USL Nashville SC

Rowdies Come to Music City in Clash with Nashville SC

September 17, 2018 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Nashville SC News Release


NASHVILLE- Just seven games remain, and luckily for Nashville SC, five of those seven will be in the friendly confines of First Tennessee Park. Coming off a massive comeback for a 3-3 road draw in North Carolina on September 8, Nashville SC hosts the first of the final five home games on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. Visiting is the Tampa Bay Rowdies, a team that started the year with high hopes, but comes into the game sitting in 13th place and on the outside looking in of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Tampa Bay Breakdown

Every game is important down the stretch, but this game is basically a must win for the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The Rowdies sit eight points behind the playoff line in the table with seven games to play. Following a third-place Eastern Conference finish in 2017, Tampa Bay has won only eight games in 2018, with just three of those being on the road. A 3-6-6 record in its past 15 games, including a 1-1 draw with Nashville SC in June, has led to the Rowdies' disappointing 8-12-7 record on the season. With just four points in its past five appearances, Tampa desperately needs a result from the 8th place team in the East.

To get that result, Tampa will have to maintain its discipline. The visitors rank in the top five in the East with 51 yellow cards this season, and its four reds are the second-most for any Eastern team. Take, for example, the Rowdies' August 25 meeting with FC Cincinnati. Seven different Rowdies were shown yellow cards, with the first given just 29 seconds into the game.

Stefano Bonomo and Georgi Hristov share the role as Tampa's leading scorer with six goals apiece for the club, but the most talked about Rowdies player lately is Sebastián Guenzatti. The Uruguayan-born forward recently scored the only hat trick of the season for the Rowdies and named USL Player of the Week two weeks ago for his effort in the team's 3-0 win over North Carolina FC on September 1.

Nashville Narratives

Tuesday's game will be the first chance for SC keeper Matt Pickens to introduce his former team to his new fans as Tampa Bay will make its first-ever trip to Nashville. Pickens is having a standout season at age 36 to anchor the Nashville defense. He has secured 12 shutouts, tied for second in the league, in just 27 games. To put that in context, Pickens secured 28 clean sheets in 107 appearances in Tampa across four seasons. The 2010 MLS Cup and 2006 U.S. Open Cup champ was a fan favorite with the Rowdies, like he is in Nashville, and with a start will secure his 300th career professional appearance against his former club.

Nashville SC had no problem putting the ball in the back of the net in its most recent outing, scoring 3 goals or more in a USL match for the fourth time in 2018, but just the first on the road, in its 3-3 draw with North Carolina. Scoring is going to be important for Nashville down the stretch as it looks to lock in a playoff spot and challenge for a top-four seed. If SC does end up on the road in the playoffs, games like the one against North Carolina could go a long way to providing the team some confidence. Since the beginning of August, Nashville SC has scored 11 goals in eight games. That stretch comes after a one goal in five game run throughout July.

Quotable

Head coach Gary Smith

"Well, I think with four games coming up in 12 days it is always nice to get a little downtime, mentally as much as physically. You get a chance to catch yourself in what has been going on in the competition and the stresses and strains of weekly games, and we've been able to do some decent work again. We've had nice downtime and some good rest. We've been able to look at certain areas and try to polish them off towards these seven games."

Watching the East

Nashville SC sits at eighth in the conference, good enough for the final playoff spot. Only two and three points separate the team from 7th and 6th place, respectively. However, Nashville SC will have more opportunities for points down the stretch. A win could put SC into a tie with Bethlehem Steel FC for sixth place and just six points outside the top four depending on other results around the league.

How to Watch/Listen

There are still limited tickets available to the Tuesday night matchup available at NashvilleSC.com/tickets. While the game will be available locally on MyTV30, it is also the USL's Game of the Week and is going to be broadcast nationally on ESPN3 rather than ESPN+. Radio broadcasts will also be available on ESPN 94.9 Game 2 and El Jefe 96.7 FM.



United Soccer League Championship Stories from September 17, 2018


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