LEESBURG, VA (June 29, 2024) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies suffered their fourth defeat of the season on Saturday night, falling 2-0 against Loudoun United FC at Segra Field.
“To [Loudoun’s] credit, I thought they played really well,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “We were very poor. I thought that we didn’t get into the flow of the game at all. The first couple of minutes we did alright and then they started picking up a lot of the second balls, and we were just a half a yard off it. When you’re half a yard off it in these games and on that [artificial] surface, it’s always going to be difficult.
Loudoun grabbed their opening goal only 15 minutes into the match. Attacker Florian Valot initiated the scoring sequence with a driven cross from the left edge of the box toward the near post that was parried away by Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr, but the rebound fell into the path of an unmarked Abdellatif Aboukoura to fire into the the back of the net.
Midfielder Charlie Dennis aimed to put the Rowdies back on level terms in the 34th minute with a free kick sent to the top right corner of Loudoun’s goal, but keeper Hugo Fauroux managed to punch it away.
The hosts earned a few chances for a second tally coming out the halftime break, but the Rowdies managed to hold them at bay thanks to the efforts of Farr and last-ditch defending by midfielder Blake Bodily. In the 48th minute, Farr prevented Aboukoura from netting a brace by thwarting a low strike from the center of the box.
Four minutes later, Farr and Bodily both stepped up to deny a flurry of chances. After slipping through the defensive line into Tampa Bay’s box, Valot centered a pass for Zach Ryan, whose momentary window in front of goal was swiftly closed by a sliding challenge by Bodily and then a kick save by Farr. Aboukoura blasted the rebound on target, but Bodily was there with a sliding clearance just in front of the goal line that sent the ball up into the crossbar and out of danger.
Tampa Bay’s most promising scoring opportunity of the night came in the 66th minute, as Pacifique Niyongabire found a pocket of space on the right edge of the box to pick out forward Cal Jennings on the back post. Jennings guided his header on frame only to be denied at the last second by Fauroux.
As the Rowdies pushed for a late equalizer, Loudoun capitalized on the counter attack in the 90th minute. A long ball played out of Loudoun’s defensive end spring Cristian Francois into the attack. After drawing in a couple defenders, Francois slipped a pass across for Wesley Legget to one-time past Farr and seal the result.
With the loss, the Rowdies close out the month of June with three wins and two defeats. As the midway point of the season approaches, finding a more consistent run of results will be key to finishing the regular season in a strong position.
“We will lose games,” said Neilson. “It’s part and parcel of soccer. But it’s important that we lose games the way that we want to play. That was the most disappointing thing about today. We’ve had a really good run of form and some good results. Tonight was a blip, but we’ve got Detroit next week. It’s an opportunity to get back on it again. It’ll be another tough away game. We’ve got a tough period at the moment with road games, but we have to go up there and try and play the way we want to play.”
Next up, the Rowdies travel to face Detroit City FC on Saturday, July 6 at 7 pm ET.
Scoring Summary
LDN – Aboukoura, 15’
LDN – Leggett (Francois), 90’
Caution Summary
LDN Aboukoura, Yellow Card, 57’
LDN Fauroux, Yellow Card, 73’
LDN, Leggett, Yellow Card, 77’
Lineups
Rowdies: Farr, Munjoma (Moon, 62’), Doherty, Guillen, Niyongabire, Crisostomo (Worth, 57’), Hilton (Ortiz, 88’), Dennis (Rivera, 57’), Bodily, Jennings, Arteaga (Perez, 57’)
Rowdies Bench: Breno, Kleemann, Moon, Worth, Perez, Rivera, Ortiz
Loudoun: Fauroux, Leerman, Hughes, Dambrot (Francois, 88′), Tingey, McCage, Skundrich, Awuah (Johnston, 88′), Valot (Erlandson, 75′), Ryan (Bidois, 75′), Aboukoura (Legget, 68′)
Loudoun Bench: Jacomen, Erandson, Melly, Bustamante, Amadou Wane, Bidois, Francois, Leggett
