Matchday 33 Info:
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Hartford Athletic
Wednesday, October 23, 7:30 p.m. ET
IMG Academy Soccer Complex, Bradenton, FL
2024 League Records:
Rowdies: 13W-12L-7D, 46 pts, 6th East (9-4-2 at home)
Hartford: 12W-13L-7D, 43 pts, 9th East (3-9-3 on the road)
Tune In: Saturday’s match will be broadcast locally on Tampa Bay 44 and available to stream on ESPN+.
This Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Rowdies will get to play in front of a home crowd for the first time in over a month. The Rowdies usual home pitch at Al Lang Stadium is unavailable due to the impact from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, so the club’s final two regular season matches this week have been relocated to IMG Academy’s soccer stadium in Bradenton.
Only a few hundred Rowdies season ticket members will be able to attend the match due to the capacity limitations of IMG Academy’s soccer stadium. Still, the squad will be grateful to feel the love from the Rowdies faithful this week after four consecutive road trips.
“It’s massive for us to get back in front of our fans,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “We’ll be down there at IMG Academy and we’ll have a few hundred Rowdies fans, which is great for us because we’ve been on the road for such a long time. It’s been a difficult period. We need that support to get ourselves firing again for the playoffs.”
Finding the Confidence
The last month has been about as tough a stretch as the Rowdies have ever had. Tampa Bay’s current four-match losing streak is the longest the club has ever experienced in the USL Championship. You would have to look all the way back to the 2010 season when the club relaunched to find the last time the Rowdies lost four straight matches.
“We need to get our confidence back,” said Neilson. “There are periods of the game where we’re doing well and then we just give up poor goals. The opposition doesn’t really have to work for it. That’s been the story of the last few weeks… We’re kicking ourselves in the foot at the moment. We need to get back to the way we want to play. I spoke to the guys about that this morning. We have a way we like to play that has fared well for us all year. We need to get that back.”
Playoff Clinching Scenarios
The scenarios for the Rowdies to secure a playoff berth this Wednesday for the sixth straight season are as straightforward as it gets. A win or a draw against Hartford, who are also fighting to earn their own playoff spot, will get the job done. The Rowdies also have another match to close out the regular season on Saturday against Indy Eleven to clinch a playoff spot, but it’s always best to not leave your playoff chances up in the air heading into the final matchday of the year.
“It’s gonna be a tough game,” said Rowdies midfielder Blake Bodily. “Hartford are in great form. It’ll be a full group effort from us. Everyone has got to give everything they have. We have to got to put the ball in the back of the net and we’ve got to keep a clean sheet. It’s been a while since we’ve kept a clean sheet and really put a team under pressure. Being at home again will really be good for us. We feel good about it.”
For the Bay
Putting the playoff implications aside, the Rowdies are eager to snap their current losing skid and give the fans a couple of wins to celebrate after a tumultuous month in Tampa Bay. People throughout the Tampa Bay region have endured hardships through the recent storms, and the Rowdies are hoping to bring some joy and pride to the area with their play at the tail end of the season.
“We’ve talked about how much the fans, and the staff, and everyone have given us so much this year,” said Bodily. “The least we can do is bring everything we have on Wednesday and Saturday to show the fans how much we care about them and how much we appreciate them. After the last month, the least we can do is give everything we have and hopefully make them proud.”
Availability Report
OUT: Forrest Lasso
QUESTIONABLE: Phil Breno
SUSPENDED: Robbie Neilson
