Preview: Rowdies at Louisville
October 11, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release
The Tampa Bay Rowdies hit the road this Saturday for a showdown with Eastern Conference rivals Louisville City FC. In anticipation of Hurricane Milton's impact on the Tampa Bay region, Rowdies players and technical staff along with their families on Tuesday evacuated to Fort Lauderdale, where the team has carried out preparations for this weekend's contest in Louisville at the Inter Miami CF training facilities.
While Louisville City is riding high after clinching this year's USL Championship Players' Shield and the top overall seed in the playoffs last week, the Rowdies are aiming to rebound from a 3-1 defeat in Rhode Island last week. A playoff berth is in sight this weekend, but the Rowdies must win and get a helpful hand around the league to lock one up.
The Rowdies will clinch a playoff spot for the sixth straight season this weekend if they beat Louisville and two of the below scenarios play out:
Hartford Athletic fails to beat North Carolina FC
Loudoun United FC fails to beat Rhode Island FC
North Carolina FC loses at Hartford Athletic
Birmingham Legion FC loses to Las Vegas Lights FC
After Louisville, the Rowdies will face a flurry of three matches in quick succession to close out the regular season. With that in mind, the time to start building confidence for a potential playoff run is now.
"It's important to pick up as many points as possible in these final four matches," said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. "We need to secure our playoff position, and then from there it's all about building momentum. The first step is making sure we get a result on Saturday in Louisville. It will be a tough game up there, but it's a great opportunity to start a run and get ourselves in form."
Back to Basics
It hasn't happened often this season, but the Rowdies managed to get the better of Louisville when the two sides met at Al Lang Stadium back in June. That night, the Rowdies claimed a 3-2 victory and, apart from a six-minute defensive lapse in which they allowed two goals, they shut out Louisville's league-leading attack.
However, this time around the Rowdies must get the job done on the road. The Rowdies have struggled to pick up results away from home recently, with four straight defeats in their last four road outings. Meanwhile, Louisville has won 14 of their 15 home matches this season, setting a new league record for home victories in a single season.
"Right now it's about getting back to the basics we had success with earlier in the season," said Neilson. "We had a chat about that this week, about putting teams under pressure by getting the ball forward earlier. If you look at the stats, our possession has gone up but we're not penetrating enough... If we can start doing that, we can get ourselves back up and running again."
Worth on the World Stage
The Rowdies will be without midfielder Nate Worth, who departed the squad last weekend to join the U.S. U-19 Youth National Team's training camp in Spain. Worth, who previously played for the U.S. U-15s and U-16s, has made 18 appearances for the Rowdies since he arrived via transfer from FC Tulsa in May. The U.S. U-19s are set to face Sweden and Japan in international friendlies while in Spain.
Availability Report
OUT: Forrest Lasso (ACL), Nate Worth (International Duty)
Matchday 31 Info:
Tampa Bay Rowdies at Louisville City FC
Saturday, October 12, 7:30 p.m. ET
Lynn Family Stadium, Louisville City, FC
2024 League Records:
Rowdies: 13W-10L-7D, 46 pts, 5th East (4-7-5 on the road)
Louisville: 22W-6L-3D, 69 pts, 1st East (14-1-0 at home)
Tune In: Saturday's match will be available to stream exclusively on CBS Sports Golazo.
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