BRADENTON, Fla (Mar. 1, 2024) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies nabbed a 3-2 victory in a preseason matchup with Huntsville City FC on Saturday evening at IMG Academy. Leo Fernandes tallied the winning goal from the penalty spot deep into second half stoppage time. The win is Tampa Bay’s fourth win of the preseason.
“We always want to win first and foremost, but it’s a preseason match and we’re still working on a few things to get ready for March 16,” said Rowdies defender Forrest Lasso. “Personally speaking from the defensive side, I’m a little disappointed we conceded two but that is what is. Hopefully we can move forward and learn from it. I thought we had a lot of decent bits of play there. The main thing for us is mentality. Some guys said it before the game, but our identity is our mentality. If we continue to show up and do the dirty work off the ball I think the quality and skills we have will show through.”
Cal Jennings opened the scoring for the Rowdies 20 minutes into the match. After fighting off a defender in the box, Rowdies midfielder Damian Rivera drove toward the endline before centering a cross for an unmarked Jennings, who calmly converted the chance. Since joining the Rowdies on loan from the New England Revolution, Rivera has netted two goals and two assists in three appearances.
“Damian’s a great kid,” said Jennings, “He’s got a good attitude, he’s direct, he’s got a lot of talent. I’m really looking forward to working more with him. He’s really easy to read off of. I’m sure we’ll combine a lot more this season.”
Forward Manuel Arteaga doubled Tampa Bay’s lead in the 64th minute, cutting back toward his right to shake off his defender before rifling a shot into the back of the net.
Huntsville got back on level terms with two penalty opportunities in the span of six minutes. A Rowdies preseason trialist was whistled for a handball, leading to Huntsville’s first goal from the spot in the 71st minute. Then in the 77th minute, Huntsville equalized from the penalty spot after defender Freddy Kleemann drew the referee’s whistle for a foul in the box.
Knotted at 2-2, the Rowdies pushed hard to find a go-ahead goal in the final stages of the match and did so through veteran Leo Fernandes. The dynamic midfielder was clipped down in the box while trying to drive toward goal, eliciting the third whistle for a penalty of the night. Fernandes stepped to the spot and deftly buried the chance. It was the second goal of the preseason for Fernandes, who also scored in last week’s contest versus the University of South Florida.
The Rowdies will close out the preseason with a trip across Interstate 4 to face Orlando City B on Friday, March 8. While the rest of the USL Championship are kicking off the season the next day, the Rowdies will have to wait another week for the season opener when they host San Antonio FC on Saturday, March 16 at Al Lang Stadium.
“It’s a little weird to have a bye week the first week of the season, but It gives us a little bit more time to iron out the wrinkles,” said Lasso. “After tonight, we have one more preseason test. We want to get those final touches right and make sure the squad is healthy and ready to go on March 16.”
Fans can purchase tickets for the Rowdies home opener by visiting rowdiessoccer.com/tickets.
Scoring Summary
TBR – Jennings (Rivera), 20′
TBR – Arteaga, 64′
HFC – (Penalty), 71′
HFC – Penalty), 77′
TBR – Fernandes (Penalty), 90+2′
Rowdies Starting XI: Farr, Doherty (Trialist, 57′), Lasso (Trialist, 84′), Kleemann, Niyongabire (Bodily, 57′), Hilton (Herivaux, 66′), Crisostomo (Trialist, 66′), Jennings (Cristian Ortiz[Preseason Training Guest], 66′), Arteaga (Perez, 66′), Rivera (Fernandes, 57′)
