Rowdies beat New Mexico United In Midweek Clash

Recap:

The Rowdies claimed all three points against New Mexico United after a lone goal from Louis Perez, winning 1-0 in Albuquerque. 

The Rowdies wasted no time striking, taking the lead in under five minutes. Mattheus Oliviera received the ball after a poor pass at the eighteen-yard box. Former Rowdies and current New Mexico United keeper Raiko Arozarena attempted a tackle, missed the ball, and took Mattheus down. 

The referee gave advantage, and Louis Perez one-timed the finish with his left foot into the open New Mexico goal. An impressive goal, however, even if he had missed, Tampa Bay would have received a penalty. 

In the 25th minute, New Mexico had a great chance of their own. Zico Bailey had an open shot in the box, which beat Jahmali Waite, who was off his line. Luckily, centerbacks Brian Schaefer and Nathan Dossantos dropped onto the goal line. The shot was slowly hit and was easily cleared away by Schaefer. 

In the 42nd minute, the Rowdies used Schaefer’s throw-in to create a chance which required a great save from Arozarena. The throw-in found MD Myers, who chest-passed it to Micaletto dashing into space in the eighteen-yard box. He took a stabilizing touch, and fired to the left of the goal. A great save from Arozarena denied the Rowdies a second goal in the first half. 

In the 65th minute, the Rowdies had a good look at goal. Dion Acoff beat his man, and crossed over Marco Micaletto. While Marco mistimed his jumped, it was still a great sequence, and a good opportunity. 

In the 75th minute, the Rowdies used the same progression to create a better chance. Sebastian Cruz intercepted the ball on the right wing. Cruz’s cross found a wide-open Evan Conway near post. It was a good attempt from Conway, but he was unable to get the header down enough to test Arozarena. 

In the 89th minute, New Mexico had their best look of the night. A free kick about 25 yards out of the Rowdies goal was sent into the eighteen-yard box. New Mexico’s Greg Hurst connected on a header, and required a quick reaction save from Jahmali Waite. The ball was later cleared by Dossantos, keeping the Rowdies’ clean sheet. 

Keeping Up With The (B)east:

Fresh off their loss to the Rowdies, Miami FC travelled to Michigan to face off against Detroit City FC from Keyworth Stadium. 

In just under a quarter of an hour, Abdoulaye Diop got a red card for violent conduct. 

Miami FC scored in stoppage time of the first half, however, was called back due to a foul in the buildup play. Because of this, the score was deadlocked 0-0 at the half.

Right after the restart of play, Detroit City FC Ates Diouf scored an impressive goal, giving Detroit the lead despite being a player down. The goal was well worked down Detroit’s right hand side, with Diouf’s sliding effort getting past Miami’s keeper Eloy Room. 

Thomas Musto equalized from a free-kick after a goalkeeper error. In what should have been an easy collection for Detroit keeper Carlos Saldaña, ended up bouncing over him, and into the net for Miami FC. 

After being on the unlucky side of not getting a penalty, a couple minutes later Detroit’s Darren Smith scored a beautiful header. This gave Detroit the lead again, which they held onto for the rest of the match. 

After the two midweek matches, the table looks very exciting from a Rowdies’ perspective. 

Tampa Bay now goes five points clear in the table with 21 points through nine games, with Detroit City FC and Louisville City FC both tied at 16 points. The teams tied with 13 points are Charleston, Hartford, Miami, and Pittsburgh. Indy is in 8th place with 12 points, and Birmingham sits just outside the playoff line with 10 points. Rhode Island FC is in 10th place with 9 points, Loudoun is in 11th with 8 points, and Brooklyn is in 12th with 7 points. Finally, Sporting Jax still sits at a hilarious 1 point after nine games played. 

The Bigger Picture:

The Good: I am really happy to see Louis Perez deliver again. After his impressive performance against Miami FC, I knew he was bound to get another opportunity in the Starting XI. He provided the lone goal, and guided the Rowdies to the win against New Mexico. 

I’m really happy to see the backline coordinated, almost telepathically knowing what each other are going to do. An example of this was the goalline clearance from Brian Schaefer. After Jahmali Waite went off the line to close down the attacker’s angle, both Schaefer and Dossantos went onto the goalline. Last year, the defenders wouldn’t have tracked back, and New Mexico get the equalizer.

The Bad: The only issue I have with this game was the chances missed. However, the team is very talented offensively, and they have good movements with the ball. 

It can not be understated how influential in the attack both Charlie Ostrem and Dion Acoff are. They are both great at crossing and getting past their man. 

Final Thoughts: Another shutout for the Rowdies’ defense. There’s the famous phrase “Defense wins Championships”, and I hope that is the case, because the Rowdies have a really good defense. 

I am happy with the performance of the team, and hope they can use that momentum in their next match against Phoenix Rising FC.  

Coming Up/Match Prediction:

The Rowdies are back home in beautiful Al Lang Stadium, hosting Western Conference club Phoenix Rising FC. 

Phoenix are coming off a rivalry win against Orange County SC, a 2-1 final.  

Otherwise, Rising have had a slow start to the season, but are picking up pace. They are currently on a three-game winning streak, scoring 10 goals and conceding zero. 

They have two players to watch out for. First, Ihsan Sacko has been a goal machine. He has 6 goals in 8 games, as well as 2 assists. He most recently scored against Pittsburgh in their last USL Championship game. The goal was the lone goal in the game, and gave Rising all three points. 

The other player the Rowdies need to watch out for is former Rowdie Charlie Dennis. Since leaving Tampa Bay, Charlie has become a goal-scoring machine for Phoenix. 

Dennis has 14 goals in 55 matches, and has 2 goal contributions this season so far. 

As Rowdies fans, we know what he can do on the pitch, and we need to be ready for him defensively. 

Despite Sacko and Dennis, I fully believe in this Rowdies squad. I think the team has done well on the road, and now they are ready to have the support of the Rowdies faithful behind them. I am going for a Rowdies 2-1 win.