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USL Tampa Bay Rowdies

Rowdies Look to Match Previous Pittsburgh Performance

June 18, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Tampa Bay Rowdies News Release


Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC

Saturday, June 19, 7:30 pm ET

Al Lang Stadium

Pre-game show: The Unused Substitutes will be hosting a live pre-game show at Al Lang from 7-7:30 p.m. ET. Lucky Mkosana and Ralph's Mob member Mike Pendleton will join the show to discuss their collobration to raise funds for Lucky's BYS Academy back in Zimbabwe. The show can be viewed live here.

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.

Not Satisfied

The Tampa Bay Rowdies head into the weekend with a 6-point lead over second-place Charlotte Independence in the Atlantic Division standings. However, head coach Neill Collins and his players are far from complacent with so much of the season left to play. Although they won last week against Loudoun United, Collins believes the team didn't meet expectations in terms of the performance.

"I have a vision I'd like us to achieve but it's the players that set the standard and they've done a good job of that but (against Loudoun) we didn't quite reach those standards," said Collins. "It wasn't the typical performance that we've had in our previous home games. But what you have to do is recognize it's a 32-game season. They're human. We've got a few guys out. We managed to show a lot of character and come through and win the game. That was the biggest positive takeaway, that we found a way to win."

Scarlett the Tone-Setter

Now in his second season with the Rowdies, Jordan Scarlett has picked up where he left off last year with back-line partners Forrest Lasso and Aaron Guillen. The Rowdies have conceded just four goals through the first seven matches, the second best concession rate in the league.

The trio were no doubt disappointed to give up a goal just four minutes into the Loudoun match, but they didn't let it faze them the rest of the night.

"We know what we have to do," said Scarlett. "Giving up a goal, we never let that get to us during a game. If we do give up a goal, that's it. We just have to keep playing because we have to win. We do aim to keep a clean sheet every game, though. That's just comes from the talking from (Evan Louro). You can hear him from the first minute. Even with the crowd you can hear him. And you have Forrest, me, and Aaron and we need to set the tone. Once we're on, then all the boys come alive. But as a defender you like clean sheets and keeping the score at zero is definitely a big thing for us."

Scarlett has his eyes set on a longer-term goal for the season as well, one that he fell just short of last year. The young Jamaican-born defender wants to play every minute for the Rowdies this season. He would have done it in 2020 if not for a unfortunate injury that knocked him out midway through the first half of the Eastern Conference final.

"My milestone is I want to play every single game this season, every single minute," said Scarlett. "That's just it. Just being available, because if I'm available that means I've done all the details up until that point to hopefully make the longest run to the final game. So I just want to play all the games and see how far we can go as a team."

Collins sees that hunger from Scarlett to earn his spot and improve week in and week out.

"Jordan's one of the best in the locker room at setting the tone. He wants to work on every part of his game. That's the problem for us. We have to drag him off the training field, because he wants to improve his passing, he wants to improve his heading, he wants to improve his tackling, he wants to improve his communication. That's been a huge part of what we want at this club. Jordan's constantly looking to improve and he's already a very good player. There are a number of players like that, but I have to say that he really sets the tone about wanting to get better and other players can follow that lead."

Opposition Notes

Pittsburgh is making its second trip to St Petersburg this year. Head Coach Bob Lilley's side opened its season on May 8 with a 3-0 defeat at the hand of the Rowdies. Former Riverhound Steevan Dos Santos scored in the match, but he'll be unable this time around while he recovers from a broken bone in his foot from the May 22 match vs Miami FC.

Despite playing nearly half an hour down a man after Jelani Peters was shown a red card, Pittsburgh came away from Tuesday's match at Indy Eleven with a 1-0 result that moved them into third in the Atlantic Division standings with a record of 3W-3L-2D.

Russell Cicerone has emerged as the club's leading scorer with four goals in the month since Pittsburgh was last at Al Lang. Jordan Scarlett matched up with Cicerone last month and got the better of the attacker that night.

"Defensively they're very sound, which means we're gonna have to be even more locked in in terms of counter attacks," said Scarlett. "I watch film. I try to see his moves and stuff just to be locked on in the game. Every second counts from minute one to the last whistle. Those guys are good so you've got to play them real tight. If we play them real close and I'm at my best I think we should be good."

Collins believes that first matchup with Pittsburgh is the best the Rowdies have looked so far this year. This weekend could look very different, though, with each team having a past meeting to learn from. Grabbing another 3-point result this week would be a boon for the Rowdies two tough trips to Pittsburgh still ahead of them.

"It becomes more tactical, more about the details," said Collins. "Maybe personnel can change slightly as well. Personnel can change tactics, even though it might not be significant changes. I'm sure Bob, who's one of the most astute in the league, will be coming in with different details that they'll want to try to implement. Again, we're trying to be even better at what we want to do. There's no question that by the fourth time comes around it'll be very difficult. We'll try and take advantage Saturday night of being at home."

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