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USL Tampa Bay Rowdies

Rowdies Head to Hartford for Atlantic Division Clash

June 25, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release


Tampa Bay Rowdies at Hartford Athletic

Saturday, June 26 at 7:30 pm ET

Dillon Stadium, Hartford, CT

Watch: The match can be viewed on ESPN+.

Follow Along: Live updates for the match will be posted on Twitter at @RowdiesGameday. Score Updates will also be posted on the Rowdies' Instagram and Facebook accounts.

This Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rowdies meet Hartford Athletic on the field for just the third time. The two sides didn't face each other at all in 2020 due to the shortened season. They split a pair of matches during the 2019 USL Championship season, with the Rowdies claiming a dominant 4-0 victory at Al Lang Stadium before falling in 2-1 at Hartford in the regular season finale.

Currently, the Rowdies hold a five-point advantage over Hartford, who will be looking to make a statement at home with a positive result over the top team in the Atlantic Division. Like the Rowdies two weeks ago, Hartford needed a stoppage time winner last week to secure a win over last-place Loudoun United FC. Rowdies Head Coach Neill Collins knows to expect Hartford's best effort this weekend, though.

"We're gonna be challenged on Saturday, like we're challenged for every away game," said Collins. "It's a big game on people's calendars and they want to be making a mark against us so we need to be prepared for that. Our players always feel that when we perform our best, we give ourselves a great chance of winning. Of course it's the opponent's job to affect that. But when we're at our best we think it's difficult to handle that. So we're hoping to bring our best performance on Saturday."

Hartford has several attacking options who have found a nice groove in the first two months of the season. Danny Barrera and Juan Carlos Obregon Jr lead the team in scoring with four goals a piece. Preston Tabort Etaka isn't far off with three of his own. With 16 goals tallied through their first six matches, Hartford is setting a high standard in the attack. Only two teams in the league have scored more.

"Hartford are an attacking team, but they're also willing to do what it takes to win," said Collins. "I think we'll see some very exciting attacking players from them. They want to play on the front foot, as do we, so it should make for a really exciting game. I think one thing we've found the last two or three weeks is that teams will adapt. We've gott to be prepared to understand that, but that's also why we need to be at our best in terms of what we want to do."

Set Piece Standards

One area the Rowdies would like to get back to is converting on set pieces. Through their first four matches, the Rowdies managed to find the back of the net off several set piece opportunities and threatened to score even more. Midfielder Lewis Hilton is a key part in that success as one of the main players who takes free kicks and corner kicks for the Rowdies. Hilton has one assist on the year from his corner kick delivery to Steevan Dos Santos against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC in May, but he also leads the Rowdies by a wide margin with 13 chances created.

The stoppage-time winner against Loudoun came off a set piece, as Forrest Lasso poked a corner kick sent in by Leo Fernandes toward goal for Foster Langsdorf to pounce on and bury. They didn't find a way to execute on a set piece in last week's loss to Pittsburgh, but Hilton and his teammates feel it's something they should be doing on a weekly basis.

"We made a really good start with set pieces, especially in the first four or five games," said Hilton. "I feel like my delivery in the last few games hasn't been quite as good as maybe the first few. But with the players that we've got attacking the ball and the information that the coaching staff give us, I think that we should be looking to create as many chances as possible. We talk as a group of players about getting a set piece goal every game and we think that's not unrealistic at all with the players that we've got getting on the end of it. Obviously, I've got to take responsibility if I'm the one taking it to get get the delivery right as well."

Turf Trips

Hartford is one of five teams in the Atlantic Division with artificial turf, meaning the Rowdies will play a minimum of 10 matches on an artificial surface this year. Their first match on turf at New York Red Bulls II went well, with a 1-0 result in the bank. Last year the Rowdies went unbeaten on turf, though Miami FC and New York were the only two teams they needed to face. This year they'll be asked to find results on turf much more often.

Collins has faith his players will meet the challenge, pointing out that more and more players of this generation are learning how to adapt to turf.

"I think it's just being mindful of the ball's going to move differently," said Collins. "It's going to bounce differently. We'll get to train together (in Hartford) the night before. We've got a good group of guys that have played at different times in their career on turf. It's different than when people like myself, Joe Cole, and Marcel Schafer were here as players. It was kind of alien to us playing on turf. We've got a squad that's capable of adapting now and it shouldn't have to change too much. It's just about the players recognizing that it's going to be slightly different."

Injury Report

OUT: Juan Tejada, Luiz Fernandes, Steevan Dos Santos, Lucky Mkosana

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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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