BRADENTON, FL (October 23, 2024) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies fell behind twice during Saturday’s battle against Hartford Athletic at IMG Academy yet responded with equalizers each time to finish knotted at 2-2. The pivotal point earned was enough to clinch the Rowdies spot in the USL Championship playoffs for the sixth straight season.
Along with locking up their playoff berth, the Rowdies also snapped a four-match losing streak with Saturday’s draw.
“It’s been a disappointing spell, but to secure [a playoff spot] tonight is obviously a boost,” said Rowdies Assistant Coach Nicky Law, who served as acting head coach on Saturday while Rowdies Head Coach Robbie served a suspension. “Maybe it relieves a little bit of pressure on the players. We still know we have a lot of improvements to make as we head into these playoffs now. We’ve secured our spot, but the hard work obviously starts now.”
Hartford grabbed their first lead of the night 14 minutes into the match. Working down the left wing, Emmanuel Samadia was able to drive a cross from the corner through a crowd to find Marcus Epps on the far post. With his first touch, Epps blasted a shot toward goal that took a deflection off Rowdies midfielder Blake Bodily on its way into the bottom left corner.
Rowdies veteran Leo Fernandes, who was making only his third start of the year, provided a swift response for the Rowdies in the 21st minute. From the right edge of the box, Fernandes rifled a free kick directly into Hartford’s defensive wall that rolled right back into his path. He made the most of his rebound opportunity with a volleyed finish into the bottom left corner for his third goal of the season.
“I knew if I got it on target, I had a chance,” said Fernandes. “It was good, I was just happy to score the goal and tie the game. Great feeling, it’s something that I’ve been missing. It’s been a tough stretch for me so it was another great feeling.”
Just as the match looked like it was heading into the halftime break knotted at 1-1, Hartford nabbed another go-ahead goal. This time the visitors moved down the right wing, slicing into the box before Mamadou Dieng converted on a one-touch finish at the top of the six-yard box.
“We know we’ve conceded more goals in the last five or six weeks than we’d like and we need to get back to being that difficult team to play against,” said Law. “We don’t give up goals lightly. We will get back to that.”
Tampa Bay eventually got back to level terms in the 74th minute. Bodily initiated the sequence with a lofted cross from the left flank. Teammate Cal Jennings read the moment well, rushing to the near post to beat keeper Renan Ribeiro to the ball and finishing the chance off with a glancing header. The tally was Jennings’ 14th goal of the regular season and his first since August 3.
“It’s difficult because we’re coming out of a tough stretch,” said Jennings. “And today, we tied Hartford, we didn’t beat them, so there’s lots of room for improvement… This is also a team that expects to be in the postseason, so being where we are right now, that was a tough thing to swallow but that’s our reality. And now we know that we’re in, we can do better. We can push on further.”
The Rowdies will have one more opportunity to fine-tune their form this Saturday when they host Indy Eleven in their regular season finale at 7:30 p.m. ET at IMG Academy. With Indy sitting fourth in the standings and the Rowdies occupying the sixth spot, Saturday’s matchup could be a potential preview of a playoff meeting between the two sides next weekend.
Scoring Summary
HFD – Epps (Samadia), 14’
TBR – Fernandes, 21’
HFD – Dieng (Ngalina), 45+6’
TBR – Jennings, 74’
Caution Summary
TBR – Moon, Yellow Card, 23’
HFD – Scarlett, Yellow Card, 34’
HFD – Head Coach Brendan Burke, Red Card, 42’
TBR – Jennings, Yellow Card, 45’+5’
HFD – Farrell, Yellow Card, 53’
TBR – Bender, Yellow Card, 87’
HFD – Boudadi, Yellow Card, 90’
Lineups
Rowdies: Farr, Doherty, Kleemann, Guillen, Moon (Munjoma, 58’), Crisostomo, Hilton, Bodily, Perez (Arteaga, 65’), Fernandes (Bender, 74’), Jennings (Rivera, 74’)
Rowdies Bench: Akin, Bubb, Munjoma, Worth, Bender, Rivera, Arteaga, Mustali, Ortiz
Hartford: Ribeiro, DeShields (Boudadi, 62’), Samadia, Farrell, Scarlett, Hairston (Vancaeyezeele, 84’), Barrera (Edwards, 74’), Makangila, Epps (Asiedu, 84’), Ngalina, Dieng
Hartford Bench: Monroe, Boudadi, Hodge, Vancaeyezeele, Asiedu, Edwards, Freeman
