Tampa Bay Rowdies forward Cal Jennings was announced as the USL Championship’s Player of the Month for September on Thursday, earning the honor for the first time in his career after a standout month in which he recorded a league-high seven goals to help Tampa Bay earn a top-two finish in the Eastern Conference standings.
A new arrival at the Rowdies this season, Jennings is in the midst of a career year in his fourth campaign in the league. Over the past month he recorded goals in the opening three games of the month – including a pair of goals in a key 2-1 victory against Louisville City FC on September 9 – and went on to average a goal every 77.14 minutes across his seven appearances. Jennings has combined with fellow Rowdies newcomers JJ Williams (11 goals) and Charlie Dennis (11 goals) to lead an attack that ranks fourth in the league overall with 57 goals entering its final regular season game this weekend at Louisville.
“This is probably a good time of year to pick up an award like this because it means I’m hot at the right time and I’ve just got to carry that over to the games that count in the playoffs,” said Jennings. “This award is really a testament to how well our whole team played in September. Now we’re 100 percent focused on getting a result this Saturday to close out the regular season on a high and bringing that momentum into the playoffs.”
The 26-year-old has recorded 17 goals overall this season, including the third hat trick of his career, adding to the outstanding goalscoring numbers he has accumulated previously in the Championship. Jennings has recorded 48 goals in 89 regular-season appearances since the start of his career at Memphis 901 FC in the abbreviated 2020 season, and subsequently on loan at Las Vegas Lights FC over the past two seasons while also competing for Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer.
Jennings is on course to become the fastest player to reach 50 regular season goals in league history, a mark that is currently held by two-time Championship All-League First Team selection Chandler Hoffman, who reached the mark in his 100th regular season appearance in the Championship during his career.
Jennings is now set to compete in the USL Championship Playoffs for the first time in his career as the Rowdies bid to claim the Eastern Conference title for the third time and lift the USL Championship title for the first time since joining the league in 2017. The No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, the side will open the postseason at Al Lang Stadium at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Jennings received 34 percent of a weighted poll that included the USL Championship Technical Committee, a national panel of independent media representing every USL market and an online fan vote held at USLChampionship.com. Memphis 901 FC forward Rodrigo Da Costa and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC forward Albert Dikwa finished tied for second on 19 percent, with Da Costa recording six goals in seven appearances, and Dikwa notching five goals in four games at a strike rate of a goal every 67.4 minutes.
