ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (June 4, 2016) — It was a good week to be Georgi Hristov.
And as Georgi Hristov went this week, so went the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Hristov scored two for the Rowdies to lift his team to a 2-1 win over Ottawa Fury FC on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium to keep the Rowdies alive in the race for the Spring Season title and an automatic berth in The Championship, the NASL’s four-team playoffs. He also scored the only goal of Wednesday night’s win over FC Cincinnati in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Hristov’s first against Ottawa was a delightful chip over Fury FC goalkeeper Romuald Peiser in the 20th minute and the game-winning goal was a tidy finish after Joe Cole dribbled by most of Ottawa to set him up.
“It feels great (to be on this kind of run,)” Hristov said as the Rowdies earned their third win in eight days. “It’s tough to play three games in one week and we won all of them. I have to say that the whole team, all of the guys, have been working really, really hard. They work so hard and this win is for all of us.”
With the win, the Rowdies moved to 15 points in the Spring Season with one game remaining. The New York Cosmos (18 points) had a chance to clinch the Spring with a win in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, but lost 2-1, opening the door for a handful of teams. Tampa Bay, Indy and Fort Lauderdale are all tied in second place on 15 points going into the final weekend.
Hristov’s first goal gave the Rowdies a halftime lead and extended Tampa Bay’s streak of scoring in the first half to four-straight matches.
Soon after halftime, in the 49th minute, Ottawa leveled in the match through Carl Haworth on an unlucky passage of play for the Rowdies. A shot from Mauro Eustaquio was blocked by Juan Guerra, but the ball ran to Haworth in open space for a shot past Rowdies goalkeeper Matt Pickens.
The Rowdies’ response, though, was worthy of the full three points.
Rowdies midfielder Joe Cole deserves a ton of credit for Hristov’s gamewinner just three minutes later. Cole dribbled through a handful of Fury FC defenders and drew in even more before spring Hristov in on goal with a lengthy through ball. Hristov took a touch and then finished with the outside of his right foot to put the Rowdies ahead 2-1.
“It was the perfect response,” Rowdies Head Coach Stuart Campbell said. “We spoke at halftime about going out as if the score was 0-0 because I thought the next goal would be huge. When they scored, I was frustrated because of the manner of it. For a split second, I thought, ‘Oh boy, here we go again at home,’ but thankfully the guys gave a great response and got a goal pretty much straightaway.”
Tampa Bay could’ve extended its lead in the 60th minute when Cole took a shot that was blocked from going to goal by the hand of Ottawa right back Lance Rozeboom. Hristov could’ve had a penalty kick for a hat trick, but appeals for handball for denied.
The Rowdies cranked into high gear from there, peppering crosses through Ottawa’s box and forcing Peiser to make three saves to keep the Rowdies from scoring a third.
Ultimately, a third goal wouldn’t be required.
Pickens needed to make just one save on the night as the Rowdies picked up their third win of the week.
“It’s been good,” Campbell said. “I’ve said it all season. The guys come in day in and day out and the attitude and application from the guys has been superb. We haven’t quite had a couple calls go our way. If we had them, we’d be right up there. Credit to the guys because they haven’t been disappointed, they’ve been frustrated and they come every day to set things right.”
The Rowdies head to Jacksonville to play the Jacksonville Armada FC next weekend with a 4 p.m. kickoff Saturday afternoon at Community First Park at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
Scoring Summary
Rowdies: Georgi Hristov – 20th minute (Assisted by Kalif Alhassan)
Ottawa: Carl Haworth – 49th minute
Rowdies: Georgi Hristov – 52nd minute (Assisted by Joe Cole)
Caution Summary
Rowdies: Kalif Alhassan – 22nd minute
Rowdies: Georgi Hristov – 60th minute
Ottawa: Rafael Alves – 73rd minute
Ottawa: Jonny Steele – 82nd minute
Ottawa: Bryan Olivera – 90+ minute
Starting Lineups
Rowdies XI (4-3-3): GK Matt Pickens; D Darnell King, Tamika Mkandawire (c), Neill Collins, Ben Sweat; M Juan Guerra, Michael Nanchoff, Joe Cole (Justin Chavez 78′); F Eric Avila (Eric Avila 56′), Georgi Hristov (Walter Ramirez 88′), Kalif Alhassan
Ottawa Fury FC XI (4-3-3): GK Romuald Peiser; D Lance Rozeboom, Rafael Alves, Fernando Timbo, Onua Obasi; M James Bailey, Mauro Eustaquio (Mallan Roberts 85′), Jonny Steele; F Carl Haworth, Kyle Porter (Dennis Chin 67′), Idan Vered (Bryan Olivera 67′)
Attendance: 6,078
