Match Preview: #TBRvSPR
May 24, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
The Basics
Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Swope Park Rangers
Saturday, May 25, 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 or clicking here. 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: 6-0-5 (W-L-T), 1st place; 3-0-3 at home
Swope Park: 1-5-4 (W-L-T), 17th place; 0-3-1 on road
Rowdies Notes
The Tampa Bay Rowdies head into Saturday night's match in first place in the USL Championship's Eastern Conference and combined table with 23 points from 11 matches. The Rowdies beat New York Red Bulls II 2-0 last weekend in a battle between the teams in first and second place at kickoff.
Juan Tejada scored both of the goals in the match, his third and fourth goals of the season. He is now one goal short of Sebastian Guenzatti for the team lead in goals. He earned a spot on the USL Championship Team of the Week's bench, falling just short of an actual appearance in the Team of the Week.
Andrew Tinari did earn a spot in the Team of the Week after notching an assist on Tejada's first goal. Tinari has two goals and three assists in nine appearances this season.
Tampa Bay will be without two key players this weekend due to suspension in Dom Oduro and Pape Diakite. Oduro was shown a red card in the second half of last week's match. Diakite was shown a yellow card in stoppage time that was later changed retroactively to a red card by the Independent Discipline Panel. Both suspensions are for this match only. Both players have appeared in every league match this season. Diakite has played all 990 available minutes and Oduro has played 928.
The Rowdies are riding a Modern Era club record 12-match unbeaten run in all competitions and remain the only unbeaten club in the entire USL Championship. North Texas SC of USL League One is the only other unbeaten team in the top three divisions, though it has only played seven matches.
Tampa Bay's strength this season has been in defense. Goalkeeper John McCarthy has kept seven clean sheets in 11 matches and the Rowdies have conceded a league-low four goals. Tampa Bay has kept three consecutive clean sheets in league play against the teams currently sitting in second, third and fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Of the four goals conceded by Tampa Bay this year, only one has come after halftime, Louisville's 88th minute equalizer on April 13.
Suspension Report
Dominic Oduro (red card)
Pape Diakite (retroactive red card)
Injury Report
OUT: F Jaime Siaj (quad strain)
OUT: D Shawn Barry (ribs)
OUT: M Yann Ekra (ankle)
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