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USL Tampa Bay Rowdies

Match Preview: #TBRvATL

September 13, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release


The Basics

Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Atlanta United 2

Saturday, September 14, 7:30 p.m. ET

Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Follow us for live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday

Tickets

Tickets for Saturday's match are available by calling (727) 222-2000. Gates will open at 6:30 p.m., 60 minutes before kickoff.

How to Watch

The match will be broadcast online on ESPN+ here. International viewers can watch online here.

Records

Tampa Bay: 15-5-7 (W-L-T), 3rd place; 7-3-4 at home

Atlanta United 2: 6-16-5 (W-L-T), 16th place; 1-8-4 on road

Last Meeting

The Rowdies conceded first but rolled to a comprehensive road win that included Juan Tejada's first professional goal. Leo Fernandes and Brandon Allen (no longer with the Rowdies) also scored, in addition to an own goal.

Rowdies Notes

The Tampa Bay Rowdies return home this week in third place in the USL Championship's Eastern Conference following a 3-1 road win over the Charlotte Independence last weekend. At the time, that victory moved the Rowdies from fourth to second place, but Indy's win over Ottawa Fury FC on Wednesday night bumped the Rowdies down to third.

That win was Tampa Bay's 15 of the season, a new record for wins in a Modern Era regular season. The Rowdies won 14 games in the 2017 regular season. Tampa Bay enters tonight's match with 52 points this season, just short of the 53 points they earned in 2017, a Modern Era record.

The Rowdies were mired in a slump from the end of July all the way through August, but started September off on the right foot last week. Tampa Bay lost four of six matches between July 26 and August 31 after losing just once in the 20 matches prior to July 26.

Juan Tejada scored twice in the win over the Independence to reach double digits on the season with his ninth and 10th goals of his first professional season. Tejada has been a revelation this season for his work rate and ability to find open space. Eight of his 10 goals have been with his first touch and eight have been within the 6-yard box or on the line.

Tejada has only taken 30 shots this season, meaning one-third of his efforts (33.3 percent) lead to goals. Lucky Mkosana has the second-best conversion on the roster with seven goals from 25 shots (28 percent) including his time with Louisville City FC.

Sebastian Guenzatti leads the Rowdies with 14 goals this season, good for fourth-best in the USL Championship. This is just the second time in 10 seasons of Modern Era play that the Rowdies have had a pair of scorers reach double digit goals. The previous occasion was 2013 when Georgi Hristov scored 12 and Luke Mulholland scored 11.

Jaime Siaj scored the Rowdies third goal against Charlotte last weekend, his second goal of the season. Siaj had to wait until July 20 to make his Rowdies debut due to a series of minor injuries, but has proven a useful attacker off the bench since then. With a small sample size, he scores once every 95.5 minutes.

Injury Report

QUESTIONABLE - Yann Ekra (leg)

QUESTIONABLE - Zach Steinberger (leg)

Suspension Warning

Pape Diakite (yellow card accumulation)

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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