ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The floodgates opened for the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday night at Al Lang Stadium. Tampa Bay put on their best offensive showing of the season by far, burying Detroit City FC 5-1. Forward JJ Williams stole the show with a hat trick in the first half to pave the way for the Rowdies’ third straight victory.
“Don’t take for granted what the players did tonight, because Detroit is a well-organized, resilient team with a lot of really good players. We obviously had a good night. They maybe didn’t have a good night, but I’ve seem them behind in games and stay in and grind something out. It’s a credit to our team score as many goals as they did.”
Williams wasted no time in the match, connecting with left wingback Ryan Spaulding in the 3rd minute on a rising header that Williams tucked just under the crossbar. He was at it again only ten minutes later as he calmly converted on a cross from captain Aaron Guillen.
Following Williams’ second goal, Detroit began to find the ball more and space to move up the field. The visitors were able to halve the deficit in the 23rd minute thanks to a well placed free kick from Abdoulaye Diop.
From that point on, though, it was Green & Gold all the way until the final whistle. Midfielder Charlie Dennis bagged his third goal in as many games to double the lead once again in the 37th minute. Wing back Dayonn Harris perfectly weighed a through ball for Dennis to collect in the box and the Englishman then shimmied off Nate Steinwascher to leave the keeper in the dust before depositing a low strike into the goal.
Tampa Bay added to the lead once again in the 43rd minute as Williams completed his hat trick. Yet again, it was Spaulding offering the service from the left wing. Spalling cut down the left edge of the box and slipped a dangerous ball across the goal for Williams to tap home. Williams is the first Rowdies player to record a hat trick in a match since Sebastian Guenzatti on September 1 of the 2018 season, and only third player of the modern era to do so.
“Honestly, it was my teammates,” said Williams. “I can’t say enough or give them enough praise. Everything they did put me in a good spot to be successful. It looks like it was just me, but I promise you it starts with the ball going long, guys continuing to press, getting in good spots. Really all the praise goes out to those guys first and foremost.”
Harris dashed any hopes of a comeback for Detroit eight minutes into the second half when he penetrated the box and slipped a right-footed effort across the box and into the bottom left corner of the goal.
The best teams play with intensity, they push, they want get more goals. That was the challenge for the players tonight,” said Collins. “I thought by and large they did that, but I think at the end we know there are still parts of our game we know that we need to improve and we still need to grow as a group together.”
Next up, the Rowdies head to the Lone Star State to face Rio Grande Valley FC on Saturday, May 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Scoring Summary
TBR – Williams (Spaulding), 3rd minute
TBR – Williams (Guillen), 13th minute
DET – Diop, 23rd minute
TBR – Dennis (Harris), 37th minute
TBR – Williams (Spaulding), 43rd minute
TBR – Harris, 53rd minute
