the best soccer of their club’s history. They just won their first trophy, and are on track to qualify for the playoffs for the second time. This will be another difficult game. The small advantage that the Rowdies do have is that they play Hartford and Detroit at home. Other than that, these all look like uphill battles.
While I am happy about the recent performances that we have had, I don’t know if this mountain is just too big to climb.
Coming Up/Match Prediction:
The Rowdies next game is at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The game is scheduled for a 4pm kickoff. The Rowdies will be down one of their best players as Woobens Pacius has been called up to the Haiti National Team and will miss this match.
With all that being said, I am going with a 1-1 draw. I think a win is possible, but I think that the Rowdies will struggle to live up to the occasion.
