DETROIT, MI (November 2, 2024) – The Tampa Bay Rowdies booked their spot in the Eastern Conference Semifinals next weekend, advancing past Detroit City FC 3-1 in a penalty shootout on Saturday night at Keyworth Stadium. Rowdies keeper Jordan Farr was the hero for Tampa Bay on the night with five saves and two stops in the penalty shootout.
“I’m just absolutely delighted with the players,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “We spoke tonight about trying to do it for the fans. It’s been a tough couple of months for everyone in Tampa Bay. Hopefully we brought a wee bit of joy for the Rowdies fans. The boys gave everything.”
Farr was called to action early in the match. In the 18th minute, A right-footed blast from Detroit’s Ben Morris forced Farr into diving save. The rebound fell for Detroit’s Connor Rutz to get a header on target, but Farr recovered in time to smother the attempt.
The Rowdies grabbed the lead only a few moments following Farr’s back-to-back saves. On their first corner kick opportunity of the night, Leo Fernandes curled a delivery for forward Cal Jennings to rise and meet at the near post with a header past keeper Nate Steinwascher.
Tampa Bay’s lead held until the 49th minute when the hosts capitalized on their set piece opportunity. A free kick sent in from the left flank took one skip off the turf in Tampa Bay’s box before taking an unfortunate deflection off Rowdies wingback Nick Moon that sent it straight into the underside of the cross and across the line.
Detroit looked to pull ahead from another free kick chance in a similar position in the 78th minute. This time, Detroit’s Devon Amooh-Mensah got on the end of the service, driving a header directly on frame that was gobbled up by Farr.
Still knotted 1-1 after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. The two sides went blow for blow, but Detroit had the clear-cut opportunity of the extra period. On another free kick chance, Detroit’s Ryan Williams sent a long-range effort that clipped the right post before Farr swatted it away from danger.
The penalty shootout got off to a shaky start when Tampa Bay’s leading scorer of the season, Manuel Arteaga, saw his attempt in the first round saved by Steinwascher. However, Farr kept the Rowdies level with his denial of Maxi Rodriguez. Tampa Bay’s Joshua Perez failed to convert on his opportunity in the second round, but once again Farr came through with a stop on Bryan Murphy’s attempt straight down the middle.
“Jordan [Farr] did an unbelievable job to put up some of the saves,” said Rowdies Midfielder Lewis Hilton. I felt so confident with him in goal. Every penalty [Detroit] stepped up, I felt like he was going to save it. All credit goes to Jordan for getting us in the position to win.”
Tampa Bay’s Eddie Munjoma managed to convert his attempt in the third round with a strike down the middle of goal, as did Detroit’s Ben Morris. Rowdies defender Jordan Doherty then buried his penalty in the fourth round with a blast that Steinwascher got his fingertips on but could not stop from crossing the line.
Detroit’s Elvis Amoh then stepped up and sent his penalty attempt into the crossbar, setting the stage for Rowdies midfielder Lewis Hilton to send the Rowdies through to the next round. Hilton did just that with a rifle into the top right corner out of Steinwascher’s reach.
“Definitely my first time hitting the winning the penalty,” said Hilton. “I stepped up and thankfully I was able to execute it. Obviously, Jordan [Farr] did an unbelievable job to get the team and myself in that position to win us the game. Great feeling and everyone’s delighted tonight and excited to get back for another week of football and prepare for next weekend.”
Next up, the Rowdies travel to face the Charleston Battery next Saturday in the Conference Semifinal. The two sides split the regular season series, with each team claiming a win at home.
“[Charleston] is a tough place to go, but if we want to win a championship we have to go to these places and win,” said Neilson.
Scoring Summary
TBR – Jennings (Fernandes), 19’
DET – Moon (TBR Own Goal), 49’
PENALTIES
Rowdies:
Arteaga – Saved
Perez – Saved
Munjoma – Converted
Doherty – Converted
Hilton – Converted
Detroit:
Rodriguez – Saved
Murphy – Saved
Morris – Converted
Amoh – MIssed
Caution Summary
DET – Rodriguez, Yellow Card, 19’
TBR – Bodily, Yellow Card, 41’
DET – Kissiedou, Yellow Card, 52’
DET – Amooh-Mensah, Yellow Card, 56’
TBR – Niyongabire, Yellow Card, 78’
DET – Bryant, Yellow Card, 92’
TBR – Doherty, Yellow Card, 116’
DET – Murphy, Yellow Card, 118’
DET – Carroll, Yellow Card, 118’
Lineups
Rowdies: Farr, Doherty, Kleemann, Guillen, Moon (Niyongabire, 74’), Hilton, Crisostomo, Bodily (Munjoma, 98’), Fernandes (Perez, 74’), Jennings (Rivera, 80’), Arteaga
Rowdies Bench: Akin, Munjoma, Worth, Niyongabire, Bender, Perez, Rivera
Detroit: Steinwascher, Bryant, Carroll, Amoo-Mensah, Villanueva (Levis, 111’), Rodriguez, Williams (Sheldon, 86’), Rutz (Amoh, 104’), Kissiedou (Murphy, 86’), Williams, Morris
Detroit Bench: Saldana, Sheldon, Levis, Murphy, Amoh, Espeleta, Cedeno
