Preview: Bethlehem Steel FC Begins Road Campaign at Rowdies
March 23, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Philadelphia Union II News Release
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Bethlehem Steel FC will look to continue its winning ways when it travels south for the club's first road match of 2018 against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Saturday, March 24. Kick off from Al Lang Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be streamed on YouTube and on the club's website along with locally on Service Electric. Supporters of the club can join Steel FC at its first viewing party of the year at Golazo House, located at 123 W. 4th Street in Bethlehem.
Steel FC is coming off a strong performance in the club's home-opener, defeating the Richmond Kickers by a 4-1 margin. Philadelphia Union midfielders Eric Ayuk and Derrick Jones tallied first-half goals while Brandon Allen put on a strong debut with a second-half brace. The two-goal performance was the club's fifth brace in its young history.
"I thought we were well in control of the game for most of it, there were only one or two spells where [Richmond] got on the ball and were able to connect and that is to be expected in any game," Bethlehem Steel FC head coach Brendan Burke said. "I thought we did a very good job of accomplishing the things we set out to and that is really hard to achieve. Happy with the start and hopefully whatever group we put out this weekend can get close to replicating that in a much tougher environment."
Saturday's contest will be the third meeting between the two squads, with both clubs in search of the first victory of the series. Steel FC and the Rowdies played twice in a four-day span last season, playing to a pair draws. In the first matchup, Steel FC overcame a pair of one-goal deficits to fight back for a 2-2 draw. Down in Tampa Bay, Steel FC made the most of their one shot on goal as Seku Conneh struck on a counterattack set up by James Chambers. The goal wasn't enough as the Rowdies answered on Sebastian Guenzatti equalizer.
"The quality of their individual players is excellent, probably at or near the top of the league in terms of experience but also quality and it really flows through their whole team," Burke said. "There is not going to be anything easy about going to their place. They were pretty well organized and probably sat a little deeper than they wanted to at times and the game became a little wide open in transition moments but I think for them to go away and win 3-1 at North Carolina FC and to be coming home to very big crowd sets us up for a very difficult game. I don't think we change our approach at all but I do think there is going to be a lot more critical moments in the game than there were last weekend."
Under the leadership of third-year head coach Stuart Campbell, Tampa Bay enters their home opener coming off a strong 3-1 victory on the road at North Carolina FC. Leo Fernandes opened the scoring in the 23rd minute before the USL-newcomers found an equalizer in the 38th minute. Just before the half, Georgi Hristov converted from the penalty spot to give Tampa Bay the ultimate lead. Jack Blake added an insurance goal in the 90th minute for the final scoreline.
MATCH INFORMATION
2018 USL Regular Season
Date: March 24, 2018
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, FL.
Bethlehem Steel FC: 1-0-0
Tampa Bay Rowdies: 1-0-0
Match Day Twitter: @BSteelFC
Game Day Hashtag: #TBRvBST
Game Notes: bit.ly/2pzbbCu
Match Preview: bit.ly/2pAIFQX
Match Center: bit.ly/2HVlOaj
Watch: bit.ly/2HWL6Fa
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