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USL Tampa Bay Rowdies

Matchday 14 Preview: Rowdies vs Louisville City

June 3, 2022 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release


Tampa Bay Rowdies vs Louisville City FC

Saturday, June 4, 7:30pm ET

Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, FL

Tickets: Fans can purchase tickets to match or by stopping by the Al Lang Stadium box office starting at 4pm on matchday.

Pre-game Show: Tune in for the pre-game show hosted by The Unused Substitutes starting at 6:30pm live on Twitch.com/RowdiesGG

Watch: Stream the match on ESPN+.

Follow Along: Live updates on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies return to Al Lang Stadium this Saturday to face Louisville City FC. Saturday will be the first meeting between the two sides since last year's USL Championship Eastern Conference Championship, which the Rowdies won in memorable fashion with two late goals from Lucky Mkosana and a Steevan Dos Santos winner in extra time.

Scouting Louisville

Louisville enters this weekend's matchup as one of the top two teams in the USL through the first few months of the USL Championship season. Head Coach Danny Cruz and Louisville's 27-point total through its first 13 matches is only matches by the Western Conference's San Antonio FC, although San Antonio reached that total while playing two fewer matches.

A bright spot for Louisville so far this campaign has been the output of first-year forward Wilson Harris, who leads the club in assists and goals. His seven-goal tally is third best in the USL. Louisville's attack is also lifted by the recent return of the club's all-time leading scorer Cameron Lancaster. The veteran attacker made just his second appearance of the year and scored twice in Louisville's 4-1 victory over FC Tulsa last Saturday.

Turning Ties Into Wins

The Rowdies led FC Tulsa by a goal for 66 minutes on Wednesday night at ONEok Field. They only needed to hold for seven more minutes to secure all three points. Instead, a momentary defensive lapse led to Tulsa converting on their only shot on target of the night. The 1-1 result is Tampa Bay's fifth draw of the year.

"It's difficult right now because you're so disappointed because we really should be celebrating a victory after that performance, but we're not because we didn't take advantage of our great opportunities and we had one slack bit of defending," said Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins. "It's important not to over analyze too much. On another day that's a victory."

It's not as though the Rowdies were without chances to put the match to bed. The woodwork denied them twice and Austin Wormell also happened to make seven saves. Even with all that, Lucky Mkosana was an inch away from connecting on a header in front of an empty net that would have put the Rowdies on top in stoppage time.

"When you look at the ties we've had this year, we've had too many ties, but I think the performances in three or four of the five deserved victories. Now, we have to look at maybe why that is, but I think it's a fine line and I think tonight if we came away with a victory, we'd be very happy with how the players acquitted themselves. These goals will come. I'm a great believer that these goals will come if we play like that."

Vancaeyezeele Makes His Debut

Rowdies supporters got their first look at the club's latest addition defender Thomas Vancaeyezeele in Wednesday's draw. Vancaeyezeele started out on the right side of Tampa Bay's three-man back line and ended up as the only starting defender to play the whole match. Jordan Scarlett came off close to halftime after picking up an early yellow card and taking a knock that caused his eye to swell, while Aaron Guillen was taken out in the dying moments of the match as a precautionary measure after he came up limping. Vaneyecaeyezeele could be in line for his first start at Al Lang following a solid shift in Tulsa.

Team of the Week Streak

The Green & Gold graced the USL Championship Team of the Week twice in May. Lewis Hilton and Laurence Wyke both earned the league-wide honor, Hilton for his shift against Phoenix and Wyke for his performance versus Pittsburgh. Players who score goals are most often voted on to the Team of the Week, but the hard work of both Hilton and Wyke in Tampa Bay's last two matches won over the voters.

Wyke's case for another Team of the Work spot is off to a good start after Wednesday's match in Tulsa. Moving back up to central midfield, Wyke bagged Tampa Bay's lone goal and created a chance for a second.

Chasing Rowdies History

With 59 total goals for the Rowdies across all competitions, Sebastian Guenzatti is one more tally away from matching the club record currently held by Rowdies legend Georgi Hristov.

Injury Report:

OUT: Robert Castellanos

QUESTIONABLE: Dayonn Harris

Check out the Tampa Bay Rowdies Statistics

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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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