Match Preview: Rowdies at Charleston Battery
September 9, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
Matchday Info:
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Charleston Battery
Saturday, September 10, 7 p.m. ET
Patriots Point Soccer Complex, Charleston, SC
Watch Party: Wear your Rowdies gear to the official watch party at Colony Grill in Downtown St. Petersburg and receive 25% off all pizza. The watch party begins at 6 p.m. ET, an hour before kickoff in Charleston.
Stream: Fans can stream the match live on ESPN+.
Live updates: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday.
For the fourth straight year, the Tampa Bay Rowdies are in the playoffs. The Rowdies secured their spot in this year’s postseason with a convincing 6-1 victory over Las Vegas Lights FC.
Qualifying for the playoffs has become the expectation for the Rowdies over the last few seasons. The focus is now rising above those expectations and attaining the larger goals, mainly the top seed in the Eastern Conference and ultimately a win in the USL Championship final.
To continue on the path toward those goals, there is little room for error for the Rowdies, who enter the weekend five points back of first place Louisville City FC. The Rowdies will likely need to perfect in the remaining seven matches and hope Louisville drops enough points along the way.
First up this Saturday is a trip to the Charleston Battery, who were recently eliminated from playoff contention despite only dropping one match in their last five outings.
“The most pressing goal is to go to Charleston to put on another good performance, but I think in the end we want to secure home field advantage,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. “I think we’ve got a real competitive division. Birmingham are in great form, Louisville have been in good form all season, Memphis have been a fantastic team, and then obviously Miami are in good form as well. We need to keep picking up points. I think the way we do that is by performing well.”
Team of the Week Duo
Tampa Bay’s Leo Fernandes and Jordan Scarlett both earned USL Championship Team of the Week honors for their shifts in the win over Las Vegas. Fernandes increased his goal tally to a club best 15 goals with a brace and added his 7th assist of the year as well. Scarlett notched his second goal of the season and fourth overall for the Rowdies.
Historic Attacking Production
Through 27 matches played this year, the Rowdies are within distance of the club record for goals in a single season. The 2019 squad holds the current modern era record of 61 goals in 34 matches played. This year’s Rowdies team has found the back of the net 57 times so far in 2022, meaning they are averaging a goal scored every 43 minutes. With seven more matches to play, the Rowdies have ample time to set a new attacking benchmark for the club.
Golden Glove Hunt
CJ Cochran may seem like a long shot to take home the USL Championship Golden Glove give the Rowdies have not posted clean sheets on a consistent basis throughout the year. However, Cochran still has an impressive 6 shutouts, and his 0.83 Goals Against Average is currently the second lowest Goals Against Average of any keeper in the league who has played more than 11 matches. In their last seven outings the Rowdies have one clean sheet and have conceded just one goal in each of the other six. If the Rowdies can start to convert some of those performances into shutouts, Cochran’s chances at a Golden Glove could increase dramatically.
Upcoming Milestones
Sebastian Guenzatti is two goals away from breaking the Rowdies all-time scoring record of 60 goals held by Georgi Hristov.
Keeper CJ Cochran is 2 saves away from 300 saves in the USL Championship.
Keeper CJ Cochran is one clean sheet away from his 30th shutout in the USL Championship.
Forward Kyle Greig is nearing 15,000 minutes played in the USL Championship regular season. He currently sits at 14,809 minutes played heading into the weekend.
Leo Fernandes and Hilton are both nearing 30 regular season assists in the USL. Both are currently at 28 assists.
Injury Report
OUT: Jake Areman, Thomas Vancaeyezeele.
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