Conference Quarterfinal Preview: Rowdies vs Miami

October 21, 2022 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release

USL Championship Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Miami FC

Saturday, October 21, 7:30 p.m. ET.

Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, FL

Tickets: Fans can purchase tickets byclicking hereor at the stadium box office starting at 4 p.m. on matchday.

Pre-Game Show: Get ready for the match with the pregame show hosted by The Unused Substitutes podcast. The shows kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Twitch.TV/RowdiesGG

Watch: Stream the match on ESPN+.

Follow Along: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday

Postgame Party: Drink specials for all fans wearing Rowdies gear at The Avenue in Downtown St. Petersburg.

For the fourth straight season, the Tampa Bay Rowdies are in the hunt to take home the third championship in club history. The first hurdle Tampa Bay faces in the quest is an Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup against in-state rival Miami FC at Al Lang Stadium this Saturday.

Tampa Bay and Miami split the regular season series, with each team recording a win in the other’s home stadium. Both matches were decided by just a goal.

“There’s certain little details in playoff games you know can be important, so you take special attention to those,” said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. “But you’ve got to believe in what you do. What we do at home is play a certain way, a certain style and we’ll look to implement that tomorrow night. We won’t want to deviate too far. We’ve just won three on the bounce at home and had a great performance against Brimingham as well. We’re on a good run, so how do we do those things against MIami. That’s what we’ve worked on.”

High-Powered Rowdies Meet Resolute Miami

The Rowdies enter the playoffs as the highest scoring team during the regular season, having recorded a club record for goals in a single season with 73 tallies. On the other side, Miami finished tied with the USL Championship’s overall number one seed in the playoffs San Antonio FC for a league-best 17 shutouts.

For the Rowdies, all signs point to an attack ready to push the club on to a deep run in the playoffs. Club captain Sebastian Guenzatti snapped a scoring drought to bag three goals in the final week of the regular season.

“Seba has obviously come back into form,” said Collins. “Him and Leo are playing really well together. This is really the time of year where I think the guys are going to get what the deserve.”

Assessing Miami’s Attack

If there has been one nagging issue for Miami all year, it has been an inability to score with consistency. Detroit City FC is the only playoff team who has scored fewer goals than Miami, who bagged 47 in the regular season. That is not to say Miami isn’t capable of slipping a goal or two past a defense. Kyle Murphy, Joaquin Rivas, Romeo Parkes are just some of the Miami players who have shown themselves to be a scoring threat at any moment of a match.

While Tampa Bay managed to secure 8 clean sheets in the regular season, the club actually measures up well to Miami and the league’s other top defensive sides in terms of goals allowed. The Rowdies allowed only 33 goals in their 34 matches, tied for fifth-fewest goals conceded and just one more than what Miami allowed in 2022.

Home Advantage

As the Eastern Conference’s third seed, the Rowdies are only guaranteed one home match in this year’s USL Championship playoffs. The Rowdies will look to make the most of their home field advantage on Saturday against Miami. The Rowdies have only lost at Al Lang twice all year. However, one of those defeats was at the hands of Miami, who can count themselves among the very best road teams in the league. 10 of the 15 wins Miami posted this year came away from home. Only San Antonio recorded more road wins in 2022.

Arozarena Returns

Keeper Raiko Arozarena made his way back to Tampa Bay this after the completion of is loan to USL League One side Forward Madiscon FC. The 26-year-old keeper brings a much-needed second option in net after several weeks of the Rowdies having just Phil Breno as the only available keeper following the injury to CJ Cochran.

Breno, on loan from Forward Madison, has gained the confidence of his teammates, coaching staff, and Tampa Bay’s fans in his five starts over the last month of the season. Aided by some standout defensive performances in front of him, Breno notched two clean sheets before closing out the regular season. Arozarena gained valuable experience as the regular starter in Madison, posting four clean sheets in 16 starts during his loan.

Injury Report:

OUT: CJ Cochran, Thomas Vancaeyezeele

QUESTIONABLE: Jake Areman

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